Journalist Peter Hamby told comedian Bill Maher on Friday that young people shifting their support to former President Donald Trump could deal a significant blow to Vice President Kamala Harris' presidential campaign.
“over timeHamby, speaking on “Real Time with Bill Maher,” noted that Harris has not surpassed President Joe Biden's approval rating among young men, a demographic she needs to secure victory in the election: Men ages 18 to 29 support Harris by 13 percentage points over Trump in six battleground states. According to According to a New York Times/Siena College poll conducted in August. (RELATED: Exclusive: Biden-Harris Administration rapidly shifts Justice Department to “anti-Trump” as election looms)
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“Why is Donald Trump so popular with young men?” Maher asked, reading out a question from a viewer. “From what I've seen today, I think the gender gap is the biggest, and I mean, it's very predictable. So, women generally support Kamala quite a bit and men support Trump quite a bit.”
“But if we look at past elections, it's not predictable that voters under 30 — mostly men and women — voted Democratic,” Hamby replied. “That's noteworthy.”
Maher interjected to explain that Hamby was referring to voters “under 30.”
“Well, the gender gap among those under 30 is very different than in past elections. It's much larger. In 2020, young men and young women voted for Joe Biden at roughly equal rates,” Hamby says. “For the last four years, and now with Kamala Harris as president, young women are voting for Kamala Harris at equal or even greater rates. Kamala Harris has barely swayed young men's support. They're drifting to Trump. There are a lot of reasons for that.”
Young men who plan to vote for Trump told The New York Times that their main concern is the economy — a key issue on which Harris has recently faced significant backlash. Unveiling Ceremony Her economic plan included targeting companies for “price gouging” to lower prices at grocery stores.
“I think Trump exploited the culture war, going on hyper-masculine podcasts and just looking like a fun bro. He's not going to ban your gin, is he? But this is a real problem for Kamala Harris,” Hamby continued. “This could be fatal to her campaign… Democrats need 60% of the youth vote to win the White House.”
“Hillary came up short, Obama got it done, Biden got it done. Kamala Harris is getting like 55% of the young vote right now,” he added. “If she doesn't vote until she's 60, she could lose the election because young men, Gen Z men, are going to Trump.”
Maher told Hamby he thought young men would prefer Trump, but Hamby denied they would influence the election, arguing that young men were “going to stay home” rather than voting for the former president.
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