For the 2024 election cycle, Alex Bruesewitz had a significant role with the Trump-Vance campaign as a social media advisor. The social media presence, podcast interviews, and other outreach efforts certainly played a role in President-elect Donald Trump emerging victorious earlier this month. Even after the election, especially as Democrats are still in serious disarray, Bruesewitz doesn't look to be done. In a detailed post over X on Friday, Bruesewitz called out the Democrats' operation, specifically with "influencers" like David Hogg, who was part of those pushing for Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN) being selected as Vice President Kamala Harris' running mate.
Bruesewitz share a screenshot of a headline from The New York Times, "Republicans Built an Ecosystem of Influencers. Some Democrats Want One, Too." As he argued, Democrats "already have their own 'influencer ecosystem,'" with an issue certainly not being about a lack of them, but the quality of them.
It's also noteworthy that the article touches upon how much Democrats are in disarray:
Now Democrats are facing a reckoning, not just over Ms. Harris’s loss to President-elect Donald J. Trump but also over how the left got so badly outflanked online. The sponsorship spigot that many influencers say was turned on too late is now running dry. And the content creators who embraced Ms. Harris fear falling even farther behind their Republican rivals, one viral TikTok at a time.
Interviews with more than a dozen Democratic content creators reveal a pervasive belief that Republicans have helped incubate a highly organized and well-funded ecosystem of influencers, podcast hosts and other online personalities who successfully amplified and spread pro-Trump content. And the content creators are blaming scattershot and underfunded efforts by Democrats to make an impression in a sphere they said the party as a whole had overlooked for at least a decade.
"The issue isn't a lack of 'influencers' for the Democrats; rather, it's that the influencers they have built and propped up are, quite frankly, neither the brightest nor authentic," Bruesewitz wrote in his post, though he also spoke to the "respect" he has for some. "To be clear, I'm not implying that every Democrat 'influencer' lacks intelligence. In fact, there are several on the left whom, despite my disagreements, I still respect. (Game recognizes game.)"
Bruesewitz's post further alludes to the issues Democrats have, and what that means for Republicans. "However, to our advantage, the Democrat establishment tends to listen to the less intelligent 'influencers,' particularly those created by Stefanie [sic] Cutter's firm, Precision Strategies. Yes, this is the same Stefanie Cutter who served as a Senior Advisor to Kamala Harris," he continues.
It's also worth reminding that Cutter was part of that episode of "Pod Save America," which has recently gotten plenty of attention, especially since Democrats don't seem to have learned their lesson following Harris' loss.
That's when Bruesewitz's post spoke directly about Hogg. "David Hogg, for instance, is an 'influencer' cultivated by Precision Strategies. Despite his obvious intellectual shortcomings, he has managed to amass tremendous influence within the Democrat Party," specifically when it comes to his role in Harris picking Walz. Bruesewitz's post credits Hogg with having "played a crucial role in advocating for Tim Walz, kick-starting the 'Tim Walz for VP' messaging campaign."
Hogg posted about Walz multiple times after July 24, and sure enough, Walz was selected on August 6, despite how it looked at one point as if Harris would select Gov. Josh Shapiro, the popular and moderate (enough) governor of Pennsylvania.
That Hogg promoted Walz comes despite how he hadn't posted about him previously. Still, it caught on, as Bruesewitz explained further in his post. "Before July 24th, 2024, Hogg, an avid X user, never once promoted or mentioned Walz. However, in a matter of days, he emerged as one of Walz's staunchest advocates, dubbing him his 'good friend.' (Seems genuine and authentic, right?) The talking points Hogg pushed were then picked up and echoed by dozens of other young Democrat 'influencers' across various social media platforms. The push for Tim Walz was very clearly an astroturf campaign that was started within the Democrat 'influencer ecosystem,'" Bruesewitz pointed out.
Bruesewitz is hopeful that Democrats will continue using such tactics. "With all of that being said, as a Republican, I encourage Democrats to keep investing in their digital army and expand their 'influencer ecosystem.' It has undeniably been to our advantage up to this point," he added, with more words about Hogg and his potential political future. "Also, I've heard that David Hogg is contemplating a bid for Vice Chair of the DNC. If true, I fully support his candidacy and am prepared to assist in any way possible to ensure Hogg secures that position! My DMs are open," he concluded, tagging Hogg.
The Democrats already have their own "influencer ecosystem." The issue isn't a lack of "influencers" for the Democrats; rather, it's that the influencers they have built and propped up are, quite frankly, neither the brightest nor authentic.
— Alex Bruesewitz 🇺🇸 (@alexbruesewitz) November 29, 2024
To be clear, I'm not implying that… pic.twitter.com/08miJBSVdH
This is exactly right.
— Alex Bruesewitz 🇺🇸 (@alexbruesewitz) November 29, 2024
Trump inspires support.
The Democrats manufacture support. https://t.co/5lzypnHJw9
Bruesewitz is right to focus on Hogg and Walz in this regard. Walz was a particularly bad choice, as conservatives knew all along, which even others are coming around to realizing. This includes Chris Cillizza, who put out a lengthy thread over X earlier this week, which became a trending topic.
Supporting Walz over Shapiro, and in late July, is also around the time progressives spoke out against Shapiro as a potential, at that point, even likely, pick for Harris' running mate.
From his far-left views to his own lackluster electoral vote history, connections with anti-Israel imams and concerns with stolen valor, plus habitual lying on many more matters, Walz was indeed always a puzzling choice. He likely did nothing to help the campaign. Embarrassingly enough, the Harris-Walz ticket didn't win Minnesota by much, and the ticket even lost Walz's home county.
With the 2026 midterms and 2028 presidential election coming up, Democrats continuing to be in disarray is very much a perfect scenario for Republicans to keep winning.