Updated July 14, 2026 at 3:46 PM EDT
In their push to win over younger voters, politicians have tried everything from joining TikTok and collaborating with social media influencers to appearing on podcasts and even swearing more. Now, some leaders are trying another approach: debating them.
The debates have been happening on the YouTube show "Surrounded" from Jubilee Media, where an individual tries to win over a group of people who disagree with them.
One of its most recent episodes featured Maryland Democratic Gov. Wes Moore. In it, Moore sits at a table with one empty chair facing him. He's surrounded by 20 people, who are given the chance to push back on his positions.
Though popular episodes have featured political firebrands —including the late conservative activist Charlie Kirk and left-leaning commentator Mehdi Hasan — "Surrounded" is also increasingly becoming a destination for politicians looking to score valuable facetime with Jubilee's large, young, online audience.
In addition to Moore, the show has seen other rising Democrats go on, including California Rep. Ro Khanna, Texas Senate candidate James Talarico and former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.
Each episode broadly focuses on a topic. For his, Moore was tasked with convincing a room of infrequent and non-voters that casting a ballot is the most effective way to bring political change.
"I know the policies that are being made are being made in our name, with our money, with our tax dollars. But oftentimes, they do not reflect what we actually hope for," he said in his first back and forth with a participant. "We have a responsibility to make sure we have the right people in the right seats that are making the right decisions that are actually on our behalf."
What comes next is a series of unscripted debates, touching on everything from voters' widespread frustration with the current political system to whether voting is any more effective at bringing change than staying home or protesting. Participants take turns running to the empty chair in the center, and whoever gets there first continues the conversation.
In one exchange, participant Sergio Corona Jr. pressed Moore on why voting is even important.
"I grew up in a family where we would always choose the lesser of two evils," he said. "If you do that every single election, the level of evil keeps going up and up … so why should I be incentivized to vote if I know for a fact that nobody is going to live up to the expectations that they're going to change when nothing has?"
Moore echoed that frustration, but pushed back, arguing that by disengaging, "not only [are] we not helping ourselves, we're not helping our families, we're not helping our neighbors."
"Bad things will happen and then we cannot just scratch our heads and wonder why," he said.
The episode lasted nearly 90 minutes, though Jubilee says typical tapings take between three and four hours. It's a stark format break for most elected officials or candidates, given traditional media appearances are often just a few minutes long.
The battle for voters online
But for those wanting to reach more voters online, particularly younger voters, engaging with Jubilee's audience may outweigh some potential risks that come with going outside the political norm.
The company — which in addition to "Surrounded" produces a handful of other debate and entertainment shows — says it has a core demographic between the ages of 18 to 34 and averages 382 million total views a month across platforms.
"Some people call us the Gen Z MTV," said Jubilee founder and CEO Jason Y. Lee, arguing that young people are craving a more fulsome online discourse, where disagreement is welcome.
It's a digital space that politicians often avoided, he added, until 2024.
"After the election, I think that there was a realization from both sides of how important the digital conversation is," he said. "People are watching. People are participating. We get tens of thousands of comments on every episode."
"I think the next generation of political leaders … should be showing up not only in Jubilee, but in these kinds of digital spaces."
Though "Surrounded" has yet to have a GOP elected official on the program, several conservative commentators and activists have been featured as guests on episodes and the program regularly features participants with Republican-aligned viewpoints. Lee said Jubilee's objective is to feature both sides and that there is a "large appetite" from both Republicans and Democrats to participate.
On the 2024 campaign trail, President Trump targeted young voters through a spree of nontraditional media appearances, appearing on popular podcasts and alongside influencers and streamers, at a more frequent rate than former Vice President Kamala Harris.
It's a strategy that may have, in part, boosted Trump's standing with young voters. The voting bloc has traditionally proved key for Democrats on the margins. Notably, since 2008, winning Democratic presidential candidates have received at least 60% of the under 30 vote, but in 2024, according to exit polls, Harris received just 54%.
"We lost the Internet and we lost the young vote," said Ammar Moussa, Moore's senior press secretary, who previously worked for the Harris campaign. "I think it is very important that we acknowledge that."
It's something Democrats eyeing a potential run for the White House in 2028 may be thinking about. And though Moore has said he won't run in 2028, the governor is often mentioned as a potential contender for the party's nomination.
Moussa said these kinds of appearances are "necessary for a communication strategy in 2026, for anybody who's in elected politics." In addition to "Surrounded," Moussa said that the governor has a record of engaging with non-traditional media, doing podcast interviews and working with Maryland-based content creators.
Seeing politicians on programs like Jubilee holds weight for college student Naseem Rahman.
"I've been at the dining hall," he said in an interview, "and I can see other people's screens and they're watching it."
Rahman participated in the episode with Moore. He says he leans progressive but didn't vote in 2024, disagreeing with how Harris handled policy toward Israel and the war in Gaza. Thinking back, he wishes both Harris and Trump had appeared on a show like "Surrounded."
"I feel like a lot more people would be open to voting for them if they saw that they're a real human and they're willing to take criticism," he added.
It's a feeling shared with participants on the other end of the political spectrum, including Marien Richardson, a conservative content creator who participated in the episode with Khanna, which focused on views towards the Epstein files.
"I just look at it as very brave, even if I completely disagree with their policy. It is very brave to even show up to a discussion like that," Richardson said, explaining that while the California Democrat didn't change her views, she respects him or any politician for agreeing to go on the program.
"This platform is so unique because it appeals to both sides by giving both sides an arena, almost."
It's something Jubilee's leaders, like Lee, are thinking about as they consider the company's future. One goal for 2028: Jubilee's own presidential debate.
Copyright 2026 NPR
