CHICAGO (AP) 鈥� To those concerned about billionaire Trump adviser Elon Musk鈥檚 access to sensitive government data, his tear-it-down band of young techies doing that work is an . The view on the right is much different.
Voices influential in conservative politics describe the crew of engineers, most of whom are in their early 20s, as among the world鈥檚 best minds sent to save the U.S. government from bureaucratic bloat.
It comes at a moment when young progressives have criticized the Democratic Party for and as the party鈥檚 hold on younger voters is slipping, particularly . Republicans are using the contrasting images as a marketing strategy.
Charlie Kirk, founder of the group Turning Point, which has organized voter turnout efforts for Republicans, called them 鈥測oung prodigies鈥� and 鈥渁ll-stars鈥� with IQs that 鈥渨ould melt the charts鈥�
鈥淭his is a Gen Z, millennial takeover of the federal government,鈥� Kirk said on his Feb. 4 podcast. 鈥淎nd we always thought it was coming from the left. But this is the geriatric, the kind of nursing home regime that has been pushing the country into oblivion. Now the young guns are taking over the country for the better.鈥�
In the weeks since to the White House, , or DOGE, has burrowed rapidly into federal agencies, reshaping the government with and seizing .
Musk, , has called the DOGE team 鈥渟ome of the world鈥檚 best software engineers.鈥� In a recent interview with Fox News Channel host Sean Hannity, Trump lauded Musk's DOGE staffers as 鈥渧ery brilliant young people.鈥�
鈥淗e attracts a young, very smart type of person," Trump said of Musk. 鈥淚 call them high-IQ individuals.鈥�
Many of the DOGE engineers who have been identified in media reports have been linked to Musk鈥檚 companies and some to Silicon Valley billionaire and longtime Musk associate Peter Thiel, according to the technology magazine WIRED. One resigned and then amid controversy over since-deleted racist social media posts. The Wall Street Journal initially linked the 25-year-old staffer, Marko Elez, to an account that posted 鈥淚 was racist before it was cool鈥� and 鈥淣ormalize Indian hate.鈥�
Kirk and other conservative podcasters have celebrated the young engineers for lending their talents to the Trump administration. Podcast host Jen Horn said 鈥渢hese kids 鈥� are literally just living and breathing these numbers鈥� before her co-host Katie Gorka responded by saying, 鈥淚鈥檝e often thought we鈥檙e going to be saved ultimately by these kids鈥� during a Feb. 4 edition of the 鈥淗appy Women鈥� podcast.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy sparred with Hillary Clinton on Musk's social media site X over the Trump administration鈥檚 actions and the plan to have DOGE help upgrade aviation safety.
鈥淭hey have no relevant experience,鈥� Clinton said in response to Duffy鈥檚 post about getting help from Musk鈥檚 team. 鈥淢ost of them aren鈥檛 old enough to rent a car.鈥�
Duffy responded sharply, saying, 鈥淲e鈥檙e moving on without you because the American people want us to make America鈥檚 transportation system great again. And yes, we鈥檙e bringing the 22-year-olds with us.鈥�
Republicans' elevation of Musk's engineers is a reflection of how they were able to chip away at the younger demographic in last year's election.
Trump's Democratic opponent in 2024, then-Vice President Kamala Harris, only narrowly won among , with nearly half supporting Trump, according to , a survey of more than 120,000 voters in the election. That was down considerably from 2020, when Democrat Joe Biden won about 6 in 10 voters under 30 in a matchup against then-President Trump. Other age groups also moved toward Trump last year, but the swing among the youngest voters was the most dramatic.
For Alex Dwyer, the 28-year-old chairman of the Kansas Federation of Young Republicans, watching the celebration of the young DOGE crew has been exciting after spending much of his adulthood feeling that young people were being overlooked in the workplace and in government.
鈥淒OGE is showing that our talents and abilities are finally being recognized as having value,鈥� said the Wichita-based financial analyst. 鈥�... The party has finally woken up that if you want to appeal to the youth, you have to involve them in the party.鈥�
Trump鈥檚 campaign was especially effective in outreach to young men such as Dwyer who were concerned about the economy and were by the political and so-called 鈥渃ulture wars,鈥� said Melissa Deckman, CEO of the Public Religion Research Institute and author of the book 鈥淭he Politics of Gen Z.鈥�
By looking to alternative media such as and social media sites that give a platform to far-right views, the Trump campaign met young men where they are. Deckman said that the celebration of DOGE on social media and podcasts builds on this strategy by repeating the message that young men are being prioritized.
鈥淗istorically, you think of the GOP being the party of old fuddy-duddy white guys not passing the baton, and then suddenly there鈥檚 this cultural shift to highlighting the contributions of younger people,鈥� she said. 鈥�... Meanwhile, when given the chance to pass the torch, Democrats lately have not been very successful in doing that, and young people are fed up.鈥�
Sunjay Muralitharan, national president of College Democrats of America, was skeptical that DOGE, which he called an 鈥渦nconstitutional threat to American democracy,鈥� would attract more young people to the Republican Party.
鈥淢ost young people can see through this surface-level pandering,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he image of the richest man in the world gutting vital agencies speaks more here.鈥�
There also have been young people who have been making an impact in the Democratic Party, including gun control activist , who was named vice chair of the party in , and Florida Democratic Rep. , the youngest member of the U.S. House.
鈥淒emocrats have plenty of young people in consequential jobs,鈥� said John Della Volpe, director of polling at the Harvard Kennedy School Institute of Politics. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e just not as good at letting us know about it.鈥�
He said watching the DOGE engineers have a real world impact can be an important signal to young people. That could further hamper Democratic efforts to recruit a younger generation that already was questioning what the party had delivered for it.
鈥淩epublicans are seeing a weakness in Democrats through young people, and they鈥檙e taking advantage of it,鈥� he said.
Basil Smikle, a Democratic political strategist and professor at Columbia University鈥檚 school of professional studies, said many disaffected young men in particular may see DOGE as evidence that they can have power. He urged Democratic leaders to step out of the way of young people and diversify their messengers.
鈥淚f you don鈥檛, Republicans are going to go back to the same playbook and beat us every time,鈥� he said.
___
The Associated Press鈥痳eceives support from several private foundations to enhance its explanatory coverage of elections and democracy. See more about the AP鈥檚 democracy initiative . The AP is solely responsible for all content.
Christine Fernando, The Associated Press
