Young men backed Trump in 2024. The midterms show they’re swing voters

( NewsNation ) — Democrats won a resounding midterm victory with help from a group that swung toward Republicans just two years ago: young men.

Men ages 18 to 29 backed Democratic House candidates by 25 points, according to estimates from The New York Times . That's a 39-point swing from 2024, when Donald Trump won young men by 14 points.

Young men's shift toward Democrats was more than double the 18-point change among men overall.

The results complicate the narrative that emerged after the 2024 election, when podcasters and social media influencers were credited with driving a Republican "vibe shift" among young men.

"The Manosphere Won," WIRED magazine declared in November 2024. The Washington Post attributed Trump's victory , in part, to his appeal in "testosterone-fueled corners of the internet."

Trump's success raised questions about a durable conservative realignment among Gen Z men, but even at the time, there was little evidence their policy views or social attitudes had changed much.

Instead, young men have shown they're swing voters who want action, not blame, argues Richard Reeves, president of the American Institute for Boys and Men .

"Men didn't become Republicans in 2024, and they didn't just become Democrats last night," Reeves wrote after this week's midterms.

Daniel Cox, director of the Survey Center on American Life, noted in a post on X that half of young men who identified as moderate and a quarter who identified as liberal backed Trump in 2024.

That flipped this year, with 59% of moderate young men and nearly 20% of conservatives backing Democrats, Cox pointed out.

"The last presidential election was not an ideological realignment; it was deep disaffection with an unpopular administration," Cox wrote Wednesday .

Now, it's the Trump administration that's unpopular

Most male midterm voters (59%) disapproved of Trump's job performance, according to NBC News exit polling.

A plurality (38%) ranked the economy as the country's top issue, and nearly two-thirds said the president's policies had worsened economic conditions.

Voters ages 18 to 29 were even more likely than men overall to say the economy was their top issue and that Trump's policies had made it worse.

"Both parties need to compete for the votes of men, especially young men, if they are to succeed in 2028," Reeves wrote.