'Cool Guy Candidate': CNN Guest Says Democrats Can't Compete With Trump Among Young Men

During a CNN segment on Thursday, CNN guest Peter Hamby explained to Dana Bash that Democrats are lacking a "cool guy candidate" to compete with 45th President Donald Trump amid a growing gender gap between the Harris-Walz and Trump-Vance tickets.

"Donald Trump, he plays golf with Bryson DeChambeau, he goes on Theo Von, he talks about Zyn. Democrats, I'm sorry, they haven't had a cool guy candidate in a while," Hamby said. "With all due respect to Tim Walz... he also appeals to that guy... who's wearing a 'Future is Female' shirt. That guy in Madison, Wisconsin, is already going to vote Democrat. How are you reaching the young men?"

The gender gap has been a constant in presidential elections going back decades, but the 2024 race has seen a historic widening of the preferences between genders, with Harris winning over a large majority of female voters while Trump wins over a similar majority of men. According to a recent New York Times/Siena poll in the swing states of Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, 55 percent of men support Trump's candidacy, while only 39 percent of women feel the same.

Nationally, the gap is even wider, with Trump enjoying a 17-point lead among men (56 percent to 39 percent) while Harris has a 14 percent lead among women (55 percent to 41 percent). In contrast to this year's election cycle, the 2020 presidential race saw Trump win 53 percent of men and 42 percent of women, an 11-point gap. President Biden won 45 percent of men and 57 percent of women, a 12-point gap. The widening gender gap in the 2024 race isn't surprising, given the policy stances of each candidate and the various media appearances made by the Trump-Vance ticket. While Kamala Harris emphasizes her pro-abortion record, President Trump has appeared on several podcasts of influential streamers and podcasters.

As Hamby mentioned, Trump even went golfing with professional golfer Bryson DeChambeau, who got over 12 million views on YouTube. Further emphasizing Team Trump's push with young men is the president's pick of Sen. JD Vance (R-OH) as his running mate. The 40-year-old Vance, the youngest candidate to be on a national party's ticket since Richard Nixon in 1952, can connect with Millenial and Gen-Z voters more than any other candidate on the campaign trail, and his selection likely makes the Republican ticket more attractive to young men looking for young, bold leadership.

WATCH:

Peter Hamby: "Donald Trump, he plays golf with Bryson DeChambeau, he goes on Theo Von... Democrats, I'm sorry, they haven't had a cool guy candidate in a while. With all due respect to Tim Walz... he also appeals to that guy... who's wearing a 'Future is Female' shirt." pic.twitter.com/mfEowGcfZa

— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) September 19, 2024

You can follow Sterling on X/Twitter here.