Donald Trump is the least popular candidate ever among young voters

By Fusion Staff  |  August 16, 2016 | 2:23pm
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Donald Trump faces many obstacles on the road to becoming president: he’s losing in key battleground states, he can’t stay on message, and he keeps picking distracting fights with sympathetic opponents.

Here’s a new one: He now has the lowest level of support among voters aged 35-and-under of any candidate in recorded history.

A new poll out from USA Today and Rock The Vote shows that young people favor Hillary Clinton over Trump 55%-20% in a head-to-head matchup. The 20% figure is even lower than what Richard Nixon registered during the 1960s youth counterculture era, USA Today said. According to Cornell’s Roper Center for Public Opinion Research, 37% of 18-29 year-olds voted for Mitt Romney.

While young voters comprised just 19% of the electorate in 2012, that percentage is expected to climb now that 18-34 year-olds make up the largest generational cohort in the country.

When third-party candidates are included, Trump’s support drops to 18%, while Clinton’s drops to 50%. The poll found that 72% of Bernie Sanders supporters 35 or younger plan to vote for Clinton.

The online poll of 1,539 adults age 18-34 was taken by Ipsos Public Affairs from Aug. 5-10. 79% of respondents said they were currently registered to vote.

This past weekend, the Washington Post ran a story with the headline, “For millennial voters, the Clinton vs. Trump choice ‘feels like a joke.’” But the new poll, and interviews with other young voters, prove that not all young people are disengaged from the political process.

“I started out as a Bernie supporter, but when he dropped out I switched to Clinton,” Will Barkalow, 24, of Nobleboro, Maine, told USA Today, saying he saw “no other legitimate choice.” Barkalow, who is starting a tech-repair business, said Clinton “is very good on policy” but “very bad at giving speeches and interacting with people.”

Rob covers business, economics and the environment for Fusion. He previously worked at Business Insider. He grew up in Chicago.

 
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