Thank You To All The Men Who Voted ‘For My Daughter’

By: Madeline Osborn, originally published November 8, 2024, The Federalist

Men did ‘step up’ for their daughters and for women everywhere, but not in the way that these sobbing women on Instagram demanded.

Out of all the post-election reactions shared on social media in the last 72 hours, perhaps the most grating and eye-roll-inducing are the women sobbing about how a majority of America could have possibly voted “against our daughters.”

“How am I going to tell my daughter that America voted for her rights to be taken away?” sobbed one woman on Instagram. Others crooned about voting “for their daughters” on Election Day, presumably meaning they voted for pro-abortion candidates and ballot initiatives.

Before I explain why I’m grateful for this election “for my daughters” specifically, it needs to be said that these types of posts using children to fight in political culture wars need to stop. Whether it’s your own children, or others’, just stop. Kids under 18 need to be protected, not used by their parents or anyone else as a shield to hide behind or a cudgel to push an adult’s policy preference. But since the “for my daughters” crowd is out in full force this week, I would like to thank all the men and women, but specifically the men, who voted for Donald Trump and “for my daughters.”

Courting the Manosphere

There was a lot of pressure on men this election to “show up for women.” From Barack Obama lecturing “the brothers” to Kamala Harris’ step-daughter demanding men “step up and show they actually support us,” Democrats knew how unappealing and unlikeable their candidate was to men, and they hoped men could be guilted or pressured into voting for her anyway.

While the Democrats’ strategy was to browbeat men into submission, the Trump campaign doubled down on its outreach to the manosphere in a way that will be replicated by campaigns in years to come. Trump’s appearances at UFC fights and on comedy podcasts and, of course, his three-hour sit down with Joe Rogan (whose audience is 81 percent male) were all major contributors to Trump winning 54 percent of men. He doubled his support among black men and outpaced Harris 56 percent to 40 percent among young white men without college degrees. 

It turns out that men did “step up” for their daughters and for women everywhere, but not in the way that these sobbing women on Instagram demanded.

Protecting Our Girls

Men voted for their daughters not to be drafted and sent off to fight other people’s wars. Men saw warmongers like Liz Cheney campaigning with Harris and the looming threats of World War III, from Taiwan to the Middle East, and voted for peace. They voted against the party that every year (this year included) tries to add a requirement that women register for the draft to the annual defense spending bill.

Men voted for our daughters not to be preyed upon by men in their bathrooms and locker rooms and for our daughters to be able to compete in sports fairly and safely. Men saw the insane and anti-woman push from the left to allow teenage boys and men with sexual fetishes near their daughter’s private spaces, and they saw their girls getting injured by boys with twice their size and strength on the court and on the field — and they said no to all of it when they voted for our daughters.

Finally, men voted for our daughters not to be taken advantage of by men sexually without consequences.

“Men are also more free in a country where we have a president who stands up for things like access to abortion,” said Pete Buttigieg during a “White Dudes for Harris” campaign call. “Men are more free when the leader of the free world and the leader of this country supports access to birth control.”

Men saw a future that allowed other men to shirk the responsibilities that come with being a loving husband to their daughters and involved father to their granddaughters and said no. When they voted for our daughters, they voted against the killing of their grandchildren.

So for all the women crying about how sad they are about the election specifically “for their daughters,” I thank God there are more good, strong men (and women) who voted for my daughter.

Madeline Osburn is managing editor at The Federalist.