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#[1]alternate [2]I Viewed the Rise of Barstool Conservatism With Alarm. And Rightly So. [3]Skip to content[4]Skip to site index [5]Today's Paper [6]Opinion|I Viewed the Rise of Barstool Conservatism With Alarm. And Rightly So. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/01/opinion/trump-barstool-young-men.html * (BUTTON) Share full article * (BUTTON) * (BUTTON) * (BUTTON) 918 [7]918 Advertisement [8]SKIP ADVERTISEMENT You have a preview view of this article while we are checking your access. When we have confirmed access, the full article content will load. [9] Opinion Supported by [10]SKIP ADVERTISEMENT Guest Essay I Viewed the Rise of Barstool Conservatism With Alarm. And Rightly So. Dec. 1, 2024 An illustration of two nearly overlapping men, one wearing a "pro-life" T-shirt and the other wearing a marijuana T-shirt. Credit...Tim Enthoven * (BUTTON) Share full article * (BUTTON) * (BUTTON) * (BUTTON) 918 [11]918 [12]Matthew Walther By [13]Matthew Walther Mr. Walther is the editor of The Lamp, a Catholic literary journal, and a contributing Opinion writer. Despite Donald Trump's defeat in the 2020 presidential election, his political coalition was already expanding in consequential ways. Not only did he make notable gains among Hispanic and African American voters -- gains that only increased this year -- but he also attracted the support of a loose grouping of mostly young male voters, whom I [14]described around that time as Barstool conservatives. This year, as I predicted, they appeared to [15]swing hard for Mr. Trump. "Barstool conservatism" was a reference to the media company Barstool Sports and its founder, Dave Portnoy, who became a folk hero of sorts in 2020 after raising millions of dollars on behalf of bars and restaurants whose existence had been threatened by Covid lockdowns. Apart from Mr. Portnoy, Barstool conservatism's most representative figures today are the podcast host Joe Rogan, the retired N.F.L. punter turned ESPN personality Pat McAfee and various mixed martial arts fighters. Barstool conservatism is libertarian in the sense that it values autonomy and ambition but is not doctrinaire about it in a way that would be recognizable to, say, the editors of Reason magazine. It is a world of fantasy football podcasts, betting apps, diet trends (keto, paleo, carnivore) and more nebulous lifestyle questions about the nuances of alcohol and cannabis use. The outlook is culturally rather than socially conservative, skeptical of racial and gender politics for reasons that have more to do with the stridency of their proponents than with any deep-seated convictions about the issues themselves. As a social conservative with an antipathy to libertarianism in all its forms, I viewed the rise of Barstool conservatism in 2020 with foreboding. And rightly so. This year Mr. Trump ran what was, in effect, a pro-choice campaign. He signaled support for legalized cannabis but not for a traditional conception of marriage. He might have selected JD Vance as his running mate, but otherwise he took social conservatives for granted. Barstool conservatives had the upper hand throughout the campaign, as underscored by the emphasis Mr. Trump's team placed on Mr. Rogan's endorsement. I have long been inclined to make certain hard and fast distinctions between Barstool conservatism and Trumpism of the sort that Mr. Vance represents, which I associate with opposition to abortion, pornography and cannabis and support for traditional families, shoring up the power of organized labor and protecting religious freedom. In theory these two conservative tendencies are diametrically opposed. Until recently I would have suggested that only Mr. Trump could unite them, by sheer force of personality. But since this year's election, I have been on an informal listening tour of young men in the part of rural Michigan where I live, which is a nice way of saying that I have spent a lot of time talking to people in bars. What I heard from mechanics, waiters, high school teachers and others often surprised me. The future of American conservatism now strikes me as more complex and less ideologically predictable -- and less dependent on Mr. Trump -- than I had thought. We are having trouble retrieving the article content. Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings. _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ Thank you for your patience while we verify access. 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