Democrats had counted on young voters flocking to Vice President Kamala Harris, but as Tuesday night went on the party had a rude awakening.
Gen Z did not swing as hard for Harris as Democrats counted on — Harris won voters ages 18 to 29 by just 11 points, way down from President Joe Biden’s 24 points and Hillary Clinton’s 19 points.
President-elect Donald Trump bet hard on young men, including those in their teens and early 20s casting their very first ballot. He appeared on a slew of “bro” podcasts popular with that demographic, among them comedian Theo Von’s “This Past Weekend,” Andrew Schultz’s “Flagrant” podcast, YouTuber Jake Paul’s show, and the country’s most popular podcast “The Joe Rogan Experience,” a three-hour affair.
That strategy paid off — men under 30 voted for Trump over Harris by 2 points. Back in 2020, Biden won the young male vote by 11 points.
Harris focused on motivating young women. She appeared on the popular “Call Her Daddy” podcast, whose millions of listeners are mostly women. She was criticized for appearing on the show while thousands suffered through the devastation from Hurricane Helene, however. Her “Brat” summer trend, based on a Charlie XCX album, went viral, but it had fizzled by the fall.
However, Trump also gained ground with young women despite Democrats hammering the abortion issue. Harris won under-30 women by 24 points, more than 10 points down from Biden’s 35-point advantage with young women.
Trump’s social media strategy also involved a lot of viral memes, such as his appearance at McDonald’s where he worked the fry cooker, another way his team worked to appeal to young people.
Overall, Trump won a bigger percentage of voters under 30 than any Republican presidential candidate since 2008, NBC News exit polling showed.
On Wednesday, videos flooded TikTok showing college students celebrating Trump’s win on their campuses.
The Harris campaign had believed young voters were energized to vote for Harris. Long lines at college campuses in swing states like the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Arizona State University seemed to confirm this.
“They are doing their part to make sure Donald Trump is defeated, abortion rights are protected and Democracy is saved,” said David Hogg, co-founder of Leaders We Deserve and March for Our Lives.
However, the economy turned out to be a much more potent driver for voters under 30, who are struggling financially, researchers noted before the election. Even immigration, Trump’s strongest issue, did not rank as high as financial health for young people.
The economy was the most important issue to young voters, and those who said it was their top issue voted for Trump 78% to Harris’ 21%, NBC exit polls showed.
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More than 41 million Gen Z voters cast a ballot this election. Young voters notoriously do not turn out, but every cycle since 2018 more and more have been showing up at their polling places.
Based on the numbers, the young generation’s higher turnout does not automatically mean more votes for Democrats.
This election has put them on the defensive.
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