Gen Z Takes the Podium
A deeper look at 'The Cruel Kids' Table,' and a Democratic Congresswoman on how to win back young voters.
It’s a historic day as Karoline Leavitt became the first Gen Zer to officially take the White House press briefing podium. Leavitt, one of the earliest members of Gen Z to run for Congress in 2022, served as a spokesperson for President Donald Trump’s 2024 campaign before being appointed White House Press Secretary at just 27 years-old.
"It is a fact that Americans are consuming their news media from various different platforms, especially young people. And as the youngest press secretary in history, thanks to President Trump, I take great pride in opening up this room to new media voices to share the president’s message with as many Americans as possible," Leavitt said from the podium today.
She said a range of voices — whether a “TikTok content creator, a blogger, a podcaster,” — will have be able to apply for White House press credentials so long as they are “producing legitimate news content no matter the medium.”
A deeper look at ‘The Cruel Kids’ Table’
This week, New York Magazine published a cover story by Brock Colyar on young Trumpers — a group I’ve been covering for a while, and who have gained notoriety for elevating the president’s profile among their generation.
At first glance, the title “The Cruel Kids’ Table” gives off a critical vibe. But after reading it, I had a different take. From where I sit, the story paints a vivid, almost glowing picture of what it’s like to be a young Republican right now. It shows there’s a total vibe shift in terms of who has cultural cache. (And an alternative title on NY Mag’s website reads: “The Cultural Ascendancy of the New Young Right”).
Take this standout paragraph, for example:
“… a massive cultural realignment is taking place, and now this set of shitposters is in the same league as an entirely new Establishment, which includes not only the tech overlords (Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos) but also a growing number of celebrities (Carrie Underwood, the VillagePeople, Snoop Dogg, and Jewel). Kim Kardashian is posting photos of the First Lady. Even Spotify hosted an inauguration brunch. (Meanwhile, all the progressive institutions — Hollywood, college campuses, the mainstream media — feel like they’re collapsing simultaneously.)”
The piece has sparked mixed reactions from young Republicans. CJ Pearson, co-chair of the Republican National Committee’s youth advisory council, criticized the magazine for cropping Black people out of the cover photo, even though the lead image showed the full photo). Others have embraced the piece, joking that the Gossip Girl-style cover only solidifies conservatism’s cool factor, and that it shows that “conservatism is the new punk rock.”
For anyone trying to understand the psyche of today’s youngest Trumpers (especially those inside the president’s orbit), this story is a must read. The piece quotes young members of the MAGA movement who resent political correctness, hate being told what they can do or say, and who just want to have a good time. It also explores the fact that these young Trumpers don’t resemble generations of Republicans past — and that many aren’t really even conservative, or Republicans, and that they don’t necessarily want to be (“They refer to their political affiliation, almost always, as the ‘movement,’” Colyar writes).
It also drives home a trend I’ve noticed for a while — despite prioritizing what many like to call ‘traditional values,’ such as an emphasis on the nuclear family and 1980’s-era nostalgia, young Trump supporters are progressive in many ways; they’re still Gen Z, after all. For example, as Colyar writes, “It is entirely possible, in this world, to be very gay.”
As Democrats try to make up for lost time and figure out how to gain cultural relevance amid a fractured media and entertainment ecosystem where no one celebrity endorsement has the weight it used to, this quote from Xaviaer DuRousseau sums it up perfectly: Trump didn’t just embrace culture. He is the culture.
Noteworthy reads of the week
America Is Divided. It Makes for Tremendous Content., Spencer Kornhaber for The Atlantic
More than half of Gen Z believe the UK should be a dictatorship, Serena Smith for Dazed
From Trump to Gen-Z, Fashion Faces a Culture Quake, Sheena Butler-Young for Business of Fashion
The Rise of Young Republicans on America’s College Campuses, B.D. Hobbs for KTRH Local Houston and Texas News
Op-ed: Sara Jacobs Thinks Democrats Can Win Back Young Voters by Acting on Housing and Childcare, Rep. Sara Jacobs for Teen Vogue
Nothing but another liar promoting the agenda of a rapist and traitor.
This women appears to be a MAGA bitch.