Ahead of the 2024 presidential election, most major forecasting polls predicted that Vice President Kamala Harris would narrowly defeat former President Donald Trump. Many forecasted that young voters would carry Harris across the finish line, securing her key victories in swing states.
But these predictions didn’t come to fruition. Among voters aged 18 to 29, Harris won by six points. In 2016 Hillary Clinton won this group by 18 points, and in 2020, President Joe Biden won it by 25. Trump secured a greater portion of voters in the under-30 age range than any Republican presidential candidate since 2008.
In the wake of this outcome, some BC students are taking pause as they grapple with an outcome they hoped wouldn’t occur. Some of those who were pleased with the results are calling for less animosity and more respectful political discussion. Following an unpredictable and quickly determined presidential election, how do members of the BC community explain Trump’s exceedance of expectations?
Examining Youth Voter Turnout
Ethan Folkman, MCAS ’25 and president of Boston College Republicans, attributes Trump’s success to Trump’s appearances on popular podcasts like The Joe Rogan Experience. Compared to older generations, Folkman said Gen Z is less interested in coverage from legacy media outlets like The New York Times and CBS.
“I think what got especially young men out—because I think that’s sort of the demographic that pushed him over the edge—was the podcasts,” Folkman said. “Barron Trump was very, very involved in getting him on Joe Rogan and Adin Ross and other podcasts that a lot of young men especially listen to.”
Onur Toper, campus chair of BC for Harris, also noted that Trump’s campaign embraced podcast appearances to appeal to young, male voters, citing Trump’s appearance on social media influencer Logan Paul’s Impaulsive podcast.
But this strategy wasn’t exclusive to the Trump campaign, Toper, MCAS ’25, said. To appeal to young voters, Harris went on Alexandra Cooper’s Call Her Daddy podcast to speak about abortion rights and student debt. Tim Walz, Harris’ running mate, also made an appearance on Twitch, the live streaming platform, alongside U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
“Governor Walz went on The Rich Eisen Show on ESPN,” Toper said. “And Governor Walz played Madden on Twitch with AOC, which was interesting as well.”
Campaign Platform Wins and Woes
Beyond the use of nontraditional media touchpoints, Folkman and Toper both pointed to JD Vance’s presence in the Trump campaign as an appeal to young, male voters. Vance is the third-youngest candidate ever elected to the Office of Vice President.
“He kind of extended a hand to young people by picking him as his VP,” Toper said.
To appeal to young voters, Toper said the Harris campaign focused on the freshness of the Democratic ticket.
“She also talked a lot about generational change and a new generation of leadership,” Toper said.
Folkman said the biggest mistake the Harris campaign made among young voters was assuming pro-Palestine voters would automatically vote against Trump, when in fact, many of them did not vote at all.
As pro-Palestine protests on college campuses across the country—including at BC—have made headlines, Folkman said Democrats may have assumed pro-Palestine individuals would do whatever it takes to stop Trump.
“The way that the [Biden Administration] sort of mishandled the Israel-Gaza issue, I think, turned a lot of people away just to not vote at all—not necessarily to vote for Trump, just to not vote at all,” Folkman said. “I think that was the biggest blunder with the youth vote that the Democratic Party had this year.”
As Toper sees it, the Trump campaign engaged in fear-mongering surrounding the war in Gaza and Ukraine.
“[Trump] spoke about the Ukraine and Gaza wars in a way to appeal to young men in particular, because he said, ‘Oh, we don’t want to send our young people to war,’” Toper said. “Obviously, there’s zero U.S. troops in either one right now.”
Beyond these issues, Toper said the Trump campaign also honed in on certain talking points, like the inflation of grocery prices, to appeal to economically concerned voters.
“I think the Harris campaign was a nearly flawless campaign, and I think Trump really hammered in on the economy, which resonated with a lot of people,” Toper said.
According to Masha Krupenkin, an assistant professor of political science at BC who studies American political behavior, the election’s results reflect a trend of frustrations toward incumbent parties rather than specific issues with the Harris campaign.
“I actually don’t think that there’s anything unique about the campaigns that’s causing this,” Krupenkin said.
Looking specifically at the economic frustrations that consumers project onto sitting Presidents, Krupenkin said inflation historically puts pressure on the incumbent party.
“Inflation is pretty uniquely bad for an incumbent party,” Krupenkin said. “A lot of people are willing to set aside whatever feelings they have about a candidate or a party to either not turn out to vote, or to vote for the party that is not the incumbent party—the challenging party.”
It may be hard for some BC students to imagine the weight that these sorts of economic issues hold to voters, Krupenkin said. But regardless, they influence voters in a major way.
“BC students are rather an unusual bunch, just in general when it comes to the American electorate—I think part of it is that a lot of us don’t spend a lot of time with swing voters,” Krupenkin said. “I think the fact that inflation was such a problem for a lot of people—even if it’s a problem in our own lives—maybe we underestimated how meaningful it was to shifting people’s votes.”
The Way Forward
In the aftermath of Trump’s election, Folkman said BC Republicans anticipate increased club participation.
“We’re having an e-board meeting and trying to figure out how we’re going to adjust to this now, because we’re thinking we might get a lot more people interested in the club now that Trump won,” Folkman said.
The results of the election have Toper feeling more driven than ever to continue his pursuit of politics.
“Like Kamala Harris said in her concession speech, this isn’t a time to throw up our hands,” Toper said. “It’s a time to roll up our sleeves. Even on a personal level, I feel much more motivated to work in public service and do something in public service that can not only help Democrats but can maybe help prevent some of the really devastating stuff that’s gonna happen over the next four years.”
In the face of disappointment and shock, Toper said Democrats have still conceded the election and will pass the torch justly. This, Toper said, speaks to the values of the Democratic Party.
“President Biden is going to treat Donald Trump in a way that he never treated Biden four years ago,” Toper said. “And even though that can feel painful, it’s important to remember that’s who we are as Democrats.”
Judging by historical trends, Democrats will likely secure more seats in the House and Senate in 2026, Krupenkin said. But the near future of American politics, she added, will be defined by the Republican Party’s majority rule over the executive, legislative, and judicial branches.
“In a universe where we have free and fair elections, I can talk about what will probably happen in 2026—in one where we don’t, all bets are kind of off,” Krupenkin said. “If we have free and fair elections in 2026, the president’s party will lose seats in the House and or Senate, and chances are that will make it more difficult for the Trump administration to pass laws. But for the next two years, they basically have a blank check.”
Veronica Pierce contributed to reporting.
Editor’s Note: Onur Toper served as the former digital director for The Heights. He was interviewed as a necessary source for this story by an editor with no experience working with Toper.
