President Joe Biden has a much smaller lead among young voters over former President Donald Trump than he did this time four years ago, according to a poll by the Institute of Politics at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government.
Biden, a Democrat, leads Trump, a Republican, by 8 percentage points among all 18-to-29-year-olds, the Harvard Youth Poll found, but that’s 15 percentage points lower than the 23-point lead he had at this point during the 2020 campaign.
Among young-adult likely voters, Biden leads Trump by 19 points (56 to 37 percent), but that’s 11 points less than the lead Biden had this time four years ago among young adults who are likely to vote (60 to 30 percent, or 30 points).
“One area where former President Trump has an advantage over Biden is enthusiasm. Three-quarters (76%) of Trump voters say they enthusiastically support their candidate, while 44% of Biden voters say the same,” the Institute of Politics said.
Inflation was picked as one of the two most important issues by 64 percent, topping a list of 16 issues.
Health care (59 percent), housing (56 percent), gun violence (54 percent), and jobs (53 percent) rounded out the five issues picked as one of the top two issues by respondents.
Inflation beat every other issue on the list in head-to-head matchups except abortion – which the poll calls “women’s reproductive rights.” Abortion won the head-to-head matchup with inflation by 57 to 43 percent.
Some 58 percent say the country is “off on the wrong track,” while only 9 percent say the country is “generally headed in the right direction,” according to the poll.
The poll surveyed 2,010 young adults between March 14 and 21, according to the Institute of Politics. The Harvard Youth Poll, which is conducted every two years, was released Thursday, April 18.
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