Donald Trump may be riding high in national polls among primary Republican voters, but he’s not getting the same type of love from young people.
According to a new poll released by Monmouth College, just under half of young adults surveyed said they have an unfavorable opinion of Trump. Only 17.5% said they viewed him favorably.
The disparity is even more pronounced when when isolating Independents. Of the young Independents polled, 62% had poor opinions of Trump, compared to 14% who viewed him in a positive light. Registered Republicans, meanwhile, approved of Trump by a 34.8% to 13% margin.
Even if Trump prevails in becoming the Republican presidential nominee, the stacked odds against the celebrity real estate mogul would continue. In a hypothetical general election match-up, Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton would trounce Trump’s support among millennials, claiming 37.7% compared to Trump’s 24.9%. Notably, an equally sizable share of respondents, 22.5%, said they would prefer to not cast a vote entirely.
One explanation behind Trump’s poor standing with first-time voters suggests that they’re turned off by the candidate’s proposal to ban all Muslims from entering the U.S. Nearly half, or 46.4%, of young adults polled said they would oppose the plan; 32.2% said they would support it. Another 49.4% said the anti-Muslim proposal would make them less likely to vote Trump into the Oval Office. Only 17.5% said Trump’s plan would make them more likely to support him. The poll of 300 young adults aged 18-24 was conducted Dec. 12 to Dec. 13.
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