It was late February 2016. Nevada. The air in the West Las Vegas High School gym was thick with that specific kind of frantic energy you only find at a victory rally. Donald Trump had just trounced the field in the Nevada caucuses, pulling in about 45% of the vote. He was on a roll. He stood at the podium, basking in the numbers, and started rattling off the demographics he’d won. He won the evangelicals. He won the moderate voters. Then, he uttered the line that would immediately join the permanent hall of fame for political soundbites: "We won with poorly educated. I love the poorly educated."
Wait.
If you are searching for i love the young people, you’re likely caught in a very common digital "Mandela Effect" or a mixing of wires between two different viral moments. Trump did express love for the "poorly educated" in that specific 2016 speech, but the phrase "I love the young people" often gets mashed up with it in the public consciousness, or attributed to him during his various outreach attempts to Gen Z and Millennials during the 2020 and 2024 cycles.
It's fascinating. Humans have this weird way of flattening political rhetoric into catchy, slightly distorted memes. We take the cadence of a famous person and graft new words onto it. But to understand why the "young people" angle matters today, we have to look at the actual data and the shift in how politicians—Trump included—have pivoted from the "poorly educated" base to aggressively hunting for the youth vote.
The Viral Architecture of a Misquote
Words matter, but vibes matter more in the era of TikTok and X. When the 2016 clip went viral, it wasn't just because of what was said; it was the sheer audacity of a politician shouting out a demographic that most consultants tell you to ignore or speak to in hushed tones. Most candidates try to sound sophisticated. Trump did the opposite.
Now, why do people keep typing i love the young people into search bars?
Part of it is the 2024 campaign strategy. If you watched the 2024 election cycle, you saw a massive shift. The "I love the poorly educated" guy was suddenly on Logan Paul’s podcast. He was at UFC fights with Dana White. He was doing stunts with the Nelk Boys. This "new" version of the campaign was essentially a giant, walking billboard saying I love the young people (specifically young men).
This isn't just a linguistic slip-up by the public. It’s a reflection of a massive strategic pivot. In 2016, the youth vote (ages 18-29) was a wasteland for the GOP. By 2024, the "bro-vote" had become a legitimate pillar of the movement. When people search for this phrase, they are often looking for that specific intersection: the moment the populist rhetoric of 2016 met the influencer-driven youth outreach of the 2020s.
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Breaking Down the Nevada Speech (The Real Origin)
Let’s go back to the source. It’s February 23, 2016. Trump is standing in front of a "Trump: Make America Great Again" banner. He's reading off the entrance poll data like he’s reading a box score after a blowout win.
"We won the evangelicals," he said. "We won with young. With old. With highly educated. We won with poorly educated. I love the poorly educated."
Notice that "young" was actually in the list. He did claim the young people in that specific breath. But the "poorly educated" line was so jarring, so counter-intuitive to political norms, that it swallowed the rest of the sentence whole. It became the headline. It became the late-night monologue punchline.
Why the distinction between "Young" and "Poorly Educated" blurred
There’s a specific overlap in the Venn diagram of political messaging here.
- The Anti-Elitism: Both phrases tap into a rejection of the "expert" class.
- The Authenticity Trap: Fans see these statements as "telling it like it is," while critics see them as predatory.
- The Media Loop: Because the 2016 quote was so famous, every time Trump did well with a new demographic (like young voters in 2024), the media recycled the 2016 formatting.
Honestly, it’s a masterclass in branding. By leaning into demographics that the establishment usually looks down upon—whether that’s people without college degrees or young "disruptors"—he created a sense of belonging. If you feel ignored by the system, and a billionaire stands on a stage and says "I love [Your Group]," it resonates. Even if he’s just reading a poll.
The 2024 Pivot: When "Young People" Became the Goal
If 2016 was about the "poorly educated," 2024 was undeniably the year of the "young person" for the Republican party. This is where the i love the young people sentiment actually became a policy and campaign fixture.
You saw it in the numbers. Exit polls from various 2024 primary and general elections showed a narrowing gap. In 2020, Biden won voters under 30 by about 24 points. By 2024, that margin had shriveled significantly in certain battlegrounds. Why? Because the campaign stopped talking at young people and started hanging out where they live:
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- Podcasts: Not the NPR kind. The "three guys in a garage talking about lifting weights and crypto" kind.
- Short-form Video: The "I love the young people" energy was translated into 15-second clips of Trump doing the "YMCA" dance or reacting to memes.
- The Barstool Effect: Tapping into a specific "anti-woke" or "counter-culture" youth movement that views the GOP as the new punk rock.
It’s a weird world.
The shift is real, though. A study by the Harvard Youth Poll has consistently shown a growing dissatisfaction among young men specifically with the status quo. When they hear a politician say they "love" them, it fills a vacuum left by a political establishment that often treats Gen Z as a monolith of progressive activism.
Common Misconceptions About the Quote
People get things wrong. All the time. Especially on the internet.
One of the biggest myths is that the "poorly educated" comment was an insult. If you watch the video, he’s saying it as a badge of honor. He was pointing out that his movement was broad enough to include people who didn't go to Ivy League schools.
Another misconception is that i love the young people is a specific, single quote from a specific rally. It’s not. It’s a "Frankenstein quote." It’s built from the "poorly educated" structure and the 2024 strategy. It's the internet's way of summarizing a decade of political realignment.
The Nuance of Education vs. Age in Voting
We talk about "young people" like they are all the same. They aren't. There is a massive divide between a 22-year-old with a Master’s degree in Brooklyn and a 22-year-old working a trade in rural Pennsylvania.
- The Degree Divide: This is the real "Great Wall" of modern politics.
- Economic Anxiety: Young people are looking at housing prices and thinking, "I'm never owning a home."
- Information Silos: Young voters get their news from TikTok "journalists" who often use the i love the young people framing to explain why the GOP is gaining ground.
How to Actually Reach the Youth (Actionable Insights)
If you’re a marketer, a creator, or just someone trying to understand how this rhetoric works, there are actual lessons here. Whether the quote is 100% verbatim or a cultural hybrid doesn't matter as much as the result.
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Stop Being "Polished"
The reason the 2016 "poorly educated" line worked—and why the 2024 youth outreach worked—is that it felt unscripted. Young people have an incredibly high "cringe" filter. They can smell a corporate script from a mile away. If you want to connect, you have to be willing to say something that sounds a bit "wrong" to a PR professional.
Go Where the Audience Is
You can't buy an ad on network TV and expect a 19-year-old to see it. The "I love the young people" strategy worked because it went to Adin Ross’s stream. It went to the Nelk Boys. It went to the places where "polite society" usually doesn't go.
Acknowledge the Struggle
The "poorly educated" weren't just a stat; they were a group of people who felt the economy had left them behind. Young people today feel the same. Acknowledging that the system is broken is the first step to getting them to listen.
The Power of the Shout-out
Never underestimate the power of a simple "I see you." That’s all the Nevada speech was. It was a list of people. "I see the evangelicals. I see the young. I see the poorly educated." Recognition is a powerful drug in politics.
Final Reality Check
So, did he say i love the young people?
In Nevada 2016, he said he won with them and he loved the poorly educated. In 2024, his entire campaign was a love letter to a specific subset of young voters. The quote might be a bit of a linguistic tumbleweed, picking up different parts of different speeches as it rolls across the internet, but the sentiment is the backbone of the current political landscape.
If you’re looking for the clip, look for "Trump Nevada Victory Speech 2016." Watch the whole thing. It’s a fascinating time capsule of a moment that changed how we talk about voters—and how voters talk about themselves.
Next Steps for the Curious:
- Watch the Footage: Go to YouTube and search "Trump Nevada 2016 Victory Speech" to hear the cadence yourself. It's different when you see the crowd's reaction.
- Check the Exit Polls: Look at the Edison Research exit polls for 2016 vs. 2024. The shift in the "under 30" demographic is one of the most significant stories in modern sociology.
- Analyze the "Bro-cast" Strategy: Research the guest list of the top 10 podcasts for men under 25. You'll see exactly how the "young people" outreach was executed.
The "poorly educated" became the "young people" of 2024. Different labels, same strategy: find the people who feel ignored and tell them, loudly and repeatedly, that you love them. It works. It changes elections. And it creates memes that live forever, even if we don't always get the words exactly right.