If 2016 was the education election, when voters were divided depending on whether they had studied or not, then 2024 will be a battle of the sexes.
The full extent of America’s gender gap is laid bare in the latest DailyMail.com/JL Partners.
It showed that former President Donald Trump has widened his lead among men and now has a 22-point lead among male voters.
At the same time, Vice President Kamala Harris has widened her lead among female voters and now has a 14-point lead over women.
It’s an extraordinary number in an otherwise tight race.
JL Partners surveyed 1,000 likely voters. The results showed a large gender gap
And the differences are evident in the language the two genders use when describing the candidates.
When women are asked for a one-word summary of Trump, the most common words are: corrupt, strong, and crazy. Idiot, arrogant and dangerous come next.
For men they are: strong, corrupt and competent.
When men describe Harris, the most common words are: incompetent, liar, competent.
For women they are: strong, fake and competent.
The divide was on full display Thursday, when Harris attacked Trump for saying he would protect women whether they “like it or not.”
“He simply does not respect women’s freedom or women’s intelligence to know what is in their best interest and make decisions accordingly,” she said on stage in Phoenix, Arizona. “But we trust women.”
Trump has leaned into the divide, turning his attention to podcasts with a predominantly male audience.
Harris supporter Mark Cuban stoked Republican anger during an appearance on The View.
When female voters were asked for their one-word summary of Trump, the top terms were: corrupt, strong, crazy. The results are shown in the word cloud above
Kamala Harris has the support of a majority of women. But is it enough to win?
Women have a more positive view of Harris, as evidenced by this word cloud
“Donald Trump – you never see him around strong, intelligent women. It’s as simple as that… They’re intimidating to him,” he said.
“He doesn’t like to be challenged by them.”
JL Partners surveyed 1,000 likely voters across the country to assess how the electorate was divided by gender.
It found that 59 percent of men said they would vote for Trump, compared to 37 percent who said they could put their cross next to Harris’ name.
Among women, 54 percent said they would vote for Harris, and 40 percent for Trump.
The gap is the widest yet as undecided voters have made up their minds.
“These numbers show a huge gap in political behavior between men and women,” says James Johnson, co-founder of JL Partners, compared to 2016, when college-educated voters chose Hillary Clinton, and non-college-educated voters chose Donald. Trump.
Trump has leveraged his appeal to young men and appeared on bro-friendly podcasts
The Harris campaign is counting on a high turnout of women to get her to the White House
“The gender gap was somewhat there in 2020, with men favoring Trump by five points, while women supported Biden by 12 points. But Trump now leads by 22 points among men, and Harris by 14 points among women.
‘I also hear it when I interview voters. I can’t count how many times a man I’ve interviewed has said his wife votes differently, or vice versa.”
The poll’s overall results show Trump with a three-point lead over Harris, suggesting he could be on track to win the national popular vote.
Johnson said it might be tempting to see women as Harris’ secret weapon, spurred on by the repeal of Roe v Wade and the abortion debate.
“But when we look at these numbers, we also cannot ignore the fact that men have switched to Trump since 2020, in fact at a greater rate than women have switched to Harris,” he said.
“That means to me that Trump could win this election regardless of losing women by double digits.
“Trump can reach the White House on these numbers – if he can figure them out. If Trump’s male army comes to the polls, he will win the election regardless of how women vote.”
The poll was accompanied by a separate survey examining attitudes, asking people if and why their attitudes toward either candidate had changed.
Woman after woman described Trump’s behavior and language. Others pointed to what they said were vague plans for Social Security and cutting costs.
“He keeps calling everyone names,” was one response from a 36-year-old caregiver in the swing state of Michigan, who did not vote in 2020 but plans to vote for Harris this year.