Recent polling has shown that President Donald Trump’s approval rating among women — especially suburban women — is plummeting as the 2020 campaign kicks into high gear.
But according to the Wall Street Journal, a much more critical demographic group is also turning away from Trump, and this one could well cost him reelection:
Elderly voters backed Trump 52 to 45 in the 2016 election. But according to a WSJ/NBC poll taken in June, Trump’s approval with senior citizens is only 2 points higher than the national average — and these voters want him defeated in 2020 by a margin of 48 to 41.
The Journal spoke with several senior citizens, and what they had to say is very bad news for the Trump 2020 campaign team:
Some elderly voters are losing patience with his presidency. “He’s trying to trumpet himself to the public to make them feel as good about him as he does … What I would like to see him do is shut his mouth,” said 69-year-old retired California firefighter union president David Smith, who is currently an undecided voter. David Freund, a 65-year-old Indiana truck driver, said that he is a “Biden man” because “according to all the polls, he could beat Trump.”
The bottom line for Trump is that he simply cannot win in 2020 without elderly voters, who were key to his 2016 victory over Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. That’s especially true when you consider that Trump’s approval with voters aged 18 to 34 is just 33 percent, and there will be 12 million more young voters in 2020 than there were in 2016. If senior citizens also start to abandon the president, and his polling among women remains low, that would suggest there’s no path for him to win.
Jeff Horwitt, a Democratic polling expert at the firm that runs WSJ/NBC News polls, noted:
“Given the antipathy that younger voters have toward [Trump], he really needs support among seniors to reach at least the support he received in 2016.”
Trump is already facing very long odds. If he continues to lose support, election night could be a very disappointing event for him and the GOP.
Featured Image Via NBC News
