In the 2016 presidential election, Gen X cast 35.7 million votes, which was the highest turnout for our age demographic up to that point. In 2020, it was 36 million votes. And then in 2024, estimates say up to 44 million of us voted. And with each election,

Gen X has been getting more conservative, or, as many headlines have stated, Trumpier.

I want to meditate on what happened to my generation today. Let's start by looking at some data. GenX was

already showing signs of being less democratic than millennials in 2016. Back then, 49% of

GenX voters lean Democratic compared to 55% of millennials. Exit polls at the time indicate that we were more

evenly split than boomers or millennials, but leaned slightly right of center. And then we get to

2020. And even though Biden won, Gen X edged further right, voting for Trump by a one-point margin.

Millennials and Gen Z were more evenly split at that time.

Then came 2024. Gen X favored Trump by a 6 to 9-point margin, and that made us his strongest

generational base. Millennials and boomers moved

less dramatically and boomers trended slightly more democratic in the last election cycle than they

had previously. Some reporting on Gen Xers found that we feel financially insecure, and that was the reason for this shift.

Data do back this up, given that we're unlikely to earn more than our parents did, but in my opinion,

it doesn't really explain my generation's turn towards Trump, a man who is not going to help out anyone who's not a billionaire,

or has the Trump name.

While reviewing materials for this episode, I've read that Trump's brash style, his irreverence,

his use of irony appeal to Gen X sensibilities.

His controversial statements were apparently less off-putting compared to other generations.

I mean, maybe a lot of that has to do with geography.

I grew up in Jersey in the 80s.

We all knew that Trump was a hack, especially after what he did to Atlantic City.

There's a certain type of person that you quickly knew not to trust,

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