For anyone who’s been into politics for longer than a few years, President-elect Donald Trump’s resounding Tuesday night election victory stood out for a number of reasons.
Apart from just how rare it is for a president to earn a second, non-consecutive term, Trump’s dominant win itself was cause for a double-take — and that’s because most prognostications were predicting a much closer contest.
In fact, most political junkies would probably admit that Trump’s victory wasn’t much of a surprise, if at all, but the way in which he won was absolutely mind-blowing.
That’s primarily because of the in-roads Trump has made with demographics that Democrats have been able to comfortably rely upon for some time now.
And the enormity of that fact cannot be understated.
Trump’s progress in bringing women, Latino and black voters over to the GOP tent were surprises, but signs had been there for a while that Trump was already making progress with all of them in the lead-up to his election win over Vice President Kamala Harris.
What wasn’t nearly as clear was the progress Trump and his campaign made with another massive bloc of typically-reliable Democratic voters: young folks.
As Axios broke down, this sudden influx of younger Republican voters could spell doom for the Democrats for years to come.
First, the outlet noted how critical younger voters are, especially when it comes to electing Democrats.
Will Republicans be able to keep young Trump voters within the party?
Axios called the youth vote a “decisive” factor in both of former President Barack Obama’s campaign wins in 2008 and 2012.
It also noted that a surge of younger voters were also key in Biden’s 2020 election victory.
Conversely, young voters did not love failed presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, paving the way for Trump’s victory in 2016.
Many have compared Clinton’s loss to Trump to Harris’ (both women are Democrats who lost to the same GOP candidate), but there is one notable difference that should stress out Democratic operatives.
Namely, Clinton repelled young voters in 2016, while Trump attracted them in 2024. That’s a key difference that Democrats simply cannot be thrilled about.
Now, it does need to be said: Younger voters still do skew Democrat, overall. The Democratic advantage among that demographic is that deep and thorough.
But the stranglehold is gone.
Trump’s clearly chipping away at it, and he especially did so down the home stretch of his election, when Trump’s association with groups, like the UFC, and podcasters, like Joe Rogan, clearly paid dividends with young men.
And while the final 2024 election result reinforces just how impactful Trump’s headway into Democratic strongholds was, there’s ample evidence to suggest this could extend to 2028’s election and beyond.
First, given the way time works, younger voters will never “age out” of voting. Sure, ideologies and philosophies may change over time, but if the Republican Party can stay consistent with its messaging, there’s no reason to think that these voters won’t keep turning out for them.
Second, and perhaps more importantly given the age of social media Americans live in, the anecdotal evidence that Trump is winning over younger voters is running rampant, as well.
Just look at some of these celebrations on liberal college campuses:
Auburn University, AL 1:02 AM
THERES TOO MUCH WINNING pic.twitter.com/7myzq976Zk
— Dakota (@DakotaCavin) November 6, 2024
Frat boys celebrating the landslide win pic.twitter.com/6OuQJSF88b
— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) November 7, 2024
Again, these are just two campuses — but think about about how unthinkable it would’ve been just five years ago to see such unabashed patriotism and pro-Trump sentiments from students at major schools.
While these are just two schools, think about the messaging these viral videos send to any unsure college student perusing social media.
“It’s OK to be pro-Trump, don’t let the mob shame you,” is a heck of a better message than “SHAME ON YOU FOR NOT BEING AN UBER-LEFTIST.”
And young men, especially, are noticing.
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