Liberal commentator Scott Galloway has argued that one of the most notable shifts in the 2024 election was due to mothers trying to help their sons, who face declining economic and romantic opportunities. Galloway, who has been a vocal voice on this issue, has spoken extensively about the challenges young men face in a rapidly changing world, while the modern progressive movement appears to ignore their interests as a group. During an appearance on Nicolle Wallace’s podcast, ‘The Best People,’ Galloway stated that he ‘won the jackpot’ for being a White man born in the 1960s, part of a generation that had access to wealth and affordable homes.
He discussed the struggles of men of his generation, noting how their debt has influenced their perspectives on the challenges faced by younger men. Galloway argued that these men are being held accountable and guilty for the privileges they’ve enjoyed. However, his message is not always received well by his liberal allies, as he observed that ‘when I start talking about this stuff, there’s an understandable gag reflex from progressives, from women, from non-Whites.’
Wallace brought up an earlier conversation regarding this matter, highlighting that in the 2024 election, ‘it wasn’t just young men lured into the Trump-adjacent manosphere, but also their mothers.’ He remarked that, in the context of the election, ‘we don’t like to have these conversations because, you know, the truth sometimes doesn’t reflect either gender well, and the reality is there’s still a lot of women who will vote for who they perceive as best for their husbands and sons.’ Galloway noted that the three groups who shifted most prominently from blue to red between the 2020 and 2024 elections were Hispanics, voters under age 30, and women aged 45 to 64.
He explained that, from a young man’s perspective, ‘Everything I need to get ahead — all the keys to dating, savings, pride, owning a home, being successful — are getting harder and more expensive.’ As a result, he said many people just want to shake up the system. ‘As you referenced, I thought the most interesting shift was that women ages 45 to 64 pivoted hardest toward red, and my thesis is that’s their mothers — because if your son is in the basement, ‘vaping and playing video games,’ you don’t give a s— about territorial sovereignty in Ukraine or transgender rights,’ he continued.
Tommy Tuberville, a Republican senator, criticized Democrats for ‘demonizing’ young male voters after AOC’s remarks on masculinity backfired. Galloway asserted that the basic social contract in any society is that if you play by the rules and are a good citizen, your children will have a better life than you did. He claimed that for the first time in nearly three centuries of U.S. history, people in their 30s are generally worse off financially than their parents were at the same age.
‘Almost half of men under 24 are living at home. One in five men age 30 are living at home. One in three will live at home at some point before 25,’ he said. ‘And all I can tell you is, if you’re the parent of a struggling kid, your whole world shrinks to that kid.’ While he said these problems affect women as well, men are more at risk because of how society tends to work. Men will date women poorer than themselves, but women tend not to date men poorer than themselves.
‘When the pool of ‘horizontal and up’ males keeps shrinking, there’s a lack of household formation,’ he said, noting that 75% of women say economic status matters in a partner. As a result, today’s economic and social trends have left a large pool of romantically unviable men with few opportunities for advancement.
‘The most unstable, violent societies in the world all have one thing in common — a disproportionate number of young men lacking economic and romantic opportunities,’ he warned, underscoring the broader implications of these issues on societal stability and cohesion.