Trump is hemorrhaging older voters, polls show

Trump supporters at a rally in Pennsylvania.

(Image credit: Scott Olson/Getty Images)

published 18 May 2020

Several of President Trump's previously reliable voting blocs are starting to slide into former Vice President Joe Biden's territory.

Trump proved popular among older voters, and unexpectedly so in Rust Belt states like Michigan and Wisconsin, back in the 2016 election. But polls show Trump is sliding among those once-promising voting blocs, and even in formerly solid Republican states such as Arizona.

The age gap between the two main political parties has been clear for decades: Younger voters tend to go for Democrats, while older people vote Republican, FiveThirtyEight notes. That proved true once again in 2016, where Trump won not only voters over 65 but also those between 45 and 64. But recent polls — and even reportedly Trump's private polling — show he's faltering among those age groups. Trump's average margin of four percent over Hillary Clinton in 2016 among voters age 45-64 has fallen to give Biden a 1.4 percent average advantage in that group. And while Trump won voters over 65 by 13.3 percent the last election around, he's now losing them by a percentage point to Biden, polls show.

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The New York Times has suggested those floundering numbers could stem from Trump's handling of the coronavirus pandemic, and older voters aren't the only group that could turn on him because of it. Republican leaders in states that went for Trump in 2016 warn he could lose this year if voters are worried about their health and the economy; top advisers and GOP officials in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin all shared this prediction with Politico.

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Kathryn is a graduate of Syracuse University, with degrees in magazine journalism and information technology, along with hours to earn another degree after working at SU's independent paper The Daily Orange. She's currently recovering from a horse addiction while living in New York City, and likes to share her extremely dry sense of humor on Twitter.