Clay Travis Stuns University of Chicago Politics Panel With Theory On Why Dems Are Losing: Men View Them As ‘P*ssies’
The University of Chicago Institute of Politics hosted a panel discussion this week on the “gender divide” in American politics with OutKick founder and conservative radio host Clay Travis, pollster Daniel Cox, and culture writer Magdalene J. Taylor – moderated by The Atlantic’s Hanna Rosin.
“4B, Low T, Hawk Tuah & Trad Wives – the gender divide is real, especially among young people,” was how the panel was billed. A clip from the panel in which both Cox and Travis discuss why Democrats are losing male voters quickly went viral on X.
“Young men have not become much more conservative, at least according to Gallup, but they have become more Republican. So you have this and…” began Cox.
“Wait say that again?” pressed Rosin.
“The men they have not identified as more conservative, but they are becoming more Republican. So from the Obama era, you know, young men, young women were Democrats, right. For both elections, strong majorities of young men and young women voted for Barack Obama. And then you had a slow decline, right? This didn’t happen in just one election. There’s been a deterioration of Democratic identity among young men for over ten years,” Cox said, adding more context.
“So are you saying specifically they turn against Democrats?” Rosin followed up.
“I’m saying that that they are more– Yes, they are. They are more Republican now, but not necessarily because they shifted to the right on issues like climate change or abortion or same-sex marriage,” Cox replied, adding:
They’re still well to the left of their dads and grandfathers when it comes to that stuff. And so you have this really interesting situation where this group, again, looks on paper fairly liberal in a lot of ways. And in point of fact, you had 6 in 10 young men who are moderates vote for Trump. And more than 1 in 5 liberal young men vote for Trump. Right?
And so if we’re going to look for explanations, we need to move beyond issues. We need to understand, like there’s something about Trump that was attractive, and then there’s something about the Democratic Party, at least in its current manifestation, that was repellent.
“I was really struck by you saying especially that, you know, even if they are more likely to identify as Republicans, they’re still far more liberal than the men of generations before them. And I think that that’s something that would that would surprise a lot of young women like myself to hear that. I was surprised,” reacted Taylor to Cox’s comments.
“What is it that we’re missing about or what is it that people who are not, as Magdalene said, people who don’t understand why? That’s my first question. I have a second one, but go ahead,” Rosin said, turning the conversation to Travis.
“Okay. So what I would start with is men aspire to be bigger, stronger, and faster than we are — almost universally. That’s why superheroes are popular. That’s why pro athletes are popular. Who is the most masculine Democrat right now in America? Mayor Pete?” Travis replied.
“Is that a gay joke?” pushed back Taylor.
“No. No, Mayor Pete. No. Well, no, it’s just that he’s not particularly masculine and nobody’s like, Mayor Pete, he’s a badass. Chuck Schumer. Is anybody like, hey, you know, Chuck Schumer holding up an avocado and a beer to talk about the Super Bowl? Is anybody like, that’s trying to grill? Is anybody like, hey, that’s a dude I want to hang out with?” Travis answered.
“But Trump’s like a grandpa?” Taylor countered.
“Well, hold on. Yeah. Trump took a bullet in his ear and immediately stood up and said, Fight, fight, fight. Every man in America. And most of the women out here were impressed by that. Even if the women won’t admit it, she’s shaking her head, she’s wrong. And second part of this, basically summing it up, Democrats for men are pussies and Republicans aren’t,” Travis shot back.
Rosin began repeating Travis’s claim, “Democrats for men…”
“Are pussies. There are no masculine men in the Democrat Party right now,” Travis concluded.
At a different point during the discussion, Travis and Rosin sparred briefly over his use of the term “girls” for the women on the stage. Travis shared the exchange on X and boasted, “The Atlantic vs Outkick, choose your fighter, things got spicy when my language was policed at the University of Chicago by an Atlantic editor last night, enjoy.”
Watch the clip above and the full panel here.
