Not cool anymore? Trump sees massive drop in young people support after riding them to an election win
By: Katie Hawkinson (The Independent)
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Trump won nearly 50 percent of youth voters in the 2024 election
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A new poll shows President Donald Trump's much-vaunted success with younger voters seems to have stalled, as his approval rating among that demographic continues to fall.
Just 39 percent of adults under 30-years-old who responded to the latest Economist/YouGov poll reported a favorable opinion of Trump. That number stood at 50 percent just two weeks ago. Adults in the 30- to 44-years-old bracket who view him favorably also dropped from 45 percent to 42 percent.
Overall, 46 percent of respondents approve of Trump's second presidency, according to this week's poll, a drop of three percent compared to late last month. Similarly, just 46 percent of respondents view him favorably personally, a drop from last month's 50 percent.
The increasing scepticism among young Americans comes after Trump won big with youth voters in his race against former Vice President Kamala Harris.
open image in galleryA recent Economist/YouGov poll shows Trump's approval rating has fallen among youth voters in recent weeks (YouGov)
Trump won nearly 50 percent of voters 18- to 29-years-old in 2024, according to AP VoteCast. While youth voters make up just 15 percent of his coalition, AP VoteCast reports, he saw a massive increase in their support last year after winning just one-third of the demographic in 2020.
But the president has tried to inflate this win, claiming in December that he "won youth by 34 points." While most reputable exit polls show Trump was up with youth voters, they also show him within just points of Harris — not 34 points above her.
Trump reportedly worked the youth vote by consulting his 18-year-old son Barron Trump throughout his campaign. Barron, a first-year student at New York University, reportedly pitched and approved key media personalities popular among young men for his father to sit down with. These included YouTuber Logan Paul, comedian Theo Von and podcaster Joe Rogan.
Trump's drop is popularity is mirrored by his "first buddy" Elon Musk, the same Economist/YouGov poll shows. Some 44 percent of respondents had a "very unfavorable" view of the billionaire, drastically up from 36 percent last week.
open image in galleryAn Economist/YouGov poll shows voters across parties think Elon Musk's influence on Trump's administration has grown in recent days (YouGov)
This comes as the Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency continues to wield massive power over the federal government. Voters are feeling DOGE's effects too, with 63 percent of respondents believing that Musk has a lot of influence, an increase from 51 percent last week, the Economist/YouGov poll shows.
Trump handed Musk and DOGE even more power this week, after he signed an executive order requiring agencies to cooperate with the agency.
open image in galleryTrump's has long boasted about his support among young voters - but it seems to be fading in the early weeks of his presidency. (Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)
Those polled seemed to acknowledge, and largely disagree, Trump's faith in Musk, with just 18 percent of respondents wanting X owner to have a lot of influence.
When a reporter asked for Musk's response to criticisms that his efforts constitute a "hostile takeover" of the executive branch, he responded: "The people voted for major government reform and that's what the people are going to get."
Many of Trump's key policies are also proving incredibly unpopular, with only his ban on transgender women and girls participating in women's sports gaining widespread support.
open image in galleryOnly one of Trump's recent policies — banning transgender women and girls from participating in women's sports — received support from the majority of poll respondents (YouGov)
But the rest of his policies face low approval ratings. Just 36 percent of respondents approve of deporting U.S. citizens convicted of crimes to foreign prisons, while just 35 percent approve of ending humanitarian aid to foreign countries.
His worst-rated policies are abolishing the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, with just 16 percent of respondents approving, while 58 percent of people disapprove of closing the Department of Education. His policy of ending a free online tax filing system run by the IRS has also proven to be massively unpopular, with just 15 percent of those asked approving.
The Independent has contacted the White House for comment.
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Up from 34% on the same poll in September.
Or 46.5%, if we're going to attempt to be accurate at all.
Up from 37.9% in September.
So the demographic that has never liked Trump continues not to like Trump, but we're pretending that's new.
This egg-price thing is just killing him. Wait til these kiddos find out they have to show up and wkro.
Mine are both under 30, work very hard, and make more than I do. Of course they would never vote for the world’s most prolific ignoramus, but they’ll end up getting the shit on by said ignoramus just like those who did vote for this fate.
Trump has been in office for less than a month and is already given up on lowering prices. He said today the prices will ultimately go down or stay the same.
Ultimately could mean 10 years from now
Just 24 days in and he's already accomplished more good than his predecessor did in all his ~50 years in politics.
Young people are easily bored and distracted and eagerly chase after the newest shiny object. Most of them aren't really into politics.
A vast number of normal patriotic Americans approve of the clean-up of government he is doing with Musk's help and advice.
One rightwing religious conservative fascist's 'good' is often another rational patriotic Americans 'bad'. The chaos and destruction Trump will inevitably cause is just beginning and if any MAGAite thinks they're getting out of this unscathed they're just lying to themselves. The damage being done to our nation right now by this unhinged convicted felon running our country will likely take decades to recover from. I know the dumb asses, incels, bigots and lowest common denominators among the American people are happy right now, but there will be some point in the next few years where the damage will start effecting the MAGAites on an individual level and the gut wrenching regret that will be felt by millions of Trump voters will resound with loud cries and gnashing their teeth and a tearing of their sackcloth.
“You said you wouldn’t bite me!” His reptilian hitchhiker looked at him and said, “Ha! You knew I was a snake when you picked me up.”
Trump is not mentally stable enough to run a coherent government for the people. He and his associates are going to rob Us blind.
More "going to" bullshit.........? AGAIN.............
Trump is obviously mentally unstable. If you can't see that I pity you.