Young Voters Favor Biden in Economist/YouGov Poll

Young voters prefer President Joe Biden over former President Donald Trump by more  than a 2-to-1 margin, according to The Economist/YouGov poll results released Wednesday.

Voters ages 18 to 29 were asked: “If an election for president were going to be held now and the Democratic nominee was Joe Biden and the Republican nominee was Donald Trump, would you vote for …?” The Economist/YouGov poll found that 53% chose Biden.

Trump earned 24% of the young-voter respondents; 10% said they would vote for another candidate; 4% were not sure; 9% said they would not vote.

The Economist/Gov poll results came a month after an NBC News poll found that 46% of voters ages 18 to 34 supported Trump and 42% supported Biden. That poll found that Biden’s approval rating fell to 31% among voters ages 18 to 34, and 70% of those younger voters disapproved of the president’s handling of the war in the Middle East.

Among respondents aged 30-44 in the latest Economist/YouGov survey, 49% say they would vote for Biden and 38% say they would vote for Trump.

Trump fares better with older voters, receiving votes from 47% of respondents 45-64 and 53% of respondents 65 and older. Biden received 39% and 36%, respectively.

Asked who they thought would win the election, regardless of who they personally preferred, 45% of the 18-29 respondents said Biden and 25% said Trump; 30% said they were not sure.

The other age groups said Trump would win: 42%-35% among 30-44 respondents, 48%-32% among 45-64 respondents and 51%-33% among respondents 65 and older.

The Economist/YouGov survey results differ from other polls released this week that showed Biden more popular among older Americans.

A New York Times/Siena College poll released Tuesday showed Trump ahead of Biden by 6 points among registered voters under 30.

The Economist/YouGov poll was conducted Dec. 16-18 among  1,336 registered voters, with a margin of error of plus/minus 3.2 percentage points.

Biden, 81, and Trump, 77, are the current front-runners for their respective party’s nomination.

The RealClearPolitics average of national polls on Wednesday showed Trump with a 2.6 point lead over Biden in a hypothetical matchup in the 2024 presidential election.