The Brocasters’ Possible Left Shift

The influencers who helped Trump win young men in 2024 may turn toward socialism

Popular podcaster and comedian Andrew Schulz is done with Donald Trump. “He's doing the exact opposite of everything I voted for,” Schulz said on his podcast last week. “I want him to stop the wars. He's funding them. I want him to shrink spending. He's increasing it."

Despite his concern for spending, he feels leftist politicians are more America First than Trump. "The only party right now, that to me seems 'America First,' is the Democrat Socialist party," he argued. "Bernie [Sanders] is 'America First.' [Zohran] Mamdani, and all his ideas that he will not be able to execute — and I frankly think many of them are not good ideas — but he is, no doubt, 'New York First' ... The policies seem to want to help people here, that's what I care about."

The issue that set off Schulz’s rant was the Jeffrey Epstein case. Like many influencers, the comedian is outraged by the Trump administration’s handling of the matter and demands officials come forward with the truth.

Many influencers right now–including several diehard Trump fans–are upset about Trump’s handling of the Epstein case. What makes Schulz stand out is his possible defection to socialism. His celebration of “democratic socialists” signals a potential shift among the brocasters who helped Trump win young men in 2024. They may veer to the Left in future elections.

Brocasters like Schulz should not be mistaken for political commentators. They’re primarily entertainers who discuss culture and general life. They occasionally bring up politics on their show, but they shouldn’t be put in the same league as Ben Shapiro and Tucker Carlson.

Not being standard political commentators gives them a broader audience than conservative influencers. They talk to people who would never think to vote Republican, or to vote at all. These podcasters interviewing Trump and supporting his campaign helped the 47th president detoxify himself and gain new voters. Schulz, Theo Von, and Joe Rogan don’t speak to the converted. Their audiences have a broad array of views.

This makes the brocasters more persuasive to voters than the average conservative commentator. They’re independent-minded people who aren’t that political. A Trump endorsement allows similar folks to move in that direction.

But that lack of a solid political orientation makes them liable to go in a completely different direction. These guys don’t have set political principles outside of anti-establishment sentiments and cultural libertarianism. Joe Rogan embodies this. In 2012, he backed Ron Paul for president. In 2020, he backed the socialist Bernie Sanders for president. Last year, he endorsed Trump. That’s a lot of changes over 12 years. Rogan sometimes sounds like an anti-statist libertarian. Other times, he endorses medicare for all and universal basic income. There’s not a coherent political philosophy here. That’s not uncommon. A lot of Americans hold similarly divergent views. Many voters change their politics based on sentiment and circumstance rather than ideology. The brocasters’ audience also shares this approach to politics.

It wouldn’t make a whole lot of sense for a group that doesn’t like government or taxes to champion socialism. But that assumes that these influencers are beholden to ideological coherence. That’s not the case. What matters is who appears to be more anti-establishment and who seems to care about a handful of issues. They want a candidate who is anti-war, cares about Jeffrey Epstein, and seems like a political outsider. It’s pure sentiment.

If your primary sentiment is anti-establishment, then socialism has its virtues. It imagines the system is controlled by evil billionaires and rigged against the little man. It purports to put the people first and curtail corporate power. It argues it will make people’s lives better and address overlooked concerns. It threatens the powers that be while offering an earnest idealism. It doesn’t really matter if socialism will empower the bureaucrats the bros hate, impose more taxes, and make life worse. What matters is its vibe. Libertarianish Rogan already backed Bernie Sanders in the past. Nick Mullen, a comedian who’s relied on right-wing material for years, endorsed Mamdani for mayor. It’s possible to see the same thing happen in 2028 for AOC.

The hurdle for these guys will be wokeness. They really don’t want their speech and actions controlled by hectoring girlbosses or trans HR managers. If the socialist candidate spends most of her time lecturing the brocasters about white privilege and mansplaining, they’re going to drop any hint of support. They went for Trump because they hated wokeness. It interfered with their lives and told them what they could and could not do. They would rather vote for anything else besides that.

There’s a theoretically non-woke socialism that could win them over. But the demands of the Democratic coalition–and the core of the socialist base–makes that highly unlikely. These folks want anti-whiteness and LGBTQ advocacy along with their wealth redistribution. The socialist 2028 candidate will likely be woke. The brocasters may hold their noses and back this person if it isn’t that onerous. But it will still be a tough sell for them and their audience.

Whoever the candidates are in 2028, it will be harder for a Republican to demonstrate an anti-establishment vibe. The GOP will be the incumbent party, trying to defend the White House from a Democratic challenger. Rather than a message of claiming the system is corrupt, they will tout the great things the government did over the last four years. They will be the party in power, not the underdogs. It will be a tougher sell to the brocasters, who prefer whoever’s out of power rather than championing the governing party.

The brocasters may still be angry about Epstein, possible foreign actions, and a host of other things. It’s unlikely that they go all in for the Republican like they did for Trump unless they really hate the Democratic nominee. Most of them will probably avoid overt endorsements, even though both candidates may seek them. The most likely scenario is that Republicans simply can’t depend on the brocasters to rally young men to their side rather than the bros veer to democratic socialism.

Young men played a critical part in Trump’s 2024 victory. They were convinced to go MAGA over wokeness and the influence of the brocasters. Many on the Right are confident that these guys will stay with the Right for the rest of their lives. That might not be the case. 2028 will be a different election. It’s tough to imagine the bros turning out in droves for AOC, but they may lose their motivation to vote Republican over the next three years. This advantage could go away after the Trump administration.

It’s far too early for the Right to rest on its laurels and think young men are in the bag. Republicans have to prove they’re worthy of their vote.