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WSJ What’s News

What Gen Z Support for Trump Says About Their Changing Politics

WSJ What’s News

The Wall Street Journal

Daily News, News

4.14.2K Ratings

🗓️ 15 December 2024

⏱️ 13 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

During this presidential election, the youth vote shifted in Trump's favor. The issues guiding young voters are shifting. What does this change tell us about how the next generation is thinking about Trump, politics and the role of government in their lives? We talk to WSJ’s Jimmy Vielkind about what he heard from Gen Z voters across the country while reporting Chasing the Base and Chasing the Vote, and to reporter and editor Aaron Zitner about the demographics and economics driving this shift. Charlotte Gartenberg hosts. Further Reading Young Voters Helped Fuel Trump’s Win  Trump Is Attracting Young Male Voters. Can Harris Change That?  Why Gen Z Voters Are America’s Most Disillusioned  Who Voted? A Younger, More Female Electorate  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0

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0:07.4

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0:12.7

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0:18.4

Hey, what's news listeners, it's Sunday, December 15th. I'm Charlotte Gartenberg for the

0:23.2

Wall Street Journal. This is What's News Sunday, the show where we tackle the big questions about

0:28.0

the biggest stories in the news by reaching out to our colleagues across the newsroom to help

0:32.4

explain what's happening in our world. This week, Gen Z helped fuel Trump's win. More of them showed up to vote than in

0:39.4

previous presidential elections, and more of them voted Republican. So what brought them to the polls?

0:44.5

And what does this tell us about the coming generation's thinking and political influence? Let's get to it.

0:51.4

Kamala Harris still won the majority in the group of voters 18 to 29 years old, but only with a

0:57.4

four-point advantage against a 25-point margin in President Biden's 2020 victory.

1:03.0

The youth vote is not a monolith, but we did see some trends, from the economy taking first place

1:08.2

above all else to men and women moving in opposing ideological

1:11.9

directions. So what do these trends tell us about how the next generation is thinking about the

1:16.7

president-elect, politics, and the role of government in their lives? Here to walk us through

1:22.1

is reporter and editor Aaron Zittner, who focuses on how demographics and economics drive politics, and reporter Jimmy

1:29.0

Veilkind, who you may have heard for many Sundays right here on the What's News feed for

1:33.3

chasing the base and chasing the vote, where he reported on voter attitudes all over the

1:37.8

country leading up to the election. All right, Aaron, we could spend a whole episode on just this,

1:43.5

but summarizing quickly, what were the big issues that brought young people to the polls?

1:48.4

Number one, the economy. And number two, just the sense of dissatisfaction with the leadership of the country in the form of President Biden and the direction of the country overall.

2:00.1

A sense of no one's really

...

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