{"id":2411557,"date":"2025-03-09T05:13:02","date_gmt":"2025-03-09T09:13:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/democrats-eye-republicans-online-success-to-transform-messaging-washington-examiner\/"},"modified":"2025-03-09T05:16:15","modified_gmt":"2025-03-09T09:16:15","slug":"democrats-eye-republicans-online-success-to-transform-messaging-washington-examiner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/democrats-eye-republicans-online-success-to-transform-messaging-washington-examiner\/","title":{"rendered":"Democrats eye Republicans&#8217; online success to transform messaging &#8211; Washington Examiner"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fdemocrats-eye-republicans-online-success-to-transform-messaging-washington-examiner%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2411557&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The article discusses how Democrats are increasingly looking to change their \u200capproach to social media \u2064in \u2064response to Republicans&#8217; \u200csuccess in utilizing \u2063these platforms for political\u2064 messaging. Historically, democrats have dominated legacy media, but\u200d Republicans, especially under Donald Trump&#8217;s campaign strategy,\u2063 have excelled at creating their \u200down content that reaches and engages \u200conline audiences.\u200c <\/p>\n<p>Trump\u2019s use of social media to connect with\u2064 younger demographics, such as his\u200d interviews \u2063with popular influencers like Joe Rogan and Logan\u2063 Paul, illustrates a significant shift in campaigning tactics. Democratic representatives acknowledge \u200bthe\u200b need to engage more effectively with social media, as platforms begin to eclipse traditional television in political importance.<\/p>\n<p>Recent \u200cstudies highlight \u2063the growing influence of news influencers on political perceptions, with more right-leaning influencers than\u2062 left-leaning ones. To counteract this, Democrats are advised to strategically \u200binvest in influencers who \u200bresonate with their \u200dtarget audiences to build trust and effectively\u2062 communicate their messages.<\/p>\n<p>Despite attempts to adapt through platforms like TikTok, \u2062Democrats\u200d face challenges in appealing to wider audiences, often being\u200d criticized for their messaging \u2062style. The article concludes\u2063 by emphasizing the importance \u2063of social media\u2062 and content creators in shaping the political landscape as the\u2062 2026 midterms approach, \u200bwith a \u200bclear recognition \u200cfrom both parties about the need \u200bto evolve in their strategies.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">Democrats eye Republicans&rsquo; success with social media to transform messaging<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_2023086\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p>While&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/democrats\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Democrats<\/a>&nbsp;have <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\">long commanded legacy media attention<\/a>, Republicans have made up ground with content creation to broadcast their own messages to growing online audiences.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/trump\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">President Donald Trump<\/a> has always had a love-hate relationship with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/3-democrats-the-media-are-thirsty-to-have-back-in-politics\/\" title=\"3 ... The ... Are Thirsty To Have Back In ...\">legacy news outlets<\/a>, but his 2024 presidential campaign saw him <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/bill-oreilly-and-tucker-carlson-to-do-sit-down-interview-during-gop-debate-and-trump-speech\/\" title=\"Bill O&#039;Reilly and Tucker Carlson to chat during GOP debate and Trump speech.\">embracing social media<\/a> to boost his message and reach new audiences.<\/p>\n<p>Trump recorded <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/presidential\/3134377\/trump-hits-podcast-circuit-bring-young-men\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"several lengthy interviews\">several lengthy interviews<\/a> with male influencers, including podcaster Joe Rogan, comedian Theo Von, and wrestler Logan Paul, as he sought to win a second term in the White House. The strategy helped Trump appeal to young men ahead of the November election, where he ultimately defeated former Vice President Kamala Harris.<\/p>\n<div class=\"recommended-stories\">\n<h2>Recommended Stories<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/3341703\/walz-blames-harris-campaign-media-strategy-election-loss\/\">Walz blames Harris campaign strategy to avoid media for election loss<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/state\/3340885\/virginia-democrats-set-pick-new-leader-before-elections\/\">Virginia Democrats set to pick new leader ahead of key elections<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/premium\/3336102\/teamsters-sean-obrien-mission-politics-trump-gop\/\">Teamsters boss Sean O&rsquo;Brien&#8217;s mission to chart a new political path<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>Both Democrats and Republicans have experimented with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/rupert-murdoch-out-as-chairman-of-fox-and-news-corps-will-take-new-position\/\" title=\"Rupert Murdoch steps down as Fox and ... Corps. Chairman, assumes new role.\">utilizing social media platforms<\/a> in their campaigning, but even<strong>&nbsp;<\/strong>Democrats acknowledge that Republicans are &lsquo;dominating&rsquo; online spaces.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I think TV is now going to the wayside in the new frontier of politics and social media and Trump dominates on social media, and so now he&rsquo;s dominating the political space,&rdquo; Gen Z Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-FL) told the&nbsp;<em>Washington Examiner<\/em>. &ldquo;I think we&rsquo;ve got to do the same thing.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Furthermore, young Democratic members recognize the massive influence social media has on politics and campaigns.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s clear that if we want to get our message out there, we&rsquo;ve got to engage with the new media and the new attention economy,&rdquo; Rep. Sarah McBride (D-DE) told the&nbsp;<em>Washington Examiner<\/em>. &ldquo;So I think, frankly, both parties are just engaging in the reality of today now.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>According to a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pewresearch.org\/short-reads\/2025\/02\/06\/how-news-influencers-talked-about-trump-and-harris-during-the-2024-election\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">Pew research survey<\/a>, about one in five Americans say they regularly get news from influencers, with two-thirds saying it helps them understand current events better. The survey noted that right-leaning news influencers tend to post more than left-leaning influencers.<\/p>\n<p>Another study by Pew Research, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pewresearch.org\/journalism\/2024\/11\/18\/americas-news-influencers\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"published in November\">published in November<\/a>, found that more news influencers lean right than left, 27% to 21%. To counter Republicans&rsquo; grip on online spaces, influencer and CEO of<a href=\"https:\/\/www.girlandthegov.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\"> Girl and the Gov, <\/a>Sammy Kanter, told the <em>Washington Examiner<\/em> that Democrats need to invest in influencers directly.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Democrats need to invest in those people, you know, pundits or pundits to be, whether it&rsquo;s talking about pop culture or politics directly, to be able to actually get somewhere with people. People aren&rsquo;t gonna necessarily just trust any, you know, Joe Schmo off the street. They actually have to spend time and money investing in the long game,&rdquo; Kanter said.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;They need to invest in podcasters and influencers that can create long-term trust with their audiences. That&rsquo;s something that Joe Rogan, whether you like him or not, can be complimented for,&rdquo; she continued.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>House Democrats appear to already be trying to adapt their presence online. Multiple members, including Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Jasmine Crockett (D-TX), and Susie Lee (D-NV), appear in a TikTok video that plays off a viral video game-inspired &ldquo;choose your character&rdquo; trend.<\/p>\n<p>However, the video was quickly mocked online and <a href=\"https:\/\/thehill.com\/homenews\/house\/5180739-white-house-mocks-democrats-tiktok-video\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"by the White House\">by the White House<\/a>, with the Trump administration&rsquo;s rapid response account writing, &ldquo;Democrats not be cringe challenge. Level: impossible,&rdquo; in a post to X.<\/p>\n<p>House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) demonstrated Republicans&rsquo; use of these deeply rooted media phenomena by inviting conservative podcasters Ben Shapiro and Matt Walsh to Trump&rsquo;s joint address this week.&nbsp;Late last month, Attorney General Pam Bondi gave some of the long-awaited sex offender Jeffery Epstein files to a group of influencers instead of traditional media.<\/p>\n<p>Influencers are a whole different ballgame than <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/democrats-target-cable-providers-for-carrying-fox-newsmax-oann\/\" title=\"... Target Cable Providers for Carrying Fox, ...max, OANN\">traditional media sources<\/a>, as they are not subjected to the same journalistic ethics and standards the mainstream media follows. One large fact separates the two: relationships drastically influence content.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Both Democrats and Republicans can agree on the importance of investing in these relationships with content creators.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think that Republicans need to pay content creators,&rdquo; Rep. Brandon Gill (R-TX) told the <em>Washington Examiner<\/em>.&nbsp;&ldquo;I think that we&rsquo;ve got a pretty organic network of people who are already bought into the cause, just ideologically.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Politicians throughout generations have recognized the power of relationships and how they drive productivity. Social media is no different.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I think it&rsquo;s really also about forging genuine relationships with them, and bringing them into the way you&rsquo;re thinking, the work we&rsquo;re doing,&rdquo; Frost said.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;You could be friendly with someone, and it&rsquo;s not really supposed to change your coverage of them, but if you&rsquo;re a social media influencer, podcaster, or someone, they don&rsquo;t have to go by those ethics,&rdquo; Frost continued.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/@0liviajulianna?lang=en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">Olivia Julianna<\/a>, a 22-year-old Democratic influencer, told the <em>Washington Examiner<\/em> that messaging from Democrats often falls short on social media because it is too &ldquo;intellectualized,&rdquo; leading it to &ldquo;not be digestible to the average person who isn&rsquo;t super plugged into politics.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>As a result, Julianna asserted, the Democrats&rsquo; forays into social media play &ldquo;a lot of insider baseball instead of reaching out to people on the periphery.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Republicans have done a fantastic job, the fact that how they&rsquo;ve done that is through disinformation, misinformation and hate campaigns, either way, they have cracked code on how to break through that periphery and reach people on the outside who may otherwise be unengaged in politics,&rdquo; Julianna said.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Julianna pointed out that Democrats often gatekeep their spaces to only allow people who fit the narrative they want to portray, which limits their reach when trying to reach those audiences out of a fear of saying the wrong thing.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;What Republicans do is they will put out a piece of content with the specific intention of getting Democrats to freak out about it &hellip; They&rsquo;ve now used our audience and our outrage to springboard to people on the periphery who may otherwise not have seen this. Democrats do not do that,&rdquo; she said.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/house\/3338838\/rich-mccormick-wont-abandon-town-halls-doge-home-district-uproar\/\" title=\"\"><strong>RICH MCCORMICK WON&rsquo;T ABANDON TOWN HALLS AFTER DOGE HOME DISTRICT UPROAR<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>As talk of the 2026 midterms amps up, it is clear social media and content creators will play a large role and whether either party will fully use the new medium to their advantage is yet to be determined.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;This is the new TV,&rdquo; Frost said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p> <script data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/cdn-cgi\/scripts\/5c5dd728\/cloudflare-static\/email-decode.min.js\"><\/script><script>!function(){var g=window;g.googletag=g.googletag||{},g.googletag.cmd=g.googletag.cmd||[],g.googletag.cmd.push(function(){g.googletag.pubads().setTargeting(\"has-featured-video\",\"true\")})}();<\/script><script>var _bp=_bp||[];_bp.push({\"div\":\"Brid_2023086\",\"obj\":{\"id\":\"27789\",\"width\":\"1280\",\"height\":\"720\",\"stickyDirection\":\"below\",\"video\":\"2023086\"}});<\/script><script defer src=\"https:\/\/services.brid.tv\/player\/build\/brid.min.js\"><\/script><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Democrats look to leverage Republicans&#8217; social media success for messaging<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3691,"featured_media":2411558,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/JOE-ROGAN.webp","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[3685,51811,51810,3756],"class_list":["post-2411557","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-democrats","tag-messaging-strategy","tag-online-success","tag-republicans"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/JOE-ROGAN.webp","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2411557","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3691"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2411557"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2411557\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2411561,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2411557\/revisions\/2411561"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2411558"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2411557"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2411557"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2411557"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}