Supporters of Donald Trump celebrate after the Fox Network called the election in his favor at the site of his rally, at the Palm Beach County Convention Center in West Palm Beach, Florida, U.S., November 6, 2024. REUTERS/Brian Snyder/File Photo
During his 2024 presidential campaign, Donald Trump not only rallied his hardcore MAGA base — he also reached out to independents, swing voters, Latinos, the Manosphere and Generation Z. And it worked. Trump won the popular vote for the first time — not by a landslide, but defeating Democratic nominee Kamala Harris by roughly 1.5 percent nationally was enough to get him past the finish line.
The inroads Trump made with Gen-Z in 2024 has been a major source of frustration among Democratic strategists. During an appearance on The Bulwark's vodcast posted on Saturday afternoon, August 16, Laksha Jain — co-founder of the elections analysis website Split Ticket — offered reasons why some members of Gen-Z have been moving right.
Jain, himself a member of Gen-Z, told hosts Tim Miller and Cameron Kasky that Gen-Zers are interested in "results," not rhetoric.
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"Eventually," Jain told Miller and Kasky, "policymakers respond to reality…. Eventually, the electorate makes it clear: They want to see results. And if they don't get it, they aren't hesitant about throwing you out."
Jain stressed, however, that Democrats haven't necessarily lost Gen-Z voters for good, but they need a strong message.
Miller, a Never Trump conservative and ex-GOP strategist, asked Jain to discuss Gen-Z's relationship with the "woke" movement and complaints from Gen-Zers who find "woke" politics "shrill," "thin-skinned" and "unforgiving."
"The attitude that people have had has definitely taken a shift against woke," Jain told Miller and Kasky. "That is true; you can look at any number of surveys and see that….. (But) I don't think this was something that was the driving factor behind why a lot of young men turned against the Democratic Party. Honestly, if you're looking at progressive overreach, you might want to start with COVID. Because that was what closed their schools down."
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Jain continued, "That was what made their go home from college….. I don't think the woke itself was the key driver why these people turned away. I think if you want to blame progressive overreach, you should probably look at COVID and then, the governance of the Biden Administration."
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Watch the full video below or at this link.