Kathrine Frich
The frustration is already showing up in election numbers ahead of the midterms.
Landing a solid salary used to mean you could pay the bills and still save for a house.
For a lot of young workers today, though, a decent paycheck barely covers the basics at the end of the month.
And that financial squeeze is turning former political loyalty into deep anger.
Checked out entirely
Young men between 18 and 30 were once praised for helping President Donald Trump win back the White House in 2024, according to the Irish Star and Bloomberg News.
Now, many in that same group feel locked out of financial success and are turning against the administration. One of them is Dallas Cruze, who makes $85,000 a year yet still falls nearly $350 short on his monthly bills.
Speaking with Bloomberg News, Cruze said he has “checked out” from backing the president. Back in 2024, he and millions of other young male voters were pulled into Trump’s camp through the “manosphere,” an online network of male-focused podcasts. Encouraged by his 20-year-old son Barron, Trump sat down for popular shows hosted by Joe Rogan, Logan Paul, and Theo Von.
For Cruze, the breaking point arrived when he felt Republicans chose to protect wealthy elites instead of prosecuting figures named in files tied to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, the Irish Star reported.
That disappointment has pushed many online followers away from taking the “red pill,” a term borrowed from the movie “The Matrix” that manosphere users link to blaming feminism for ruining relationships and society.
Stockpiling for crisis
Instead, Cruze told Bloomberg News that the mood has soured into a “black pill” outlook, where young men believe buying a home or getting ahead is hopeless. Worried about the Iran war and rising living costs, he fears the country is heading toward a violent breakdown.
“I don’t see it going any other way besides violence,” Cruze told Bloomberg News. “You have no idea how bad I want to be wrong.”
To get ready for hard times, he urged people to make friends with neighbors who raise chickens and store extra beans and rice. “Those are the people that are actually paying attention to what’s actually happening,” he said, as quoted by the Irish Star.
That frustration is already showing up in election numbers ahead of the midterms.
A late September poll from Cygnal reported by the Irish Star found that only a third of men aged 18 to 30 are strongly committed to voting, and those who plan to cast a ballot favor a generic Democratic congressional candidate over a Republican by 57 percent to 40 percent.
