For the first time in years, the Republican Party has momentum with America’s youth.

Charlie Kirk’s assassination jolted young voters into the political fight. Many students and teenagers first encountered politics through Kirk’s viral debate clips or the wave of conservative influencer content that followed.

The political landscape shifts as fast as internet memes. The era when a campaign could hire an intern to post twice a day is over.

Figures like Candace Owens, Tucker Carlson, and even Alex Jones command more attention from Gen Z than most senators ever could. Ask a teenager about Mike Johnson or Ron Johnson and you’ll likely get a blank stare. Ask them about Charlie Kirk, and they can quote his videos word-for-word. Kirk was not only a cultural giant but also the leader of a network of influencers who connected conservatives with a rising generation.

Trump as proof of concept

Conservative politicians often struggle to overlap with their influencer counterparts. Donald Trump proved it can be done. His mastery of social media carried him to victory in 2024. Trump’s rapid-fire posts and fluency in internet culture convinced young voters he understood them.

Democrats tried their own version of “youth outreach” — with Kamala Harris and Tim Walz attempting to meme their way into relevance. The result? Cringe. Young voters walked away.

If Republicans want to sustain their surge, they must keep building para-social relationships. For Gen Z, politics is less about white papers and more about viral clips. Students rallied to Trump and Kirk because they were captivating, funny, and relatable. That matters more than policy minutiae.

Enter JD Vance

Vice President JD Vance may be the heir to Trump’s social media throne. He combines political stamina with influencer wit — a rare skill set.

Vance’s Yale Law pedigree and mastery of policy shine in debates and press conferences. He speaks clearly, with bold ideas on foreign aid and criminal justice. But Gen Z doesn’t tune in for long speeches. They want punchlines. Trump understood this. He may be the only president with “Funniest Moments” compilations on YouTube. Vance seems to get it, too.

When Kirk was assassinated, Vance was the first to host his show. That was no accident. A hole opened in the conservative influencer space, and Vance moved to fill it. By stepping into that role, he told young voters that Charlie’s vision of connecting with Gen Z didn’t die with him.

Kirk’s efforts helped Trump retake the presidency in 2024. His legacy may yet help Vance win in 2028. Vance has built his own digital reputation: His tweets mix humor and insight, his football posts feel genuine (unlike Walz’s forced fandom), and he has leaned into memes at his own expense. That kind of self-deprecation resonates with an online generation allergic to pretension.

Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images

Keeping the energy alive

But Trump’s legacy is more than jokes. He delivers. He has nearly wiped out illegal immigration, shut down USAID, and pushed DEI out of government and corporate life. Winning has become a habit. Gen Z notices.

This generation didn’t grow up with the lethargic Republican Party of the 1990s and 2000s. Their political world began when Trump rode down his golden escalator in 2015. They expect leaders to win, not just talk.

If Republicans want to dominate the future, they must keep MAGA’s high-octane energy alive. The political landscape shifts as fast as internet memes. The era when a campaign could hire an intern to post twice a day is over.

Charlie Kirk understood it. Donald Trump proved it. If JD Vance keeps pace, he could lock down the youth vote for the next generation.

Harris finishes campaign with one more humiliation

Kamala Harris dropped by the Democratic National Committee headquarters in Washington, D.C., before polls closed to gift a box of Doritos to staffers finishing off a phone-banking session, to hazard some remarks without the help of a teleprompter, and to engage in some make-believe.

"This is just the best, best, best, and I thank you all very much," said Harris.

After signaling her appreciation for her staffers' last-ditch efforts to turn out the vote, Harris walked over and grabbed a mobile phone, which supposedly had someone on the other end.

"Andrea, it's Kamala Harris," said the vice president. "How you doing? Have you voted already? ... You did? Thank you!"

'It's all fake all the way down.'

Harris raised the phone as if to capture the applause of the Democratic organizers in the room but accidentally revealed that she was apparently not on a call, but rather on the phone's photo application, with no on-screen indication of an ongoing call.

Despite killing the illusion, Harris made clear that she was committed to finishing her one-sided conversation with the photo app, saying, "Thank you so very much. You know, it's so important that everybody participates, and I thank you because I'm sure you've got a lot of other things you could be doing. ... Thank you. And you enjoy your day, okay?"

Critics rushed to mock Harris over her latest gaffe.

"The democrats are supporting a fake candidate running a fake campaign propped up by fake media," wrote Blaze Media digital strategist Logan Hall. "It's all fake all the way down."

'She truly is bad at this.'

Conservative producer Alex Lorusso quipped, "Those voices are coming from your head, not the phone."

The Virginia Project, a Republican PAC, tweeted, "We've reached the point on Election Day when losing candidates start talking to themselves in public."

All-American swim star Riley Gaines wrote, "There's nothing authentic about Kamala or her campaign."

This would not be the first time that Harris has strategically used fake phone calls.

On Sept. 2, Harris dodged reporters' questions about Hamas terrorists' execution of Israeli prisoners when boarding Air Force Two. The New York Post indicated that she had her headphones firmly inserted into both ears, but when skirting past the press, she also held the phone up to one ear as though that would achieve what the headphones apparently had failed to.

"PRO TIP: When pretending to be on the phone when you walk past the press to your plane, do not plug in the headphones so others can see and ALSO HOLD THE PHONE TO YOUR EAR," tweeted former Trump 2020 campaign communications director Tim Murtaugh. "This destroys the illusion and tells everyone you're full of it … again. She truly is bad at this."

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The Atlantic suggests Kamala Harris' shallowness and cringey speeches are assets — at least on TikTok

Some voters might find themselves rethinking Vice President Kamala Harris' competence after watching her mistakenly claim that the U.S. and the "Republic of North Korea" have a "strong and enduring" alliance; philosophize about the "significance of time"; talk down to rocket scientists; cluelessly clap along to a song protesting her presence; lecture about geopolitics; or struggle when going off-script.

Rather than write off Harris' cringey speeches, viral gaffes, and sudden onset accent changes as "cheap fakes," the liberal media appears keen to try a different strategy: reframe Harris' weaknesses as strengths.

The Democrat auditioning to become leader of the free world is not an airy kakistocrat prone to word salads but rather a fun candidate whose "oddball charm satisfies the content demands of the moment" — at least according to the Atlantic's Spencer Kornhaber.

Kornhaber suggested Monday that the Democratic nominee's "viral moments are fun to watch because they show a serious person having, well, fun."

'The point was not what she was saying, but how she was saying it.'

"They don't come off as overly canned either," said the Atlantic staff writer. "They're too idiosyncratic for that. Harris's laugh has already been much dissected — with sexist overtones — but that giggle is just a small part of her larger performance of authenticity. Being in proximity to the nuclear football has not stopped her from finding life amusing, quite clearly."

Although Harris is aiming for the White House, the Atlantic indicated the moments Republicans might otherwise mock along with her levity — be it real or feigned — makes her "perfect for TikTok."

With Harris in the race, Trump’s communication style is striking a different contrast. The rambling campaign-rally format that he pioneered was, after all, a pre-TikTok invention, one that helped cable news fill hours of airtime. Against an opponent whose social-media appeal derives from everyday breeziness — who will, for example, riff with you about recipes — Trump’s insult-comic bluster could come to seem stilted or even, yes, weird.

Harris' TikTok appeal also has ABC News wondering whether she can "ride memes all the way to the White House."

"The demographics of the people who tend to vote for the Democratic Party tend to skew younger, so they need to attract, in particular, the younger audiences, which are much harder to reach through traditional media," Pinar Yildirim, a marketing and economics professor at the University of Pennsylvania, told the liberal outlet.

Ted Rall recently suggested in the Wall Street Journal that "Democrats are evidently true believers in Ms. Harris, though she's given them little to believe in"; that the "Kamala Harris cult needs a personality."

Kornhaber alternatively appears to believe that the breezy variety of TikTok candidate does not necessarily have to present Democrats with something to believe in but rather with something entertaining to watch.

He noted, for instance, that at Harris' campaign rally in Atlanta last week, the vice president — who still has yet to post any platform details on her campaign website — was "coy on policy details" but delivered a rhetoric-heavy speech "with a kind of light, smiling swagger that felt unusual for a presidential campaign."

"Clips were everywhere the next day. The point was not what she was saying, but how she was saying it: a hallmark, perhaps now more than ever, of what people want from politics," added Kornhaber.

Harris' supposed TikTok stardom may, however, be a double-edged sword if even relevant to begin with.

"Harris's online appeal could curdle if her team tries to flagrantly force viral moments to happen, rather than stand back and allow the public to react to her persona," said Kornhaber. "In any case, it's certainly not clear that an amused electorate is one that's more likely to vote. But so far, at least, the ease — and yes, silliness — with which Harris carries herself is earning a precious commodity: positive attention."

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Katy Perry's new song is feminist GARBAGE

Katy Perry’s just come out with a new single, and the general reaction is not great.

“She does have a beautiful voice, but the values behind the song and then who’s behind it — it’s a little disturbing,” Allie Beth Stuckey of “Relatable” says, before calling the song a “feminist anthem.”

The song is aptly titled “Woman’s World” and features lyrics like “Sexy confident / so intelligent / she is heaven sent / so soft, so strong.”

“Actually awful,” Stuckey scoffs, adding, “This ‘Woman’s World’ song, that’s supposed to be a feminist anthem, that’s supposed to make you and I feel really empowered.”

Despite the song being about empowering women, there were six writers who worked on the song — and four of them were men. All the producers of the music video were male, the choreographer was male, and three producers of the song were male.

One of the men who worked on the song is Dr. Luke, who was accused of sexual abuse by the pop star Kesha, alongside other women.

“So, on this feminist anthem, not only is it mostly headed up by men, also by a pretty credibly accused sexual abuser,” Stuckey says, adding, “This is just very hypocritical.”

“You would think that she would have been able to find someone who wasn’t accused of sexual abuse, or just find a woman. Are there no women in this women’s world that can produce this?”

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This guy has ruined Starbucks for me

CRINGE: Chris Christie taunts Trump for skipping debate by giving him a new nickname

Former President Donald Trump skipped out of the second GOP debate, and the other Republican candidates were not pleased.

The candidates took their hits at Trump and mentioned that he should have been on the debate stage, and Sara Gonzales sort of agrees.

“I personally, selfishly wanted him on the debate stage, throwing jabs, because that’s great content to watch. I also understand that if I were advising Donald Trump, I would have said ‘Don’t go, like, just let them have the JV tryouts. You’re up so far in the polls, why would you go?’” Gonzales says.

Chris Christie had one of the most notable Trump insults, which Gonzales jokes might have “just ended Donald Trump’s campaign right on the spot.”

“I want to look at that camera right now and tell you Donald, I know you’re watching. You can’t help yourself. I know you’re watching, okay? And you’re not here tonight, not because of polls and not because of indictments, you’re not here tonight because you’re afraid of being on the stage and defending your record,” Christie said, pointing at the camera.

“You’re ducking these things,” he continued, “and let me tell you what’s going to happen. You keep doing that, no one up here is going to call you Donald Trump any more — we’re going to call you Donald Duck.”

Christie ended his insult looking extremely pleased with himself.

Gonzales stifles a laugh, asking, “How does Trump survive that?”

“How many times do you think he practiced that in the mirror?” she asks her guests.

“A lot,” Jaco Booyens laughs.

“He’s probably been wanting to say that for years, right, it’s his moment.”

“He should fire whoever told him it was a good idea to say that,” Gonzales says.

Carl Benjamin disagrees with a smile, adding, “I don’t think he can; I bet he came up with it himself.”

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