Copyright The Independent Florida Alligator
From February to August 2025, President Donald Trump’s approval among the young people who voted for him dropped by 23 percentage points. But Craig Anderson wasn’t one of those who lost faith. “Trump 2.0 is amazing,” he said. “This has been the most happy with Trump that I've ever been.” Anderson has long been involved in conservative politics. The 27-year-old Gainesville resident is a member of the Alachua Republican Party and the UF Turning Point USA chapter. He voted for Trump in the past three presidential elections and said he feels “fantastic” about the current administration. Part of that support comes from the content he views on social media from conservative activists. Political science experts say the rise of Republican influencers, many of whom connect with their audiences through podcasts, was among the many factors leading to Trump’s victory and continued support among young people — although it’s hard to say whether this content is really changing or simply reinforcing their viewpoints. As of August, about 85% of Trump voters approved of his job performance as president, according to a poll conducted by the Pew Research Center. As a whole, about 38% of Americans reported approving of Trump’s handling of his job midway through his first year in office. That figure has gradually declined since February. The portion of Trump voters who approve of his job performance has dropped 10 percentage points over that six-month period, and among voters aged 35 or younger, it has dropped 23 percentage points. But Anderson credited prominent conservative figures, including Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk, with reinforcing his favorable opinions of the administration. Kirk was shot and killed on a Utah college campus in September. Since Kirk’s death, UF’s Turning Point chapter has grown from a classroom with about 20 students to the Senate Chamber with over 100 attendees. The organization has rushed to honor its late founder with events like “How to lead like Charlie,” which welcomed Cabot Phillips, the senior editor of the Ben Shapiro-founded conservative media company The Daily Wire, as a guest speaker. Anderson still follows Kirk on X, where the page remains active. Like about one-fifth of U.S. adults in his age range, Anderson said he regularly consumes news from X. In addition to Kirk, he follows conservative figures like Logan Clark Hall and Matt Walsh. While a lot of them have their own podcasts, he said, he prefers reading their posts than listening to them. These conservative leaders show Anderson not only what the Trump administration is doing, but the different perspectives he might not have considered from the right, he said. While Anderson said they usually reinforce his positive opinions on the administration, they also clue him in on possible blind spots he didn’t see, such as the crackdown on H-1B visas. In December 2024, Trump stirred controversy among conservatives by declaring his support for the H-1B visa program, which allows U.S. employers to hire college-educated foreign workers for specialty jobs. Critics worry the program hurts U.S. workers. The debate over whether the then president-elect would expand H-1B visas concerned Anderson. A lot of activists on his feed, though, said to trust Trump’s judgement. “We were right to, because in the end, he tightened eligibility for H-1Bs,” Anderson said, referring to Trump’s recent decision to place a $100,000 fee on visa holders. Another Trump voter, Tomás Mosquera, also relies on conservative influencers for news. The 21-year-old UF political science senior and the secretary for Alachua County Republicans cast his ballot for the president more begrudgingly than Anderson and Romano. Although he identifies as a Republican, Mosquera said he is not a Trump supporter. He considers himself a “Reagan Republican,” as opposed to a modern Republican. Mosquera said he specifically resonates with Reagan’s trickle-down economics, peace through strength, anti-communism and, above all, diplomacy and decency when interacting with political rivals. “Unfortunately, my decision was narrowed down to the candidate I thought was the least worse,” he said. Mosquera reads The Epoch Times, a far-right multi-language news source, every morning. For balance, he said, he consumes news from MSNBC and CNN. Mosquera also listens to conservative political commentator Tucker Carlson’s weekly show, which he said hosts people from across the political spectrum. “I really like that he's a very open person that is open to having a conversation with anyone,” he said. Mosquera disagrees with many aspects of the Trump administration, including the president’s support for Israel in its war against Hamas, that his network of media sometimes does not cover. By listening to Carlson frequently, he said, he fills that gap and gets a brief of exactly what is happening. While Carlson agrees with Trump on some issues, Mosquera said, he is more critical on others. “He dives deeper into some policies and some actions that they are taking right now in the Trump administration,” he said. With the information he gathers from the show, Mosquera said he does his own research and makes his own conclusions. But whether these commentators have a significant effect on political attitudes remains up for debate. David Macdonald, a UF political science assistant professor, said it’s hard to determine whether people select certain media to consume because it aligns with what they generally think, or whether consuming that media really changes people’s views. Through his research in U.S. public opinion and political behavior, the best evidence he has seen suggests it works both ways. These podcasts were one among many things which helped Republicans win young men in 2024, Macdonald said. But former President Joe Biden’s unpopularity was also a dominant factor. “It was one election with circumstances that were not great for the incumbent party,” he said. “It wouldn’t surprise me at all if they swung back in the other direction in 2028.” Angelina Romano, another Trump voter and UF Turning Point USA member, resonated strongly with Kirk’s views on conservative politics. The 19-year-old UF economics sophomore credited Kirk, a longtime Trump supporter, with helping Trump win the presidency. “I believe that he's one of the reasons why Trump managed to get reelected,” she said. Romano heavily consumes news on Instagram from users including conservative commentators Ben Shapiro, Michael Knowles and Matt Walsh. She said she doesn’t think she follows any Democrats. A few times a week, she listens to The Daily Wire, and her grandfather occasionally sends her articles from The Washington Post and The New York Times. Romano said when she tunes into The Daily Wire, the hosts are very good at breaking down what is happening in politics. “I think I'm more likely to change a belief or consider changing it if it does come from one of them,” she said.
