Two people talking, a calm, relaxed atmosphere. One, Donald Trump, says he considers himself a “fundamentally sincere” person. The other, the host, finds it hard to contain his laughter.

Scenes from an electoral campaign, the one for the American Presidential elections between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris, in which podcasts are playing a decisive role. Trump has shot several. The last, in chronological order, is the most famous of all, that of Joe Rogan, a long chat in which, among other things, the former President denied, once again, having lost the 2020 elections .

Before Rogan, Trump had been a guest on the podcast of wrestler Mark Calaway, known as The Undertaker, where he talked about sports and wrestling episodes. During the interview on the sports show Bussin with the Boys, he recalled his experience in football, while on Theo Von’s he joked about using cocaine. All shows that have in common belonging to a certain way of seeing the web, which some call manosphere. And that is, essentially, young white men – and not only – who oppose political correctness and woke culture, including misogyny and conspiracy theories.

Kamala Harris by Alex Cooper

On the other hand, Kamala Harris participated, above all, in Alex Cooper’s Call Her Daddy, whose audience was made up of 70% women; 76% of whom are under 35 years old. During the interview, he spoke mainly about the right to abortion, following the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn the historic Roe vs. Wade ruling. Harris also participated in the podcast of two former NBA players, Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson, during which he spoke mainly about marijuana and the legalization of soft drugs.

Long informal chats, without questions

Long informal chats, in the name of authenticity. Nothing written, nothing prepared, a general feeling of informality, combined with an almost total absence of any kind of question, of mediation. That format, that of the long video podcast, which is also quite famous in our country (just think of Gianluca Gazzoli’s Basement or Daniele Tinti and Stefano Rapone’s Tintoria), has proven to be an important way to build a relationship with very specific audiences. To build closeness, in other words.

Moreover, this electoral campaign was played around a very relevant fact: men vote for Trump, women for Kamala Harris. The gender gap is, in fact, one of the most relevant data of this electoral cycle, also highlighted by the most recent polls. Among others, a September Quinnipiac University analysis shows a gender gap of 26 points: women favor Harris with 53% versus 41% for Donald Trump, a 12-point advantage, while men favor Trump with 54% versus 40% for Harris, with a 14 point lead.

The first entirely digital election campaign

In addition to podcasts, there is an election campaign that is perhaps entirely digital for the first time.

“Both candidates, Donald Trump and Kamala Harris, have managed strategies that unleash impressive firepower – explains Valentina Tonutti, social media manager and strategist who manages the Fuori dal PED newsletter -. Every day, their social content fuels a constant electoral campaign, rich in substance and well designed on a communicative level.”

On the one hand, Kamala Harris has focused everything on younger people, between Instagram and TikTok. And he did it using those languages, those formats. There has also been a lot of talk in the United States about the use of rather unique content, such as sludge content. That is, split screen videos in which on one side there is the actual content and on the other there are scenes taken from a video game. A way, rather used on TikTok, to keep the attention of a generally distracted audience alive.

“Harris has demonstrated – continues Tonutti – an extraordinary ability to combine institutional needs with innovation. His campaign is a perfect example of how a political figure can use platforms like TikTok in a credible way. With Kamala HQ, the campaign profile, Harris was able to speak to young people using appropriate language, but maintaining an institutional posture. This mix has set the tone and will probably be a model for the future of electoral campaigns.”

On the other hand, Trump first exploited a safe space such as Elon Musk’s an electoral megaphone.

Trump’s strategy, rather conservative until the Dem candidate was Joe Biden, has seen a decisive change of pace since Kamala Harris entered the field. Since then, the campaign has become more aggressive and more focused.

“Trump got off to a slow start, especially compared to Harris. Until a few months ago, its presence on social media was inadequate, even obsolete. Then, something changed. Perhaps he realized Harris’ growing success and began adapting his content. Now its videos are in portrait format, with subtitles and attention-grabbing AI-generated images. This transformation was notable, because previously Trump seemed to ignore social dynamics in favor of his fame. But competition from Harris forced him to take action.”