Trump and Harris’ dueling podcast strategies

Every time a new form of media comes along, politicians work to master it. In the 1930s, FDR understood the power of radio and connected with the American people through his “fireside chats.” Kennedy understood the power of television and utilized it to communicate his messages, appearing fit and immaculate every time he was on camera. Now podcasts have joined the rest as the newest method of communication, especially among young people. And both campaigns are attempting to use it to increase their candidate’s popularity with very specific demographics.

Recently, Vice President Kamala Harris appeared on the popular podcast “Call Her Daddy,” an advice and comedy podcast hosted by Alexandra Cooper. The website describes itself as:

“The most listened to podcast by women. Alex Cooper’s Call Her Daddy has been creating conversation since 2018. Cooper cuts through the BS with topics and guests – asking the burning questions you want the answers to. There will be laughter, there will be tears. There will be everything in between.”

“Call Her Daddy” is well known for addressing taboo issues around culture and sexuality and is especially popular among young women. It is the fifth most listened to podcast in the country among women, and 76% of listeners are under the age of 35.¹ By going on this podcast and discussing not just key campaign issues such as student loan debt and abortion access but also her upbringing and personal story, Harris has made it very clear that she is aiming to connect with younger female voters. She is attempting to not just get out her message, but also to humanize herself and appeal to a demographic that she needs to mobilize if she is going to win.

This is a fairly new strategy for the Harris campaign. Previously she had only been going on a very standard series of media appearances with well-known, typically mainstream media. Throughout the summer of 2024, we saw her make appearances on podcasts such as Next Question with Kamala Harris, We Can Do Hard Things, The Run-Up (New York Times), The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, and CNN.

Trump has had his own media strategy, appearing on a lot of self-identifying independent/anti-establishment podcast shows which appeal largely to younger male demographics. He has made podcast appearances on shows like Shawn Ryan Show, Lex Fridman Podcast, Theo Von, and Livestreams with social media influencers like Logan Paul and Adin Ross. Given the gender gaps in both presidential preference (women preferring Harris) and turnout (women vote more often than men) the Trump campaign clearly wants to make sure young men go to the polls.

So, why target men? Men aged 29 and under support Trump by more than a 10-point margin. The Trump campaign likely view getting men interested in the election as crucial to winning. Young women on the other hand prefer Harris by a 40-point margin.

As previously discussed in these pages, young men are among the lowest-propensity voters, so by appearing on podcasts where the topics are not exclusively politics and that are popular among young people, especially men, the Trump campaign is likely trying to motivate new voters who otherwise might not show up. For example, on standup comedian Theo Von’s podcast, the two discussed Theo’s struggles with drug addiction and Donald Trump’s late older brother’s struggle with alcoholism (for context, this episode received over 13 million views on Youtube). Again, going on these podcasts allows politicians to be humanized in a less formal setting in ways we might not otherwise see.

In both cases, the campaigns are attempting to use earned media to get their message out without having to pay for airtime. Harris is far outspending Trump on paid media, but so did Hillary Clinton in 2016, and in the end, Trump won largely off his earned media presence. He now has an opportunity to replicate this by going on podcasts. If the Harris campaign hopes to win, they have to match his impact.

So, how impactful are podcasts? According to Ivy, a podcast discovery service, Trump has appeared on or been mentioned in nearly 70,000 podcasts compared to Kamala Harris who has appeared on or been mentioned in a little over 12,000 podcasts. This demonstrates how, so far, Trump has a much greater impact on the digital format, dominated by younger Americans.

In terms of demographics, podcasts in general tend to be listened to more by men, though women are increasingly tuning in. In 2024, 45% of women listened to podcasts, compared to 48% of men. This was an uptick from 2023 when 46% of men and of 39% of women listened.

Major platforms like Apple and Spotify attract millions of listeners daily to their podcasts. By 2025, Apple is expected to reach 29.2 million podcast listeners, and Spotify is projected to hit 42.4 million podcast listeners.

When it comes to engagement with podcasts, 52% of Spotify’s audience is aged 18 to 34; 46% are female and 54% are male. Apple Podcasts has an older audience with the 35-to-54 age range as its most popular. Fifty-two percent of their listeners are female, 48% are male. YouTube is younger and more male dominated with 60% of listeners being male and 40% female.

According to Attest’s U.S. media consumption habits report in 2021, only 29% of Gen Z watches live TV, making them the least likely demographic to watch traditional media. Meanwhile, 50% of those aged 12 to 34 reportedly listened to a podcast in the past 30 days, compared to 43% of those aged 35 to 54 (the fastest growing group of listeners) and 22% for those 55 and over.

Below is a breakdown of podcast listeners by age.

Also of great importance is how those listeners engage with podcasts compared to other forms of media. Younger listeners tend to engage with and take recommendations from podcasts more often than older listeners. Four in 10 listeners aged 18 to 29 (40%) and 30 to 49 (41%) say they have made or tried a lifestyle change because of something they heard on a podcast (compared to 32% of listeners aged 50 to 64 and 22% of those 65 and over). Adults under 50 are more likely than their elders to report joining an online discussion group related to a podcast they listened to (22% of of those aged 18 to 29, 18% of those aged 30 to 49, 13% of those aged 50 to 64, and five percent of those 65 and over). This is important for campaigns to understand because it demonstrates the impact that podcasts can have on young listeners who otherwise might not be engaged with politics.

There is also the potential for campaigns to utilize podcasts for advertising. While many podcasters might be hesitant to directly run a political ad on their show, YouTube algorithms are able to target specific demographics watching these podcasts for ad running, giving the campaigns additional avenues for mobilizing support.

Podcasts are the most recent addition to the media available to political candidates. It allows candidates to target their messages to specific subgroups like young men and young women. In an increasingly fractionalized political environment, podcasts will play an important role in messaging and mobilization.