do the democrats have equivalents to the recently deceased in relation to outreach to millions of young adults?

[msongs]

like him or not he had a large following amongst the post adolescent crowd. I cant think of any dem with such a following. well maybe bernie but he is not part of the 20s-30s crowd. am I missing someone?

[mr715]

1. No.

We have Hasan Piker. And that objectionable Destiny dude.

Our bench is somewhat weaker.

[yankee87]

2. AOC and Mandami

I think these two.

[Mark.b2]

14. For all his flaws, Kirk seemed to enjoying being on a campus....

engaging and debating and verbally sparring with the students. While I agreed with hardly anything he said, he was good at advocating for his positions, and he was generally respectful. Since his murder, I have watched several videos of his Q&As with students and found myself wishing we had someone like him on our side,

I dont know much about Mandami, but I dont see AOC relishing that role. Anyway, we need her where she is.

[LeftInTX]

18. They are elected. Kirk was a lobbyist 24/7. He spent his days going to different college campuses.

Well, Mamdani isn't elected yet. But neither has the time to spend their lives 24/7 going to college campuses to recruit Democrats. They have other jobs. Kirk's job was a campaignist 24/7

[WarGamer]

3. @aoc has more followers than CK

[mr715]

7. She, however, is an actual elected politician.

More followers and more real power.

[WarGamer]

11. David Hogg has 1M followers on X

[mr715]

16. He cut his teeth doing activism too

But he didn't go on campuses and do performative debates. There really is no equivalent on the left to the dark side of the intellectual dark web

[Mark.b2]

4. I've asked myself the same question...

David Hogg maybe? Maybe too focused on one issue though.

For sure, we need someone.

[msongs]

5. one thing the dead guy had his own business pumping out his stuff, not just posting on social media nt

[TommyT139]

6. Dems are not a monolith

...to the extent that magats are.

It is far easier to unify hatred than hold together diverse coalitions.

[Diamond_Dog]

8. Are there any wealthy liberals who can bankroll someone like AOC?

[karynnj]

9. 6 or 7 years ago, I would have answered all the pod save the world etc people

They were all Obama people, young, and they did reach out to the young. Their podcasts were very informative and they were involved in GOTV. Some of them show up on MSNBC.

I would note that AOC has allied with Bernie, but I would not equate either with Kirk. Unlike him they are elected officials.

A major way all of them were different than Kirk was they were all much more mainstream. I am not sure that a Democratic equivalent of Kirk, very far from the center would work on our side.

[JI7]

10. He mainly appealed to white male resentment

the democrats are a diverse group so you aren't going to get something like that.

[tulipsandroses]

12. I asked the same question a few days ago. Kirk was bankrolled by a wealthy donor to start TPUSA.

We don't have an equivalent. I think now is an opportune time. As someone else said, he appealed to white male grievance.
People are angry about losing rights, watching democracy crumble. I think now would be an opportune time for grassroots groups or individuals. But just as CK got millions of dollars from a wealthy donor, that kind of investment needs to be made . CK wasn't self made. He was able to do what he did with millions of dollars invested.

[LeftInTX]

19. He latched onto a Tea Party guy. The Tea Party guy was already in his 70s. I think the Tea Party guy founded TPUSA.

[Johonny]

13. Yes, there are liberal influencers

Many have decent audience share. None of them have a billionaire sugar daddy like Kirk had.

[Elessar Zappa]

15. MeidasTouch is very popular.

Not sure how it compares to Kirk’s popularity though.

[betsuni]

17. Liberals: diverse, already have identities, interests, imagination. Kirk: homogeneous, have identity envy, authoritarian

[Wiz Imp]

20. There quite a few young podcasters/youtubers with sizeable audiences

None of them have an audience anywhere near the size of Charlie Kirk's (yet) but they are growing fairly rapidly - Especially Adam Mockler & Luke Beasley.

They include:
Adam Mockler (22) 1.55 million subscribers on YouTube
Luke Beasley (23) 1.4 million subscribers
Jack Cocchiarella (22) 1.19 million subscribers
Dean Withers (21) 374,000 subscribers
Aaron Parnas (26) 306,000 subscribers
Parkergetajob (23) 304,000 subscribers
Harry Sisson (22) 298,000 subscribers
Olivia Juliana (22) 213,000 subscribers
Brian Tyler Cohen (36) 4.72 million subscribers

[LeftInTX]

21. Beto O'Rourke: "Powered by People", is working in Texas doing similar work.

https://poweredxpeople.org/

Powered by People is putting in the work to reach, register, and mobilize the voters we need to elect Democrats up and down the ballot in Texas.

Powered by People is composed of thousands of volunteers across the country who register, stay in touch with and help turn out the voters who will help decide the most consequential elections of our lifetime. Since launching in late 2019, our volunteers have enabled us to run the largest progressive voter mobilization effort in the history of Texas.

In addition to partnering with exciting Democratic candidates to help win competitive Texas battleground districts, we are focused on creating long-term changes to the Texas electorate that will outlast any one candidate or campaign cycle.

Our volunteers live and work in every part of the state, allowing us to meet voters where they are. No neighborhood is too small, too big, too red, or too blue to receive the in-person, human-to-human contact that we know is essential to registering and turning out voters.

Because Texas Republicans have made our state the hardest in the nation to register to vote and cast a ballot, we are putting in the work to reach those most targeted by GOP voter suppression and bring them into our elections.

[TheProle]

22. Gavin Newsom praises Charlie Kirk's outreach to young men, suggests Dems do more of their own

“We have an epidemic of loneliness, and so much of that is manifesting and metastasizing online in very profound and consequential ways, and last week only underscored that further,” said Newsom, referencing Kirk’s killing at a Utah university campus. A 22-year-old man, Tyler Robinson, was charged Tuesday with aggravated murder in the case.

Newsom, speaking in a high school gymnasium and then a weight room, said Democrats in last year’s election had failed to effectively respond to conservatives’ outreach to young men, calling their response “mixed or muted.”

“And I thought that was a mistake. I still do,” he said.

Newsom’s remarks ahead of a likely presidential run represent an effort to counter Republican politicians and activists who aided a seemingly successful campaign for the “bro vote” last year. He also provided a window into his thinking about the death of Kirk, Newsom’s first guest on his podcast “This is Gavin Newsom.”

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/09/16/gavin-newsom-charlie-kirk-outreach-men-00567165