Former President Donald Trump drew a large online audience Aug. 5 during a 90-minute interview with a young influencer, as part of the former president’s latest efforts to reach and connect with voters in their 20s and 30s.
Trump, who spoke with 23-year-old Adin Ross via the Kick platform, said this was the first time he had appeared via an influencer’s video livestream.
The former president said such programming represents a “new wave” of communication. The impact of once-popular TV shows seems to be waning, he said.
Taking part in a time-honored program such as CBS’ “60 Minutes” would probably draw little notice nowadays, while appearances with nontraditional interviewers seem to make a bigger splash, Trump said.
The Republican nominee pointed out that his main competitor, presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris, has given no interviews since she became the heir apparent 15 days prior.
President Joe Biden dropped out of the race on July 21 and endorsed Harris as his preferred successor.
That was eight days after Trump survived an assassination attempt. Three people, including Trump, were wounded and one rallygoer was killed after a gunman opened fire on a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
“You took a bullet for everyone in this room, for everyone watching,” Ross told the former president.
Noting that Trump rose up after being shot, with blood streaming down his face, and fist-pumped while shouting, “Fight! Fight! Fight!,” Ross said, calling that reaction a hallmark of bravery.
Trump replied: “It was a helluva horrible experience, but I learned a lot about the love in this country.” He marveled at the people who stood their ground at the rally out of concern for him.
‘Big Show’
Trump’s appearance with Ross, which was aired from Trump’s home at Mar-a-Lago, Florida, happened because Trump’s sons told him about Ross’ popularity, the former president said. “My boys said, ‘That’s such a big show.’”
He said he appreciated the chance to speak to a young audience, cracking up his young host when he said, “My suit is older than you are.”
Trump’s interview with Ross represents the latest in a series of unconventional tactics by the Trump campaign to target younger voters.
In February, the former president spoke at “Sneaker Con,” a Philadelphia convention for people who love sneakers, and unveiled limited-edition Trump Sneakers.
Last month, Trump spoke at the Bitcoin Conference in Nashville, a gathering focused on virtual currency, which a portion of young adults have chosen to invest money in.
And last week, Trump’s running mate, Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), was a guest of the Nelk Boys, young pranksters who run a YouTube channel that has 8 million subscribers. A video of Vance’s Aug. 2 appearance with them reportedly drew more than 52 million views within three days.
During Trump’s appearance with Ross, an on-screen ticker showed about 500,000 viewers much of the time, exceeding 564,000 viewers at one point on the Kick platform alone; views on other platforms reportedly topped 1 million views, Ross said during the program.
Presidential Promises
Trump told Ross and his audience that he would implement “common sense” policies that prevent wars, clamp down on crime and illegal immigration, afford people a great education, and allow them to earn a decent living.
Current policies are failing to foster those conditions, Trump said, which are the “basic” expectations that citizens have of their government.
Ross urged his audience to vote for Trump, telling them, “your vote really matters.”
Borrowing an idea from the Nelk Boys, Ross asked Trump to blurt out the first word that came to his mind upon seeing photographs of well-known people. For Ross, he used the word, “outstanding;” for himself, Trump used the word, “patriot.”
The photos included politicians such as Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), whom he initially termed, “fake,” but then said he would rather use the word, “spark,” conceding, “there’s a certain something she’s got … a good spark.”
He also reacted to pictures of world leaders such as Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (“liberal”); Chinese President Xi Jinping (“powerful”); and North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un (“very tough”).
Trump said grappling with foreign leaders and “enemies from the outside” is, in some ways, easier than wrangling “enemies from within.”
“I always say, if you have a smart president, you don’t have a problem with the outside [enemies],” he said. “But you still will have a problem with the inside [ones] … they are willing to take down our country.”
From The Epoch Times