Trump sees a shift in Gen Z support, polls show
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Former President Donald Trump is experiencing a huge shift in youth support, according to a new poll released Thursday. The new spring poll from the Harvard Kennedy School Institute of Politics shows that Trump has gained 15 points of support from young voters aged 18 to 29 compared to four years ago.
President Joe Biden still has a lead among young people aged 18 to 29, but only by eight points. Forty-five percent favor Biden, compared to 37 percent in favor of Trump. In the spring 2020 Harvard Poll, Biden led Trump by 23 points, with 51 percent supporting him, compared to just 28 percent for Trump.
Although Biden still leads Trump among young voters, Trump leads Biden in enthusiasm. Seventy-six percent of Trump voters say they enthusiastically support their candidate, while only 44 percent of Biden voters say the same.
Trump’s new-found strength among young voters is driven by men. The new poll shows that 32 percent of young men consider themselves Democrats, while 29 percent are Republicans, a three-point lead for Democrats.
In 2020, Democrats had a 22-point lead as 42 percent of young men identified as Democrats and only 20 percent identified as Republicans. Young women now support Biden by a larger margin than in 2020.
The poll shows that 44 percent of young women identify as Democrats, while only 18 percent identify as Republicans, giving Democrats a 26-point lead. In 2020, 43 percent of young women identified as Democrats and 23 percent as Republicans.
Biden’s support among young people only declines when third-party candidates are on the ballot. In a scenario in which third party candidates Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Cornel West and Jill Stein are options, Biden leads Trump by only three points over the Americans 18-29.
Twenty-eight percent support Biden and 25 percent support Trump. Eleven percent support Kennedy, four percent support Stein and three percent support West. But a significant number of young people remain unsure about their choice in the 2024 elections.
Twenty-eight percent of Americans in this category said they didn’t know who they would support.
