Trump’s 2024 media play: Less cable, more Barstool

Former President Donald Trump’s campaign over the past several months has been quietly engaged in behind-the-scenes talks for a sit-down interview with an influential media figure.

It’s not a network personality or a “60 Minutes” anchor or even Elon Musk for a stab at Twitter Spaces.

It’s boxing legend “Iron” Mike Tyson.

Tyson — an old Trump pal who recently dined with the former president at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate — is, in his post-fighting days, the host of the “Hotboxin’” podcast. It’s a show that draws a range of celebs, like the rapper Tyga, retired skateboarder Tony Hawk and comedian Cedric the Entertainer. And it could soon feature a former president who is now the prohibitive favorite to be his party’s White House nominee.

The Trump campaign’s interest in Tyson’s podcast is part of a broader strategic outreach to non-traditional media outlets, specifically those affiliated with male audiences with an interest in contact and combat sports. This week, days after making an appearance at an Ultimate Fighting Championship fight in Las Vegas, the ex-president is expected to be featured on the popular podcast “UFC Unfiltered.”

This spring he recorded an interview on “Full Send,” a podcast hosted by the “Nelk Boys,” a comedian and prankster trio. There have also been talks about Trump doing an interview on Barstool Sports, a sports and pop culture behemoth especially popular among young men.

The outreach underscores the degree to which Trump remains a cultural figure as much as a political one. It also highlights a centerpiece of his election strategy — in both the Republican primary and, should he be the party’s nominee, the general election. He and his team are placing a major bet on appealing to less politically active voters.

“Doing non-traditional media and showing up to major cultural events like UFC fights allows former President Trump to hit a completely different audience than doing an interview on Fox News or other political media,” said Republican strategist Andy Surabian, an adviser to Trump’s son Donald Trump Jr. “He’s putting himself in front of people who are far less politically engaged and don’t necessarily have a baked in view of him.”

Trump’s interview on “UFC Unfiltered” highlights the former president's focus on appealing to that subset of voters, who are seen as less interested in elections than they are in sports. In a teaser clip posted on the channel this week, a host says that Trump “sat down with us and talked fights for 40 minutes — UFC, boxing, his history with boxing, Tyson,” among other boxing-and-UFC related topics.

In a preview of the episode, Trump praises two UFC fighters who squared off last week, Alexander Volkanovski and Yair Rodriguez, and talks about hosting another fighter, Bo Nickal, in the White House. When asked what pump-up walk-out song he would pick if he were fighting himself, Trump suggests he would pick something by the singer Kid Rock or “We Are the Champions,” the 1970s smash hit by Queen, though he says the latter “is played so much.”

“There are a lot of songs, inspirational songs, songs that make you want to do it,” Trump adds.

Combat sports are comfortable terrain for Trump, who is a connoisseur of fights. He is friends with UFC President Dana White and the famed boxing promoter Don King, and for years hosted boxing showdowns at his Atlantic City, N.J., casino, including the 1991 “Battle of the Ages” between George Foreman and Evander Holyfield. In 2021, he and Donald Trump Jr. served as commentators for a fight between Holyfield and Vitor Belfort.

He has also been heavily associated with wrestling, having also hosted WWE events at his Atlantic City properties and, among other things, doing battle with fellow billionaire Vince McMahon at WrestleMania in 2007.

Trump’s appearance on such nontraditional platforms illustrates a comfort he has around celebrity and sports culture that not every politician possesses, his advisers argue.

“President Trump’s star power and unmatched energy makes him a force of nature that resonates with people from all backgrounds,” said Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung, himself a former UFC official.

It also has given him entree to a young, heavily male segment of the electorate who are getting news from prominent personalities such as podcast host Joe Rogan — whom Trump was seen chatting with at last’s weekend’s fight — in addition to watching those fights. According to an analysis posted last month on the sports betting website BetMGM, the sport is most popular among those 25 to 35 years old. Ninety percent of its viewers are male.

That demographic played a key role in swinging the 2020 election to President Joe Biden. According to a Pew Research report, Biden and Trump were nearly tied in support among male voters, compared with 2016, when Trump won 11 percent more of the male vote than Hillary Clinton did. Among white men who did not graduate college, Biden received 36 percent of the vote, an uptick from Clinton’s 28 percent.

"For Trump, the one thing I don't think people put into perspective, where he lost in 2016 to 2020,” said Republican strategist Ryan Girdusky. "He left a ton of chips on the table."

But it isn’t just sports platforms that Trump is aiming for. A possible appearance on Barstool Sports, a site known for its edgy, anti-”woke” content, would fit in with that broader cultural strategy. While president, Trump invited the site’s founder, Dave Portnoy, to the White House for an interview.

Trump has also conducted a pair of interviews — one this spring, another last year — with the Nelk Boys, who have drawn a cult following on YouTube for their pranks. They rose to prominence in 2015, after they recorded a video of them offering “Coke,” to people. It ends with the Nelk Boys being confronted by police, who then realize they were talking about Coca-Cola, not drugs.

Trump advisers say they are looking to make inroads with a segment of the electorate that is not always easy to reach. John McLaughlin, a Trump campaign pollster, said a sizable portion of undecided and independent voters, women without a college degree and younger white voters do not engage with dominant news platforms.

“It’s a challenge to get the ‘no news’ voters information about the election, but to win their votes, the Trump campaign is working overtime to get them through alternative media sources,” McLaughlin said.

The outreach has at times surprised those who are getting access to Trump — including the Nelk Boys

“We’re at Mar-a-Lago. I can’t even believe this is happening,” one of the Nelk Boys said when opening its interview last year. “We’ve got Donald Trump.”