Donald Trump and Kamala Harris headed into the final weekend of what appears to be an extremely tight race by holding events across the Midwestern battleground states. They also waged national media campaigns to try to win over small but crucial groups of voters who have yet to make up their minds.
The Trump campaign has been particularly focused on appealing to young men, especially those without college degrees. There are millions of them, and they are less likely than other groups to vote or participate in politics at all.
Trump’s team believes he will secure a large portion of the votes of young men who do turn out. The former president has sought out podcasts and influencers popular with Gen Z, and the strategy appears to be paying off: My colleagues interviewed dozens of young men and heard that many have been swayed by Trump’s bravado and disdain for cultural norms, if not by policy.
“Some of these young men say they are traditionally moderate or even liberal,” our politics reporter Kellen Browning said. “But they say that they feel increasingly fed up with the Democratic Party, and that they don’t really align with its values anymore.”
Harris maintains a lead among young voters overall, and even with young men in some surveys. Her campaign has also made some efforts to reach young men, including by sending Tim Walz, the vice-presidential nominee, to football games. But some said the outreach by the Harris team felt inauthentic.
In other politics news:
U.S. spy agencies warned that Russia was behind two recent videos designed to undermine confidence in the election.
The White House altered the official transcript of President Biden’s remarks this week about the Trump campaign and “garbage.”
The fight for the House is on a knife’s edge. A race in Alabama might prove consequential.
Hate speech has spiked as the election has neared.
Our chief political analyst explains how polls have better accuracy, but there are no guarantees.