Democrats are worried Vice President Harris is failing to make inroads with men in the final weeks of the presidential campaign.
A string of polls out this week show that while Harris is outperforming former President Trump with women, she is not moving the needle with male voters, in some cases trailing the former president by more than a dozen points in battleground state polls.
This week, a New York Times/Siena College survey of likely male voters showed Trump with a sizable lead nationally — 51 percent to 40 percent — over Harris. Democratic strategists have also sounded the alarm that she needs to increase her numbers with Black and Latino men if she wants to defeat Trump, who has increased his numbers with both voting blocs.
A USA Today/Suffolk University poll also out earlier this week, for example, showed that in the battleground state of Arizona, 51 percent of Latino men between the ages of 18-34 support Trump, while 39 percent back Harris. But Trump’s support increases among Latino men ages 35-49 in the state: 57 percent said they support Trump, while 37 percent back Harris.
None of this is a new problem, in that Harris has had a gap with Trump among male voters since President Biden dropped out of the race and endorsed her.
But Democrats are getting more worried about the persistent shortfall with just weeks to go before the election.
“I don’t think people understand what a big problem we have on our hands with men,” one prominent Democratic strategist said. “Black men, Hispanic men, men in general.
“We can’t simply say, ‘Well, we have women,’” the strategist added. “Even if we win next month, we’re going to have to ask ourselves some hard questions when this is over.”
One donor took it a step further: “Men are gone, at least for this cycle.”
Democrats attribute some of Trump’s support among men to misogyny, saying some male voters aren’t ready to support a woman for the highest office in the land.
“She has a problem with men for the same reason Hillary Clinton did: because misogyny exists, as do outdated ideas about who should hold the presidency,” Democratic strategist Christy Setzer said. “Meanwhile, Trump has doubled down on this ‘strongman’ machismo and dictator’s act, playing ‘It’s a Man’s World’ at his rallies.”
Clinton, the Democratic nominee who lost in 2016, lost male voters to Trump by 11 points, while Biden and Trump were roughly even among male voters in 2020, according to the Pew Research Center.
In 2024, as Trump has faced a deficit with women voters, he’s leaned more than ever into winning over men.
“The not-subtle message of Trump’s campaign is: If you’re a ‘real’ man, you’re for me,” Setzer added. “That 1950s mindset is still appealing to some, unfortunately.”
Asked why Harris has a problem with men, Democratic strategist Jim Manley said wryly, “Ask Hillary Clinton.”
“It’s ridiculous to have to say this in 2024, but not everyone is ready to vote for a qualified woman to be president of the United States,” Manley said.
But other strategists say there’s more to the equation, particularly when it comes to Latino and Black men, a critical part of the coalition then-Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) put together during his election bid in 2008.
Democratic strategist Basil Smikle said Harris is “rightfully” speaking about issues like abortion, but other issues important to courting Black men including job creation and police brutality haven’t been at the forefront of Harris’s pitch.
“She can make these points in her closing argument,” Smikle said. “It shouldn’t be an ‘either-or.’ It should be an ‘and.'”
In a Sunday appearance on “Meet the Press,” NBC’s Andrea Mitchell said Harris needed to do more “serious interviews” to appeal to men.
“She’s got such a big problem with men,” Mitchell said. “I think there’s an undercount of the Trump vote. I think that there’s [misogyny] in all of this, Black and white men. Big problem.”
“But also the business world — they don’t think she’s serious,” Mitchell said. “They don’t think she’s a heavyweight. And a lot of this is gender, but she’s got to be more specific about her economic plans.”
Harris has sought to appeal to men in the final stretch of her campaign. This week, she sat for an interview with shock jock Howard Stern. Earlier this month, she made an appearance on “All the Smoke,” a podcast hosted by two former NBA players. And in an interview on “60 Minutes” that aired Monday, she discussed owning a Glock handgun and talked about going to a shooting range to fire it.
On Friday, the campaign is deploying Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Harris’s running mate, to speak to men in key battleground states. As part of that effort Friday, Walz is sitting down with NFL-star-turned broadcaster Michael Strahan on ABC’s “Good Morning America” to discuss his years as a high school football coach.
Walz will also travel to Michigan, where he will speak about protecting workers and investing in manufacturing. He will also join an event with Black male voters and will participate in a TV blitz in “blue wall” states, joining local anchors in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin to talk about high school football as well as hunting.
The Harris campaign ran ads during the Olympics and during soccer matches over the summer, and they’re continuing to run spots during NFL and college football games throughout the fall. Baseball fans watching the World Series later this month are also expected to see ads.
On Wednesday, the campaign launched “Hombres con Harris,” an effort targeting Hispanic men in battleground states. Harris has also been boosted by “White Dudes for Harris,” which has held virtual fundraisers and put together a $10 million ad campaign targeting white men in battleground states such as Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin.
The campaign has also continued to ramp up its presence on social media, including on TikTok and Twitch, a platform with a male-dominant audience.
“In an election that will be incredibly close, earning every vote will be critical to victory,” said Seth Schuster, a spokesperson for the Harris campaign. “We are working to reach men and young men everywhere they consume information: online, on television, and on the ground because we know the best way to break through to undecided voters at this point in the cycle is an all of the above strategy.
“While Trump relies on a handful of podcast appearances and empty gestures to gloss over an agenda that offers little substance on the issues men care about — instead of promising to ban abortion nationally, kick kids off their health insurance, and raise taxes on the middle class — Vice President Harris and her campaign are going everywhere, making her case for a future where everyone has a chance not just to get by, but to get ahead.”
But Republicans say male voters aren’t buying what Harris is selling. For starters, they say, she ran for president during the 2020 cycle as a progressive but has tried to pivot more to the center since she became the Democratic nominee in July, following President Biden’s withdrawal.
“She emerged on the Democratic side of the aisle as a progressive leader who was entirely at ease using identity politics as a cudgel against political adversaries, and that approach just doesn’t have much appeal to a broader range of men voters,” said Republican strategist Kevin Madden, who served as a senior aide on Sen. Mitt Romney’s (R-Utah) 2012 presidential campaign. “Thinking you can solve that now by just saying, ‘I own a Glock,’ makes that effort even more difficult.”
Meanwhile, realizing his support among women is shaky, Trump has amplified his commitment to men.
Late last month, he attended the Alabama-Georgia college football game. He has also appeared at several Ultimate Fighting Championship events, and joining professional golfer Bryson DeChambeau on his YouTube show.
Trump made a point of making an appearance with controversial internet streamer Adin Ross —who has a largely male audience — who gifted the former president a Tesla Cybertruck.
Susan Del Percio, a Republican strategist who does not support Trump, said men — particularly younger white men — have bought into Trump’s message and are drawn to his rhetoric and style.
“I do think there’s still a misogynistic bend, and after eight years of Donald Trump, I think they see it as a permission structure. They see the way Donald Trump talks about women, and while he gets ridiculed in the press for it, he doesn’t really pay a price.”
Harris can still make gains among men in the final weeks.
“They just have to decide who’s gettable,” she said.