Inside ‘conservative influencers for Trump’ event as Republicans woo Gen Z after losing TikTok fight to Kamala

A group of conservative Gen Z influencers came together to help elect Donald Trump in a last-minute effort to convince younger Americans to vote Republican.

The Heritage Foundation, a nonprofit organization that has promoted conservative policies for more than fifty years, invited dozens of influencers to Washington, DC, this week.

The three-day Influence America Summit brought rising conservative stars like Savannah Chrisley, CJ Pearson, Sean Mike Kelly, Emily Saves America and more to the capital for DailyMail.com to report exclusively on.

With nearly 50 million combined followers, the meeting of the minds was intended to discuss substantive strategies for voting for Trump in the weeks leading up to Election Day.

“We brought together 30 of the most impactful emerging young conservative voices in our movement, with a combined audience of nearly 50 million people, to strategize how we can actually reach America’s youth where they are,” says 22-year-old conservative influencer CJ. Pearson, told DailyMail.com.

The Republican has been involved in politics since the age of 12 and has been actively posting content over the past decade, building an audience of over 700,000 people on Instagram and X.

Pearson revealed that the makers of the Republican Party had come together to push back against a well-oiled machine of Democratic influencers that has brought social media stars to the White House and more to boost President Joe Biden and now Kamala Harris .

“For a long time we’ve seen the left invest millions and millions of dollars in empowering these fake influencers like Harry Sisson and others, and I think if we want to stand up to their indoctrination online, we’re raising a digital army , and that’s exactly what we did.’

The conservative admitted that Democrats have flocked to TikTok and that Republicans are lagging behind.

But Pearson sees the platform as an opportunity ripe for the taking for anyone with the most compelling message, at least until it is banned in the US in January.

With just 17 days until the presidential election, conservative creators came up with plans to sync their content.

Wilson poses at the summit with Nashville-based influencer Kristen Gaffney

Reality TV star Savannah Chrisley joined Pearson in moderating a discussion at the summit

Pearson said their followers can expect content focused on immigration and the economy in various ways.

“So what you’ll see from this is a lot of content from people on the street, a lot of response videos around these issues that we know bring people to our side and help us reach them where they are,” Pearson told DailyMail.com.

And part of that strategy is highlighting emerging voices like Emily Wilson, who runs the popular Instagram account Emily saves America.

Speaking to DailyMail.com, Wilson described “taking notes” on strategies to engage her followers.

She revealed that she originally started posting videos 4.5 years ago and at the time mainly went viral for cultural content, but later found success by talking openly about her political beliefs.

“I think my first viral video was actually about feminism,” she said. “And so, you know, I’ve never been a political person.”

Now, after living in California for most of her life and objecting to the political direction Los Angeles is taking, Wilson decided to transition into creating political content to be a voice for conservative Californians who may not want to express themselves.

Chrisley speaks during the second day of the 2024 Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Isabella Brown from PragerU, Pearson, Wilson and Xavaier DuRousseau from PragerU

There were about thirty influencers in total. Sean Mike Kelly (L), host of Digital Social Hour, has more than 11 million followers on Instagram

Former Maryland congressional candidate Kimberly Klacik poses with DuRousseau

“What I’m really trying to do is help everyone else stand up for their beliefs too, especially in cities where we’re being hit so hard,” Emily Saves America said. “And all I’m trying to do right now is build communities in Los Angeles.”

At the end of the event Friday, Wilson said another big benefit is the new network of conservative creators she was able to connect with.

“It’s cool to get together,” she said of the group. “I have twenty new friends who support me and what I do.”