‘A fatal miscalculation’: masculinity researcher Richard Reeves on why Democrats lost young men

Kamala Harris and Tim Walz had an opportunity to win a demographic that swung toward Trump - but they didn't fight for it, says the author

In the months leading up to election day, pollsters were fixated on one demographic: young men. This group, often elusive in political data, was showing signs of a notable swing toward Donald Trump and away from the progressive viewpoints of young women.

Traditionally a policy wonk, Richard Reeves became an unlikely media mainstay this election cycle, sought after by those trying to decode the concerns and motivations of these gen Z male voters. Reeves is president of the American Institute for Boys and Men, which he started in 2023 to create research-based approaches to bettering the education, mental health, and work and family life of men. Many of the institute's policy proposals were outlined in Reeves's 2022 book Of Boys and Men: Why the Modern Male Is Struggling, Why It Matters, and What to Do About It.