Politics are downstream of culture, and that grows truer by the day. And it’s become especially true with regard to pop culture.
Entertainment and technology are key parts of pop culture, so we’re taking you to the front lines of the culture war by addressing some of the best — and strangest — stories from that world in this recurring column exclusive to members of The Western Journal.
There are a lot of reasons for supporters of former President Donald Trump — the Republican presidential nominee — to be thrilled just days before the Nov. 5 general election.
Trump is polling fantastically, early voting results are a positive, (very) public sentiment is at an all-time high, and even his most benign campaign stunts are turning into certifiable wins for the former president’s campaign.
(Which is all to say that Trump supporters would be wise not to let complacency set in just about a week before the election.)
That’s all good enough in a vacuum, but the former president is also enjoying the benefits of his chief political rival and Democratic presidential nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris, constantly stepping on rakes that are decidedly not set about by Team Trump.
No, Harris’ missteps have largely been of her own doing, and this home stretch strategy is no different.
It’s hardly a secret this late in the game that Harris is polling terribly with young men, a key demographic across the country but especially in critical swing states that could determine the 2024 election.
To address these ongoing issues, Team Kamala applied a two-pronged approach to blitzing young men
First, over the weekend, Harris’ running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, decided that playing some (admittedly great) games like “Madden” and “Crazy Taxi” with New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez would be a good way to reach that young male void.
In short: It did not.
The clips were largely excoriated, including by this writer, who couldn’t believe how badly alleged football “coach” Tim Walz didn’t seem to understand simple blocking scheme concepts:
All politics aside, why didn’t coach Walz follow all of his engaged blockers to the left?? Instead he cuts into the unblocked linebacker??? https://t.co/DDztUTO7GP pic.twitter.com/2Xgw80RA63
— Bryan Chai (@kingbeacheye) October 28, 2024
Social media at-large featured far more damning (and far less suitable for work) critiques of Walz’s Twitch stunt.
But that backlash was nothing compared to the Monday reveal from video game site IGN that Harris and her team were invading the most popular video game in the world, “Fortnite,” with a custom map (can also read as: propaganda) for the battle royale shooter.
Hilariously dubbed “Freedom Town, USA” (recall, Harris accrued approximately zero primary votes en route to her presidential nomination, which is sort of the antithesis of a “free” democratic republic), you can see a snippet of the map below:
The Harris-Walz 2024 campaign’s new Fortnite map Freedom Town, USA is part of the Democrats’ push to reach gamers and young voters. pic.twitter.com/20gDhpaDhv
— IGN (@IGN) October 28, 2024
“It’s a custom creative map themed around some of Harris’ campaign pledges, including tax breaks for small businesses and a focus on affordable housing,” IGN reported.
It won’t just be in “Freedom Town” that pro-Harris propaganda will be seen (and yes, the stunt obviously takes cheap shots at Trump).
“Freedom Town, USA, is joined by political takeovers of at least eight other ‘Fortnite’ Creative maps (Drive City, Troll Bed Wars, Meme Boxfights, Super Box PVP, Football Boxfights, Bullseye 2v2, Bullseye 1v1, and Bullseye 3v3), which will include political in-game signage, custom models, and themed audio cues,” IGN wrote. “One of these cues, played when collecting a cat, plays a quote from Harris’ rival former President Donald Trump: ‘They’re eating the dogs, eating the cats.’”
Oh, brother. There are so many ways to dissect this horrible decision … where to even begin?
First, and perhaps foremost, there’s the notion that the “Fortnite” audience undeniably skews younger. As most available data revealed, “Fortnite’s” audience is majority-aged 18-to-24.
But that number belies the number of young children who are playing “Fortnite” under a parent or older sibling’s account.
In other words, there’s a non-zero chance that the Harris campaign is funneling money to kids who can’t vote and can’t remember things from four days ago, let alone remembering things from a random “Fortnite” map four years ago come the next election.
“I’m sure the 8 to 15 year olds who will be playing this will be rushing to the polls,” one X user commented.
“Cool. They’re spending money on kids who can’t vote,” a different X user chimed in.
Others noted that Freedom Town looked far too idyllic and clean to be a blue city, which is fair given the circumstances of once-great American cities, like San Francisco.
Second, this whole stunt actually reeks of hypocrisy, in specific regards to guns.
Do you play video games?
Democrats — including Harris and Walz — are very much the party of gun confiscation and are anti-Second Amendment in just about every way imaginable.
“Fortnite,” by comparison, is very much in the shooter genre of video games. This writer has dabbled in the game in the past and can confirm that I’ve mowed down really bad players (because I’m bad) with the sort of arsenal that would make mid-’90s Arnold Schwarzenegger blush. SMGs, shotguns, pistols, revolvers, sniper rifles, and just about every other kind of gun imaginable are used to gun down the opposition in the most popular mode of “Fortnite” until there’s just one player (or team) left standing.
That sends a bit of a mixed message, no?
Third, some just felt an ick factor with this stunt targeting younger males.
This feels extremely unethical.
— Sammy3peat (@sammy3peat) October 28, 2024
Real life political agendas shouldn’t be promoted through video games, especially one that is primarily played by kids. Politics within a fictional context is fine even if it indirectly imitates aspects of the real world, but to have a presidential election being promoted through…
— TG✨🇯🇲 (@TerrelleGraham) October 28, 2024
Last, but certainly not least, this video game blitz from Harris and her crew fundamentally misses what’s ailing the Democratic presidential ticket. Namely, Harris could pull off the slickest, smoothest, least cringe-worthy stunt ever (which, to be clear, this most certainly was not), and it wouldn’t matter because it still doesn’t give voters an authentic plan to get behind.
With just about a week left to go, Harris’ campaign has largely devolved to “Me not orange man, orange man literally Hitler” and even the most personable and well-thought out appearances can’t mask the shallowness of that message.
When that messaging isn’t even personable or thought out?
That about sums up the Harris campaign’s 11th hour strategy in a nutshell.
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