Donald Trump’s popularity among the nation’s youngest voters is lower than any other Republican presidential candidate’s in decades, a new poll shows.
According to the Harvard Institute of Politics’ spring survey of millennials, only 25 percent of voters ages 18-29 would support the New York billionaire in a general election. In comparison, Trump’s leading Democratic rival Hillary Clinton would carry 61 percent of the millennial vote in November.
Clinton also leads Trump among young independent voters, men and women, African-Americans and Hispanics. In every category except white 18-29-year-olds, Trump trails the former secretary of state by 15 percentage points or more.
While Clinton leads Trump 83-5 percent among the youngest members of her own party, Trump polls less than 50 percentage points ahead of his Democratic rival among young Republicans, suggesting that some young GOP voters could defect from the party if the billionaire secures the nomination.
Even more worrisome for Republicans than the lack of enthusiasm surrounding their front-runner is the growing percentage of young voters who want Democrats to maintain control of the White House.
The same survey shows that the percentage of young Americans who wish to see another Democratic president elected in November has risen six percentage points since last spring, while the percentage of young voters who want Republicans to regain control of the White House has declined seven percentage points.
Of all the 2016 candidates still in the race, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders is the only one with a net-positive favorability rating among millennials. Fifty-four percent of young voters view the socialist senator favorably, compared to the 57 percent of voters who hold a negative view of Trump.
The Harvard IOP survey of 3,183 young Americans was conducted between March 18-April 3. Results contain a margin of error plus or minus 2.4 percentage points.
