Resistance — or obstruction?

Activist and influencer Olivia Julianna on Gen Z's political vision, working in Republican spaces, and how she hopes to get things done in the Trump years

Olivia Julianna broke out as a Democratic political influencer in 2022 when then-Republican representative Matt Gaetz — well known for his problematic behavior toward teenage girls — tried to bully the then 19-year-old activist and political strategist for her weight. In an impressive piece of messaging jiu-jitsu, she used the viral moment to raise $2 million for abortion rights.

Formerly a strategist with Gen-Z for Change, the youth-led advocacy organization, today Julianna creates regular content for her hundreds of thousands of followers on social media — 702,000 followers on TikTok, 329,000 on X, and 95,000 followers on Instagram — balancing that with her workload as a political science student at a community college in Houston.

As a queer Latina Democratic activist who grew up in a conservative Republican working-class family in rural Texas, Julianna has deep insight into the necessity of communicating with as broad a range of people as possible. “We need to be more willing to work with people who may agree with us 60 percent of the time, or 30 percent of the time, but who are with us 100 percent on a certain issue,” she says.

We talked to Julianna about what the Biden years have meant for her, how she thinks young people actually see partisanship, the ways in which she thinks being a left influencer might change under Trump (and why she feels she needs to be on every platform, even Truth Social), and her advice for Zoomers looking to get involved — and still have actual impact — in Democratic politics.

This conversation has been edited for clarity.

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So I saw you were just at the White House! How was that?

It was so surreal. I still don’t fully believe that it happened, I just know I’m never going to forget that day.

Joe Biden’s presidency changed the trajectory of my life. I applied for an American Rescue Plan Grant for $4,000 and it paid for my entire freshman year of college. I can't say that the government doesn't work when there's a clear example of the government working for me.

Since Election Day, what has happened for you in terms of your plan and your thinking about what the next few years are going to bring?

For that first month after the election, I just decided to give myself grace. But I think the biggest challenge for me right now, in the political climate that we're in as Democrats, we have to find the line between resistance and obstruction.

We are gonna have to decide if we want to govern our section of the country in the way that Republicans governed during Biden's presidency. I don't want to find us in the position where we're voting down a bill for, maybe the Child Tax Credit, because it's only offering X amount when we really wanted Y amount.

That's kind of been the biggest thing for me, is figuring out not only how do we reduce the harm of some of the more disgusting things that Trump promised to do while he was on the campaign, but how do we reckon with the fact that the bottom line is there are things that Democrats have to work with the Trump administration to get done.

That's just how being the adult in the room works.

And as someone who makes content, I have to personally decide, you know, do I want to continue to harp against all of the things that Donald Trump has done, is doing, and will do? Do I also want to talk about if something positive happens? Because we’re going into a Republican trifecta. As someone who has strong moral objections to what their party stands for, do I give them credit if they do something good? Do I have an obligation to my audience to be honest about that? Will my audience turn on me because they feel like I’ve softened on Donald Trump?

That's kind of where I've been mentally the past month or so, is just figuring out how to walk that line.

Do you think that pragmatism comes from growing up in a red state where you have to work with Republicans all the time to get things done?

My dad was a Republican. I lived in a very Republican town, and because I lived in rural Texas, all my elected officials were Republicans.

When I was 17 and I first got on TikTok, I was very radical. I didn’t believe in the electoral system at all. And at one point I was — I will never talk to a Republican, I don't want to be friends with them.

And I think the reason why I have kind of changed that view has been, I moved to Houston, and I've lived here now since I was 19, and I've met a lot of Democratic elected officials. I've volunteered for their campaigns. It really has taught me that most elected officials really do work with their colleagues to get things done. Democrats and Republicans really do work together on projects all the time.

And not just here in Texas, but in other states — you know, Governor Josh Shapiro, Governor Gretchen Whitmer, Governor Tony Evers, the way that they've had to govern their states with a truly bipartisan government, has really led me to this point where it's like, okay, you know what, we do have to work with other people to get things done. Even if I disagree with these people on pretty much everything, we all deserve to live in a country with roads we can drive on, health care we can afford, with schools that we have access to — and I don't want to push away someone who has that same goal in mind because they're part of a different party.

Do you feel that people your age are more likely to have that perspective? Do you think it's generational at all?

Most young people don’t identify with a political party. They identify more so on the issues. Even young Republicans, they’re more concerned about climate change than older Republicans. It's more about what we feel passionately about individually, and less about the party.

I think that's all well and good, to build bridges and make compromises. But I guess, you know, what I'm coming up against is what you've experienced personally, as far as people who deny your humanity and your civil rights.

If you look at my Twitter account, and you look at my Instagram, especially since the election, I am a topic of ire not just on the right, but by people who are further left than me.

This one guy is really hammering on me right now on Twitter. He's a big conservative influencer. And he's making all these crazy posts about like, asking me out on dates or whatever, but like in an insulting way. And you know, normally, I'd be like, who is this guy — like he's talking about my body, and he's doing all this stuff, but it also is public, like his wife just left him. So, I feel bad for him.

That’s very big-hearted of you.

I was raised very Christian. And I was raised to be very involved in public service, and I found myself, when I saw people who are lashing out or acting out in this way, I used to get really angry, and I used to feel really personally offended, and I would take those things to heart.

But as I got older and I looked at these comments or these replies, the truth is, I just feel really bad for these people. Because I feel like they are imprisoning themselves with their own hatefulness.

I think that if more people had that kind of perspective, to think about what that person is feeling in terms of, “this isn't sad for me, this isn't hurtful for me — this is hurtful for them,” we'd probably be in a lot better place than we are right now.

So you're joining Truth Social? What's going on with that?

I just made a decision this morning. I was like, you know, what the hell. I already have all the other ones. I've got Threads. I've got Bluesky. I'm sure it's going to piss people off. I'm sure I'm not going to have a pleasant experience there. I might not even gain followers there, but I'm kind of in the mind of you know, like, why not?

I think part of the reason why Democrats have had a little bit harder of a time making ground with independent voters is they get really afraid to go into Republican spaces. They'll say things like, well, I don't want to platform them, or I don't want to legitimize them.

But they have a platform, and they are legitimized, because this is where people are at. And I have no fear, you know. If Joe Rogan invited me on a show today, I personally think I would probably have a great time, because, even though I am, you know, super Democratic, I'm a huge wrestling fan. I love whiskey. I love cigars, and I love classic rock music. I often say I have the personality of an old conservative man. That kind of cultural competency and willingness to be uncomfortable, it can make an impact.

Even since we talked last fall, I feel like there's been an even bigger shift in terms of mainstream media, honestly, kind of falling apart. That puts so much more pressure on the influencer space. How do you think about your responsibility?

I think we have an obligation to tell the truth. I think that that's why mainstream media has suffered so much, is because there is an inability or an unwillingness to tell the whole and complete truth. 100 percent of the time.

I am not unbiased. I am a Democrat. I want Democrats to win elections. But I think even before the election you saw more and more people turning to the influencer space for their news, because people are just tired of the bullshit. The fluff. They're tired of the commentary from the D.C. bubble or the Beltway. They're tired of all of the commentary being from people who are making anywhere from a quarter of a million to multiple millions of dollars a year. Not that influencers can’t make a lot of money, but a lot of us just happened upon this. Most of us were living completely normal lives before this.

Besides the advice that Gen Z really looks at things issue by issue, what other kinds of advice would you give to progressives who want to understand the role that Gen Z can play in politics in the next four years?

I don't use the label progressive, and the reason why is because a lot of people, especially Gen Z people, have taken that to mean, instead of advocating in a realistic way, or a pragmatic way, you'll see young people use that as an excuse to be perfectionists.

ContraPoints is a YouTuber who has a video where she says, “They don't want power, they want to endlessly critique power.”

For politicians on the left who want to do good things, we don't want to make ourselves the party that endlessly critiques power. We want to make ourselves the party that finds ourselves once again in the position to have the power to do something.

You're going to have to have Democrats in the federal government and House and in the Senate push back against some of the more harmful things in ways they can. You're going to have advocacy groups filing lawsuits that have to do with executive orders,

But I think what we really should be pushing for and expecting that will help with building narratives with young people is, in places where we have blue governments, we have to govern exceptionally. We have to get as many good things done as we can, and we have to set the tone for what it's going to look like in the future.

We really need to focus on guiding these adults into adulthood in a way where it's giving them longevity in their lives, and where we can show them, “You are welcome here on the left. We want to help you have a safe, secure life. We want you to have a good home, a good job, and be able to have a good, healthy family.”

OK, last question. What is going on with the straight guys your age?

[Laughs] I just gave a presentation about the alt-right pipeline.

I don't think people really understand how long of an effort this has been. The places where young men dive into escapism — gaming, sports, prank videos — all of it has been trending towards this right-wing belief system. Misogyny and racism have been normalized.

It’s this Alpha male content about physical perfection, about the expectations that are set for you as a man: you need to have a high-paying job. You need to be able to provide for your family.

So like, that space has set these really high expectations for men, but it's also given them this belief that they shouldn't have to take accountability if they can't do those things. They should blame someone else, like an immigrant for taking their job. Of course it's going to lead young men who have had all these expectations built up for them to have a bitterness and resentfulness towards that group of people.

The other thing the left has to reckon with is the fact that there has been a lot of, in the last few years on the left, politically, like if you're a white man, I don't care what you have to say. #KillAllMen was a trend on TikTok.

It seems stupid and lighthearted, but we’re pushing them further into this right-wing void.

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