WRFH/Radio Free Hillsdale 101.7 FM - Flyover Features: Are Attractive Trump Supporters Cool?

Episode Date: January 29, 2025

Emma and Sophia discuss how attractive young Trump supporters are rapidly becoming part of mainstream American culture.

You're listening to Flyover Features on Radio Free Hillsdale 101.7 FM. I'm Sophia Mant, speaking with my co-host Emma Varene, and in this episode, we are going to talk about a New York article titled The Cruel Kids Table, among the young, confident, and casually cruel Trumpers, who, after conquering Washington, have their sights set on America. And this article is by Brock Collier. And they are a features writer at New York. And this article was released yesterday, I believe, which would have been the 28th of January at 5 a.m. So this is a super recent one. Yes. And it's interesting because the author did not take the route.

I thought that she was going to take, which is a way of saying she basically was like, you know, I felt sick afterwards, but also I had a good time being kind of edgy and being with those people. So it makes it a more interesting article. Yeah, she basically, so basically the article is about the party life of a lot of young Trump supporters leading up to and after the inauguration of Donald Trump. And they're out and about in these bars, restaurants, restaurants, and hotel bar rooms and they are apparently just socializing and networking and drinking and smoking and meeting one another. So basically I think the beginning of this piece really just paints the picture and

sets up the scene of what the writer of this article is trying to portray these people as, which is just like, you know, young, cool, kind of jerky. Terminally online. Terminally online. Yeah, yeah. Well-connected, young, urban. And they're in a good mood because basically Trump's in office and he's hiring all the people they want to win.

So they're actually optimistic. And it is funny because it's more so mainstream Trump people. I was thinking, oh, this is going to be like, If anybody knows what I'm referencing, I'll be extremely happy. But, you know, this isn't Red ScarePod or Dashani Krasova. Although, unexpectedly, they did mention Curtis Jarvin, who it's kind of funny because I think Curtis Jarvin is one of the earliest kind of like weird online right-leaning figures I was familiar with.

Like, I first heard about him in middle school because of his views on technology and kind of being or late middle school pro monarchy simply because I found it interesting. at the time. But I think that's partially because he's a little bit more willing to be mainstream or, you know, mesh in with normal society than some of the crazier guys, if that makes sense. And he's been around for a while, too. Yeah, I wasn't really familiar with him until I think probably this year when I think they started running more articles about him. I can't remember the article that came out about him that was talking about his ideology and everything, but I saw that, and I think that was my first exposure to him. But yeah, I agree with you.

I was certainly expecting this article to be a little bit more centered on the right-leaning folk and less about just Trump-supporting TikTok influencers, which was surprising. I mean, I think that they tried to allude to this, like, more esoteric right, but didn't, like, actually quite get there. Yeah. Well, it's because they aren't. part of it for the most part. Like Curtis Yarvin, they said stop by, but he's, well, he's technically not really esoteric, but it was kind of funny because I was thinking, oh, these are people I'm going to know about. And I'm like, I don't know of these people much either, just the general Trump crypto type supporting. Like, that's not my my lieu of following. Although, it was kind of, it is

interesting because, and this is how I sometimes feel about like art in censorship, how now it seems liberals are being more wanting to censor or actively affecting my life when it comes to like the things I can say or like movies or stuff like that. Like most conservatives I feel like are not actively going to not let me watch an R-rated movie if I want to watch them unless I specifically go to like some kind of really strict college. You know, I have to put myself in a position to do that. Whereas like, I don't know, I can't necessarily say I like a book. I that has maybe a very different outlook in society than some kind of, you know, mainstream mass-produced like paperback, you know, back home around more liberal people.

So I do actually agree with them that it's almost like, you know, there's, like they even say an influencer, what does a conservative even look like anymore? And they admit it's just kind of vibes and them being like, you know, if you're a business person, it feels like we have a bit more freedom than other people. Like, it's not, and I'm not saying to be pretentious, like, they're admitting it's not really an intellectual or like, we must be right wing. It's just we feel more comfortable now with this group of people. Yeah, I think I was definitely surprised by the, um, the demographic that they portrayed. But, um, it also kind of made sense. And obviously the writer of this article is just coming at it from as being almost a

complete outsider, just sort of making observations. Some of them certainly were a little bit awkward and didn't seem to fit super well into the context of the piece, especially when we're talking about all these TikTok influencers. For example, there's this one line that describes a lot of these people here as many of them are hot enough to be extras in the upcoming American Psycho remake, which I mean for those who don't know American Psycho just features this attractive you know lead character who is a psychopath but um yeah this this this this was a little bit of a just like strange hodgepodge of like what someone from the complete outside of the right would look in and see and honestly it's a very superficial

it's a very superficial perspective. There are a lot of superficial elements of this, aside from the fact that I think the right of this article is looking at a lot of these people and saying, wow, these people are really attractive. Hmm, maybe they're like all jerks because I heard some of them like tell these offensive jokes. Well, I don't know. I mean, it's hard to know,

but I kind of got the impression the people she was talking to were not looking at things. in depth necessarily. Maybe I'm wrong. Do you kind of see that also? Does that make sense? They're more she'll just like, I like the vibes of Maga and I have more freedom to say what I want here.

They're not like, I am arguing for the principles of conservatism. Yeah, no, definitely. She basically is trying to make it pretty clear that a lot of these people aren't pearl clutching conservatives who, you know, don't wear, genes that reveal their ankles and they're more just like as they describe themselves normal young people who also just don't want to be constantly policed as young people do about how they talk and dress and how they choose to live their life yeah yeah well i know that they uh she mentions the author how the party how big the parties tense become and there's just almost all sorts of

different views here because it's almost like there's this broad collision of just Trump I think is good at appealing I mean he's a populace so appealing to a relatively broad group of people and also for any men listening apparently at these young conservative parties the article states that you know they're 80% men but 20% the most beautiful women you've ever seen so there's a lot of hot women at these places which is also believable judging by the um the cover picture of the article where there's some pretty nice looking females in there. Yeah, there are some. So yeah, the picture of this is also what stood out, the front page picture, which is just, you know,

this very eye-catching photo of a bunch of young Trump supporters at a party. And everyone that you, that your eye, like, sort of is directed toward, it just looks very good. So yeah, I It's really hard I think as a journalist to upload this picture of just like well-dressed like good-looking people and then trying to write an article that convinces us that they're all like

super like terrible. It's just like I don't know I would pick a less flattering angle or something Yeah well the the um the picture and the title makes them honestly kind of look cool to me. It makes them look like kind of like cool, rich, slightly edgy people because it's not, it's this kind of like weird. It weirdly reminds me of the culture of grunge, which was kind of like, in a way it was edgy because it was going against the mainstream yet simultaneously also

popular in a way or it became that way. It's that weird mixture of like just looking different edgy or like kind of like a goth gal, like, you know, people love goth gals, but also there's not a lot of people that are super open about flaunting it necessarily. So, yeah, but I actually think that the author, I don't know, I don't feel like she necessarily made them sound like they weren't cool because she literally admitted she kind of liked that she could make edgy humor, even though she also felt it was some of it, morally conflicted because some of it was messed up. Like, the vibes are shifting if someone for New York is kind of not entirely bashing them.

Well, yeah, but the way it came off to me was the same way, perhaps a confession of like white guilt would come off to me. Like, oh, I feel guilty because, you know, I feel like I'm participating in this and I am partially to blame. And so are we all. And it's supposed to prompt like this self-reflection or something like that. And I think that's kind of what this article is supposed to intended to. I guess she did that. I just think maybe if she tried to do that,

it was definitely less strong than like other news outlets I see where they're like, I infiltrated alt-right. Look at how evil they are. You know what I'm saying? Like it's definitely a less strongly worded attack against it. And I think I'm used to like certain news outlets either so like being like, you know, we are America. This is so great.

Look at, look at Maga. Or thinking they're literally. like terrorists like such extremes that anyone that even leans towards one side but not is not one extreme or the other is kind of like feels like you're is weird to me or like you're reading something a bit more unique i don't know how to word it it it's a pretty well-written article but um yeah so i guess that's that's probably part of it for me too uh yeah and then they also talk a bit about how you know what's what's trump going to do after you know when he's done being president like who can replace him, you know, that will, that will be interesting to see. I don't, I don't know who would be.

Yeah. I agree. I also think that the writer of this article is letting these people who they're interviewing just speak for themselves. And, and it's up to the audience to draw their own conclusions about it. If you don't like the R word, for example, being said, then, I mean, you're going to think that these people are really, really bad. Or if you don't mind it. as much, then you're going to draw a completely different conclusion. So it's sort of up to the audience to decide how they feel about what these people are saying at these parties. I will admit, I don't think that this is, this is not as extreme as I was expecting the author to try to portray them as this is pretty, like, this is pretty common just like, uh, internet speak.

Like, this is, this does not, this does not seem to be very, very, extreme at all. No, no. Yeah, I thought also this would be like, like I said, edge your kind of like figures and it's just like normal people who like Trump, if that makes sense. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And then other than Curtis Jarvin, which I just still think is really funny to include him. Curtis Jarvin is kind of interesting because he has the idea of the dark enlightenment, which he thinks starts with Christianity becoming more liberal and he has the idea essentially that the Enlightenment was not a good thing historically and he calls kind of this broad coalition of power, the cathedral, which is very interesting to me.

He's, he's considers on the right, involved in tech, not a Christian, and he's also a monarchist. So he's a weird mix of use. So he's kind of like Libnitz, Leibniz or Spinoza, which is a way of saying, as one of my professors would say, like, basically no one agrees with him. Like, very few people do. He's kind of his own person, but also, like, he's good at kind of comparing and contrasting certain viewpoints, or at least he's kind of interesting his ideas because he definitely is at least a different thinker or more unique in how he comes about things. Yeah, I definitely don't agree with, like, everything Yarvin says, but he's, he's interesting. He's, he's, he's the outlier at here.

And I just wanted an excuse to briefly talk about him. Yeah, that's interesting background, because I think a lot of people are not really sure who this guy is. Maybe you've heard the name, but aren't really entirely sure what he actually believes. His name is sort of just thrown around as, oh, you're associated with this guy named Curtis Jarvin, and he's far right. And, you know, therefore, et cetera. Yeah. Yeah. I know J.D. Vance, I remember reading, like, has either talked to or finds Jarvin interesting, but kind of has similar views as me where he doesn't, like, full.

agree with him. From what I remember, Yarvin is, he's kind of far right, but he's also, he's not, like, extremely far right, from what I remember, like, he's, which is part of why he's somewhat able to associate in more mainstream circles, at least from what I'm recalling. Yeah. His idea of the cathedral is very interesting. It's kind of three separate groups of power, I think, one of which is kind of, like, I don't know, scientists or something like that. I wish you could remember the specifics, but that, that is a very interesting power structure because it's almost like, you know, a religious system, but not Christianity that's kind of controlling people. You've been listening to Fly Over Futures on Radio Free Hillsdale 101.7 FM. I think it's interesting how the author talks about the identity of these people and how distinct it is from the supporters of Trump in 2016, not to say that there isn't a lot of overlap between the supporters of Trump in 2016.

and the supporters of Trump in 2024. But they're described as not disenfranchised or working class or anti-elite or many of the other adjectives used to describe Trump supporters since 2016. Rather, they are young, imposingly well-connected, urban, and very online. They are rebels once again storming Capitol Hill, though without the pathetic scariness of the January 6th rioters. So I think this is interesting because it sort of goes to show that I think the Trump supporters in 2016 saw themselves as underdogs. And I think now a lot of Trump supporters are trying to reject that title and say like, hey, like maybe this isn't the most beneficial for us, you know? Well, in some way, I mean, they aren't. he's literally the president

like people can fight against him now but he's kind of a significant figure now and in power yeah and I mean I think he correct me if I'm wrong but he actually won the popular vote didn't he yeah so I mean it's more popular to prefer

Trump to Kamala now so I mean I think now they're just trying to frame themselves as like we aren't the resistance we're the normal people which I think maybe when Trump was running in 2016 against Hillary and Hillary made the famous deplorables comment. That was kind of the message. But it did seem to be a bit more like, we're the rebellion with the whole January 6th incident.

And like everyone's up against us and kind of the vibes of 2020 and the Black Lives Matter protests. But now it feels almost stronger. I don't know. Just people seem, especially going to a more right-to-center campus here, people seem generally in a good mood and or happy about it. or a lot of people do. Yep. I will say, I mean, she did kind of make these people sound kind of cool, even though they're TikTok influencers who just broadly like Maga.

So I don't know. Like, I generally get along with people. It's not that I would like strongly dislike these people. But, you know, like, these also are not the people I'd necessarily be without a party. Right. Am I my first choice? Yeah. Yeah.

Yep. Yeah, well, they even describe how it's like the first influencer election. There's a whole new industry of media personalities coming together to fight for our side of the aisle. And it's like, you know, mainstream culture is not like strictly traditionalist conservative. I don't think like, you know, the trad caths here at Hillsdale. But like mainstream culture is broadly Trump business. I don't know. It just feels that way.

I mean, Joe Rogan, I don't know, UFC, whatever stuff. those people watch. Like it's it's not it's it's some different vibes. It's very very different. Yeah. I think that this is a different world from anything like Hillsdale or like even other circles in DC. You know. Yeah. It's it's just completely

different. I mean, I don't know any TikTok personal TikTok influencers personally. I don't know this stuff either. It says a lot that I most familiar with Kurt. I only knew Curtis Yarven I think out of any of these people here. And apparently some of these people actually have a lot of followers and probably do.

Well, I know of Joe Rogan. Yeah, this is like, I don't know, SEC, big state southern schools type, broad type culture going to get a degree in business with thousands of people or something. I don't know. It's taking over America, this, this jelly roll, this, this, this world of, like, I don't know, whatever, whatever, whatever modern pop country music that, that people like. Yeah, I can see what you're trying to say. Just like it's totally mainstream. It's, it's totally, it's even disconnected from a lot of other Trump supporters, I think. But yeah, I would say if there is a monolith, it's probably as described in this article. Well, well, it's actually true because I think

like supporting Trump was mainstream, not necessarily being against Trump, but like, actually on ironically being a strong supporter of Kamala Harris, I don't think was necessarily, it didn't feel necessarily, like a mainstream position, like being left or not supporting him, yes, but not that. Yeah. That's all we have time for today. I'm Mavarini and I'm here with Sophia Mant. You're listening to Flyver Features on Radio Free Hillsdale 101.7 FM.