Some of the most prominent podcasters who gave Donald Trump access to young male audiences in 2024 are losing favor with young men, according to new polling, even as several criticize the president’s second-term agenda. Trump has also lost support among that group.
Joe Rogan and Tucker Carlson have seen their ratings decline among young men, according to new polling reported by Puck News. Both hosts supported Trump in 2024 but have since criticized his administration over the war with Iran.
The polling from the Democratic project Speaking With American Men found that Rogan’s favorability among young men fell 11 percentage points and Carlson’s net favorability declined 12 points compared with early 2025, according to Puck’s reporting.
The survey also found that Andrew Tate, the controversial influencer, registered a net approval rating of minus 30. Tate co-hosts the “Emergency Meeting” podcast with his brother, Tristan. The Tate brothers were arrested in Miami in July after British prosecutors charged them with rape and sex trafficking, and they are being held without bail as they fight extradition. Romanian prosecutors separately indicted Andrew Tate in September on charges including trafficking minors and money laundering, and Tristan on complicity charges. Both deny wrongdoing.
CHECK OUT THE DAILY WIRE MIDTERM HUB
During the 2024 campaign, Trump appeared on shows such as “The Joe Rogan Experience,” “The Tucker Carlson Show,” and “This Past Weekend with Theo Von” to reach their audiences. Several of those hosts have since distanced themselves from Trump and challenged the administration’s policies.
Rogan, who backed Trump in 2024 after previously expressing reservations about him, has criticized the president’s foreign policy and questioned whether his promises were genuine. “What Trump stood for, some of it turned out to not be real,” Rogan said during a recent episode featuring actor Michael Douglas. “Like one of them was ‘No wars’ … That wasn’t real.”
Carlson, meanwhile, has sharply criticized Trump’s decision to attack Iran and his partnership with Israel. After helping promote Trump’s presidential campaign, Carlson expressed regret in April over his role in persuading voters to support the president. “I do think it’s like a moment to wrestle with our own consciences,” Carlson said. “We’ll be tormented by it for a long time. I will be. And I want to say I’m sorry for misleading people. It was not intentional.”
Theo Von has also questioned the benefits of the Iran war for ordinary Americans. “What farmer is this helping? What regular person is this helping?” Von asked during an April episode. “I just don’t know. I don’t understand.”
A separate poll, the 2026 Young American Men Survey, found that President Trump, Vice President JD Vance, and the Republican Party were viewed more unfavorably than favorably by registered male voters ages 18 to 30. That dissatisfaction does not necessarily translate into enthusiasm for Democrats. According to Puck’s reporting, former President Barack Obama, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani were among the few Democrat figures viewed more favorably than unfavorably by young men in the Speaking With American Men polling.
A September working paper from New York University’s Center for Social Media, AI and Politics found that podcast exposure did not necessarily cause Trump’s gains among young men, according to Axios.
Separate research examined how voters say they respond to candidates appearing on podcasts. A study released on Monday by Sounds Profitable, a podcast-industry trade association, found that one in four likely voters who listen to podcasts monthly said a candidate’s appearance on a podcast could make them more likely to vote for that candidate. Nine percent said such an appearance could make them less likely to support the candidate.
The survey, based on a nationally representative sample of 5,473 U.S. adults, also found that 60% of monthly podcast listeners considered it appropriate for politicians to appear on podcasts, up from 56% in 2025.
