From meme wars to middle-school humor, the Trump administration’s digital playbook is built to capture Gen Z’s attention, even if it risks alienating everyone else.
President Donald Trump himself recently shared an AI-generated video showing him piloting a fighter jet and dumping what appeared to be feces on protesters, one of several pieces of synthetic media he and his digital team have used to promote his larger-than-life persona.
The National Republican Senatorial Committee has also embraced the technology, releasing a 30-second AI-generated ad that falsely depicts Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) appearing on camera to say, “Every day gets better for us,” a quote he originally gave to a newspaper about the political effect of the government shutdown.
The White House soon generated a viral moment of its own. When press secretary Karoline Leavitt replied, “your mom did” to a HuffPost reporter asking about Trump’s meeting with Vladimir Putin. Leavitt later posted the exchange on X, quickly spreading across social media. Leavitt dismissed the reporter as a “far-left hack,” while supporters praised her for “owning the media.”
The episode became emblematic of the MAGA movement’s online persona: mocking, juvenile, and built for virality. The White House did not respond to a request for comment.
For context, S.V. Dáte of the Huffington Post is not a journalist interested in the facts. He is a left-wing hack who has consistently attacked President Trump for years and constantly bombards my phone with Democrat talking points.
— Karoline Leavitt (@PressSec) October 20, 2025
Just take a look at @svdate’s feed, it reads… https://t.co/NxWn2mdUsa pic.twitter.com/v7owI5N4us
Even House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) defended the approach, saying Monday that “the president uses social media to make the point” and “is using satire to make a point,” calling Trump “probably the most effective person who’s ever used social media” and insisting he is “not calling for the murder of his political opponents.”
The incidents mark a shift from traditional political messaging toward internet spectacle. Trump and his allies are blurring the line between politics and performance, leaning on shock value, satire, and meme aesthetics to drive engagement. In an online environment where attention is currency, virality often outruns persuasion.
For younger audiences, the approach makes intuitive sense. Many Gen Z voters consume politics through short videos and meme pages rather than speeches or TV ads. Trump’s digital style seems to have capitalized on that shift. Data from Pew Research Center shows he made his biggest inroads among young men in 2024, who shifted noticeably toward Republicans, even as young women remained solidly Democratic. Those gains among young men are shaping how Republicans think about messaging heading into 2026 and 2028. The irreverent humor and meme-driven language that define Trump’s public persona, and now the administration’s communication style, echo the tone of the platforms where Gen Z, especially young men, spend much of their time, making the content feel familiar and instantly shareable.
But not all Republicans view the approach as a winning strategy. GOP strategist Doug Heye, a former RNC communications director, said the current style is less strategy than swagger. “We’ve gone from virtue-signaling to vice-signaling. It’s not professional, it’s just embarrassing. I’m not sure there’s a strategy.” Asked whether it could be damaging with older voters down the line, Heye said, “I doubt they will even see it. It’s more designed to make their friends laugh.”
Michigan-based GOP strategist Dennis Lennox drew a comparison to an earlier era of Republican media dominance.
“Just as Republicans of a generation ago used to own talk radio, increasingly the MAGA dominant strain of Republicanism is owning social media by catering to a new generation of voters,” Lennox said. “Now, whether any of that really matters is a different question, because there’s a risk that you’re only preaching to the choir, no matter the medium.”
Lennox added that the shift reflects a broader change in campaign priorities. “Increasingly, elections are less and less about persuasion. We’ve been stuck in turnout elections for a couple of cycles now. So you need to find a way with the best return on investment to keep your voters enthusiastic, engaged, and ensured they turn out.”
Critics argue that ridicule and AI stunts can alienate older voters and undermine credibility with moderates. The feces-dumping video drew condemnation from opponents who said it trivialized political tensions, and the growing use of synthetic content raises concerns about blurring satire with misinformation.
“It feels like they are using social media to appeal to young men, but they could be doing that at the expense of older parts of the electorate who are turned off by the fighting and polarization,” said a GOP operative with experience working on campaigns. “We are still far out from 2026 and 2028, but I still am unsure if this is a good way to message about all of the administration’s accomplishments.”
Even with that risk, some Republicans argue the fallout may be minimal in a political environment defined by constant outrage. Voters have become so desensitized to controversy, they say, that moments once considered disqualifying barely register anymore. Still, GOP strategists warn that while shock tactics may rally the base, they risk cementing a perception of the party as unserious. “It’s one thing to mock the media,” one operative said. “It’s another to make the party look like a middle-school locker room.”
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As 2026 approaches, Trump’s social media–driven style is forcing Republicans to walk a fine line: stay relevant to younger voters while preserving credibility with the rest of the electorate.
The same GOP operative said it’s “a tricky dance,” adding, “I’m not sure the administration has struck the right balance yet, but there’s still time to refine it before the midterms.”
