Trump taps into Gen Z's pulse with help from son Barron, who tells him about hottest trends
Former President Trump is drawing from his son Barron's influence to reel in Generation Z as all eyes linger on the youth vote.
"[He's influenced me] a little bit," he told Fox News anchor Maria Bartiromo on Sunday, responding to questions about doing more Gen Z podcasts and engaging with younger voters as well as "hot," trendy pop culture figures.
"He tells me about all the ‘hot’ guys, people I've never heard of [for podcasts]… but Don [Jr.] knows a lot about it and Eric knows a lot about it. Tiffany knows a lot. Ivanka knows a lot," he continued.
According to research organization CIRCLE at Tufts University, 41 million Zoomers — members of the Gen Z age group — will be eligible to vote in 2024, meaning 8 million will have "aged into the electorate" by the time voters head to the polls in November.
It's no secret the youth vote matters now more than ever.
Some conservative Zoomers say Trump gained ground in the race to win over the youngest voting bloc by choosing Ohio Sen. JD Vance — the first Millennial to be added to a presidential ticket — especially as age concerns emerged as a key issue during the election cycle.
Against the backdrop of former first lady Melania Trump revealing her pro-choice position in a recently-published memoir and Harris running mate Gov. Tim Walz accusing Trump of advocating for a nationwide abortion ban, Bartiromo pressed the former president to clarify his own stance.
"I think that it's something that's off the table now because I did something that everybody's wanted to do. I was able to get it back to the states," he said.
"Every legal scholar for 52 years — they've been fighting. This issue's been tearing apart our country. For 52 years they've been fighting. Every legal scholar said it shouldn't be in the federal government. It should be into the states and a vote of the people. Let the people vote, and I was able to do that because of six very brave and very smart [Supreme Court justices] — but they were brave in a certain way."
Like many Republicans, Trump re-emphasized the importance of exceptions to allow for abortion: rape, incest and the life of the mother, culminating his response with a remark that the issue has been "largely diffused."