How Creators Turned Political Campaigns Into The Ultimate Battleground

Forbes

4 hours ago

The 2024 U.S. Presidential election, apart from being a seismic result in favor of former and current President Trump, marked a major change in the business of campaigns.
The first time utilization and mobilization of major content creators by both party machines was immortalized at Trump's election victory party at Mar a-Lago by the UFC Founder Dana White in his deep praise of the prominent Podcasters instrumental in tipping the scales and delivering the winning campaign when she stated: 'I want to thank the NELK Boys, Adin Ross, Theo Von, Bussin' With The Boys. And last but not least, the mighty and powerful Joe Rogan'.
The business of politics and campaigns - like a number of legacy industries, is now played out on the distribution platform that is relevant: social media. People under 40 years of age rush away from linear television, newspapers and radio airwaves that once defined media consumption. Online streaming grew to account for 40% of U.S. TV usage – in comparison to cable television sitting at an anemic 27%. Newspaper circulation dropped by 12.7% in 2024
Audio numbers have grown with the rise of Spotify and Apple Music and those consuming podcasts through video (like on Youtube). Seventy percent of Americans above the age of 12 have listened to a podcast, and 73% above the age of12 have consumed a podcast in audio form or video — underscoring the growth of the medium as a means of messaging and entertainment.
The relatively nascent Twitter app was used during Obama's first run for the presidency to acquire new audiences and disseminate new messaging. Now, it's owned by the world's wealthiest man: Elon Musk. His change of heart around President Trump aside, the election result remains the same. and now along with Truth Social are the preeminent presidential mouthpieces and appear set to be the main standards of announcement around the office of the White House throughout this presidential term.
While so many people became obsessed over the first presidential race to be set in the heart of the AI revolution – it was audio and YouTube that created the intimate bond to voters. Over the course of 2024, both Trump and Democratic candidate Kamala Harris traded podcast and YouTube appearances on the aforementioned NELK Boys, Adin Ross, Theo Von and perhaps most prominently the world's biggest podcaster Joe Rogan where he preferred a more 'unscripted' style approach to win voters.
Harris, on the other hand, sat down with Call Her Daddy host Alex Cooper and reportedly turned down an appearance on Rogan wanting the Texas based podcaster to come to Washington. She also appeared on 'All the Smoke' with former NBA players Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson while completing interviews with Howard Stern and Charlamagne tha God.
The contrasting publicity choices seems to tell a very clear story. The Joe Rogan and Trump podcast amassed 59 million views on YouTube and his sit-down with Theo Von amassed another 16 million views. By comparison, Kamala Harris's effort with Cooper contrastingly didn't crack 1 million views and sits, at the time of publication, at a comparatively meagre 992,000.
These YouTube view counts don't even factor in the many 'cut downs' versions of the films that were distributed as bite sized pieces on platforms like Tik Tok, Instagram and YouTube shorts.
Beyond the presidential race, the hotly contested New York democratic primary race between former governor Andrew Cuomo and the fast-rising underdog Assembly member Zohran Mamdani has seen one candidate embrace both Instagram and Tik Tok for his campaign messaging. Delivering made-for-platform short form clips of the 33-year-old interviewing regular people on the street and speaking in Hindi with smash cuts of Bollywood films as well as collaborations with pages like the Gaydar Show humorously talking about LGBTQI specific issues and popular creators like Hasan Piker to illustrate relatability and authenticity over more scripted and polished fair which traditional politicians tend to embrace. Mamdani counts over 600,000 followers on Instagram and 275,000 on Tik Tok whilst his chief opposition Cuomo held a relatively meagre 196,000 on Instagram and 2600 on Tik Tok,
With a victory in the democratic primary, Mamdani's embracing of social, short form and creators surged past the more well established and better funded Cuomo. The unapologetic embracing of social platforms and creators has also resulted in a record $8 Million raised from donors to help continue the slick social messaging push to November's General Mayoral election.
The US election cycle is now fully embracing this new standard of message distribution as each Party battles to get its propaganda in front of new and ever evolving audiences. Mark my words, as more and more content creators develop into the podcast world, YouTube and Live Streaming – it's clear that they hold more sway than ever before.
Multiple talent managers who represent talent that have completed content partnerships with both sides of the political aisle reinforced the sentiment that the growth of political spending on creators represents the most tangible way to access younger voters who have long since tuned out of legacy media.
As you would expect, campaign finances are also being distributed very differently today as well. $5.5 billion was spent on the Presidential campaign in 2024 and that number trebled to $15.9 billion with congressional races factored in too.
Daniel Bee, a Publicist and Communications expert in Los Angeles said: 'It's pretty safe to say we should anticipate continued growth in political spending in the USA and that a huge chunk of that money will be spent working closer with content creators and their huge and growing audiences. You have to meet the audiences where they are'.
The mass spending begs the question where future campaign dollars will be funneled off the back of the growth of Podcast and social media appearances for candidates. Paid ads on social media are nothing new but it opens up the high likelihood of more and more money being spent on Podcast appearances, sponsored creator content, political rallies featuring more creators and livestreams are set to become part of the fabric of campaigning for years to come.
Will 2028 bring the first Presidential Mr. Beast games…only time will tell