Last summer, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. posted a workout video to his account on X (formerly Twitter). Shirtless, bench-pressing and pounding out pushups at Los Angeles’ famed Gold’s Gym, the aspiring presidential candidate was the model of virility, his rippling pecs and abs visible over faded Levi’s. Although hardly a young man at age 69, RFK Jr.’s image strikingly contrasted with the octogenarian front-runners in a plodding race that often elicits an understandably uninspired reaction from many young people.
Kennedy’s video ultimately racked up over a million views, left a Fox anchorman swooning at its “sheer masculinity,” and helped launch a long-shot Democratic primary challenge that has since morphed into a third-party bid for the presidency. Once best known for his famous family and crusading environmentalism, Kennedy has more recently become infamous for his overheated anti-vaccine rhetoric and doting celebrity wife.
Kennedy’s popularity is concentrated in the podcasts and blogs that make up the “manosphere” at the same time growing evidence indicates young men are gravitating rightward.
But six months later, younger voters in particular are giving this candidate a very serious look: In December, a Quinnipiac poll found Kennedy getting 40% of the 18-34 vote, compared to 11% of the 65-plus vote. He leads both Trump and Biden among registered voters under 45 by 1%. His lead is consistent across race and gender, but his appeal to young men especially bears careful scrutiny; Kennedy’s popularity is concentrated in the podcasts and blogs that make up the “manosphere” — a medium he has committed to dominate — at the same time growing evidence indicates young men are gravitating rightward politically and feeling disaffected socially.
This does not mean we have lost this generation forever. At least not yet. But probing the origins of this generational unease and Kennedy’s appeal as its antidote might just hold the key to redirecting us…
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