2028 Might Be The Year Of The Beard For Presidential Hopefuls

Potential Democratic contenders for the presidency are trying to gain an edge with scruffy appeals to younger male voters.

WASHINGTON — Pete Buttigieg returned to Iowa this week for his first public event since winning the state’s 2020 Democratic presidential caucuses with a new look, changing up his youthful, clean-shaven appearance with a dark, scruffy beard.

The former secretary of transportation’s bristly makeover has been making headlines and generating buzz ahead of a potential 2028 presidential run. One of the party’s better messengers, Buttigieg has been seeking out new audiences in his case against Donald Trump’s administration, including on right-leaning platforms with mostly male viewerships where beards often scream man.

“It was very rare in my former life that I could go more than a day without shaving,” he explained recently.

After last year’s disastrous election result for Democrats, in which young men shifted toward Trump, prominent Democratic officials are making a concentrated effort to appeal to apolitical men under 30, including on podcasts and sports radio shows. Some are pairing this with tougher-looking aesthetics that, until recently, have been far more popular among the MAGA set.

Both of Trump’s elder sons, Eric and Don Jr., grew beards during their father’s first term, parading their machismo on hunting and fishing trips across the country. It took him a while, but Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) finally grew a decent-looking beard in 2018 in a preview of his political makeover from longtime partisan bomb-thrower to bipartisan-minded lawmaker.