Some have pinned the blame for Donald Trump’s victory on racial groups — support from Black men and Latinos rose significantly from 2020, while white women tilted slightly towards the Republican nominee.
Others pointed out the educational divide: college graduates favored Kamala Harris.
But MSNBC host Joy Reid pointed the finger at one generation in particular: her own. Generation X, generally defined as people born between 1965 and 1980, voted in larger numbers for Trump than all other age demographics, older and younger.
“My generation, Generation X, the people who grew up on WWE and Hulk Hogan and Donald Trump, did this,” said Reid, born in 1968. “They looked in the face of someone who said, ‘I want to be a dictator on day one.’ We did. We did this to our kids. … (O)ur generation has to really take a long hard look because we’re not the people struggling.”
Fifty-two percent of Generation X’ers cast ballots for Trump, compared to 46 percent for Harris. Americans 65 and older were the only other demographic who favored Trump: 51 percent to 48 percent.
The younger you are, the more likely you are to vote for Harris. But their support shrank from 2020. Generation Z, ages 18-29, sided with the Democrats: 52 to 46 percent. Four years ago, Joe Biden got 61 percent of the young vote, compared to 36 percent for Trump.
Millennial support for Trump also increased from four years ago. Harris won 51 percent of the ages 30-44 vote; 47 percent went for the Republican.
In truth, Trump made gains with virtually every age group and racial demographic. Blaming one sector over another misses the point. While Generation X voted in greater numbers for the Republicans, they aren’t the only voters veering to the right.
“If it was just the young, if it was just the people who will inherit this country, she would have won,” Reid said. “If it was just millennials, the people who right now are struggling to, you know, buy a home and afford their lives and really have the biggest economic struggles, because let’s be clear, it’s not the people who delivered Trump, which is Generation X, my generation.”
Reid accused X’ers of voting selfishly; “They got a little coin in the bank. They just want a tax cut,” she said. “They are not the people who are struggling. …”
“It’s the young people we’ve now condemned to mass deportation, that we’ve now condemned to fight for reproductive freedom and reproductive rights,” she said. “It’s not us.”
Middle-aged voters, Reid said, have abdicated their responsibility to make a better world for their children and grandchildren.
“We still have to help them,” she said. “They’re trying and they are striving. That’s the people who are struggling. They took a chance on (Harris). They had the faith in the future to say that this Black and Asian woman could lead this country. That’s why we need to bet on the young.”
In the final analysis, Trump made his biggest gains with Latinos, white women and Black men. Harris significantly underperformed Biden with each group, helping Trump win the popular vote for the first time.
