In yet another troubling sign for the foundering Biden reelection, several reports indicate that Gen Z—those born between 1996-2010—are increasingly unhappy with Joe Biden's performance and are not going to vote for him this November. Some are considering what they thought unthinkable just four years ago—checking the box for Donald Trump.
Even ethically challenged Washington Post reporter Taylor Lorenz was forced to admit in a piece Thursday that the trend is not in Biden's favor. It seems that a whole bunch of young people are furious that Biden threatened to ban TikTok from America unless China sells it. A group once known as TikTok for Biden and now called Gen-Z for Change is not all in on the president like they were in 2020:
“Biden is out of step with young people on a number of key issues,” said the coalition’s founder, Aidan Kohn-Murphy, 20, who called “the frustrations of young progressive leaders a barometer of widespread dissatisfaction among Gen Z voters.”
Across TikTok, Instagram, YouTube and Twitch, anger and resentment toward Biden are boiling among Gen Z content creators who say they feel disaffected and betrayed by Biden’s positions on an array of issues, including the war in Gaza, the climate crisis and the president’s decision to support a potential TikTok ban. The rift has been exacerbated by the White House’s evolving strategy of courting friendly influencers while shutting out others who have been critical of the administration.
But it's a lot more than just social media that has Gen Z freaked out. They see the high prices, they see that their parents lived in a world where they could buy a house and raise a family in safety. They don't think of Biden's America as that place anymore.
RedState contributor Buzz Patterson has thoughts:
Here's 20-year-old Steton Sullivan explaining why he doesn't want anything to do with leftist politics:
Mr. Sullivan says the hardship of modern life attracted him to conservative politics. Older Americans could, when they were younger, build homes and livelihoods on entry-level jobs.
“My generation doesn’t understand how that’s possible, because of how much more expensive everything is nowadays,” he said.
The simple fact is that an increasing number of young people are turned off by the octogenarian leader:
In that year’s election, millennials and Gen Z voters – a group that includes those up to 40 years in age – voted for Mr. Biden at a higher rate than any other demographic.
Four years later, with Mr. Biden and Mr. Trump once again in a close race for the presidency, there are signs that change is coming.
Recent surveys in six key swing states by The New York Times, Siena College and The Philadelphia Inquirer showed Mr. Trump and Mr. Biden effectively tied among younger and Hispanic voters.
The lack of enthusiasm should be very disturbing to the campaign:
Earlier in the spring, the Harvard Youth Poll showed far greater levels of enthusiasm for Mr. Trump among younger people compared with Mr. Biden, and a NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll showed 62 per cent of that group held unfavourable views of Mr. Biden, while Mr. Trump enjoyed a net-positive rating. (The Harvard poll showed greater strength for Mr. Biden, though his eight-point lead among adults 18 to 29 was considerably narrower than it was four years ago.)
One young man is throwing in his chips with the former president:
“Trump running and becoming president – it’s a huge thing for us and our generation,” said Judah Bredinger, 19, who plans to cast his presidential vote this year, the first of his life, for the Republican candidate.
While many make fun of Gen Z and say they are lazy, it is true that they're facing a different—worse—country than folks did even four years ago. I know because two of mine are in their early to mid-twenties, and although they're both fighters, they're frankly daunted. It's tough scraping by just to get enough money to afford an apartment and keep gas in the car, much less save up for a down payment on a house.
Young people may be a key factor in getting this guy out of the White House and back to sleeping on the beach in Delaware—and that would be a beautiful thing indeed.