They are frustrated and angry: young people could massively influence future elections in the US – to the detriment of Republicans. Credit: IMAGO/ZUMA Wire / Steve Schaefer
Analyse
25.04.2023, 11:5725.04.2023, 11:59
Climate change, gun violence, LGBTQ and abortion rights – the list what young People in the USA is going on at the moment is long. These are the issues that the arch-conservatives, some of whom are right-wing Republicans, are primarily attacking.
With the Trump era, the MAGA movement took off. MAGA stands for “Make America Great Again” – the slogan with which Donald Trump made it into the White House in 2017. He also wants to run again in the 2024 presidential election. To the horror of many young people in the country.
Many young people reject Donald Trump and his MAGA movement.Image: iStock Unreleased / Boogich
Gen Z is not a fan of Trump and his supporters
About 77 percent of Generation Z voters (born after 1996) opposed the Trump presidency in 2020. This was the result of a survey by thePew Research Center“. Reason: Trump and his Republican allies are attacking exactly the issues that affect young people in the USA. That means political scientist Katja Muñoz from the “Deutsche Gesellschaft for foreign policy”.
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Issues such as stricter gun laws: Kinder are shot in a Nashville elementary school, at a 16th birthday four party guests lose her in a hail of bullets Life. There have been more mass shootings in the US than days this year. The “Gun Violence Archive” am 24. April. “That’s just America. And young people don’t want to do that anymore,” says Muñoz.
A young woman calls out the names of the victims of the mass shooting at Nashville’s Covenant School.Bild: The Tennessean / George Walker IV
Gen Z does not feel represented in US politics
According to her, young people do not feel sufficiently represented in politics – for example in the US House of Representatives, where the Average age at 58 years lies. The only Gen Z representative right now is 26-year-old Maxwell Frost from Florida. “Young people feel powerless when it comes to many things that are happening in the USA. In other words, nobody represents their concerns,” says Muñoz.
Accordingly, the youth of the United States want to be heard and are increasingly taking to the streets, says Muñoz. “A new kind of activism has developed among young people”, she explains further. In contrast, according to the Pew Research Center polls, in 2020 about 48 percent of baby boomers (born 1945 – 1964) thought that Trump was doing a good job as president.
Gen Z primarily votes democratically
This activism of young people does not stop at the ballot box either – the Republicans in particular are probably feeling the effects. Because Gen Z is voting, according to the US news website “FiveThirtyEight“primarily democratic.
Munoz says:
“The arch-conservative MAGA Republicans did not expect that the young electorate would turn against them so quickly, in fact, become a real threat. The Republican ‘culture war’ curtails above all the rights of young people – such as abortion rights.”
But the racist policies of the arch-conservative MAGA supporters apparently also upset Gen Z. Muñoz speaks here of “white supremacy”, which is on the rise in the USA. A collective term for racist ideologies and social structures. Gen Z reflects the growing ethnic diversity of the US electorate.
Young people in the US are getting louder and protesting for LGBTQ rights and tougher gun laws.Image: IMAGO/ZUMA Wire / Jeffery Woo
sea”Pew Research Center“75 percent of baby boomers are white, compared to 55 percent of Gen Z. In addition, 22 percent are Hispanic and 9 percent of baby boomers (as of 2020). “Looking forward, US society will change more and more and become even more diverse. It’s an immigration country,” explains Muñoz. But that apparently scares some.
Trump’s Republicans are fueling fears about America’s diverse society
The arch-conservative Republicans in particular are having a negative impact on this change and are fueling fears among their older voters. “The country is changing. It makes white Americans feel like they’re not a part of it anymore,” religion professor Anthea Butler told watson earlier. They fear that migrants from Asia, South America and Eastern Europe gain the upper hand.
And that will probably also be the case in future elections. After all, more and more young people are reaching the voting age of 18 and are rebelling at the ballot box against the ultra-conservative Republican agenda, says Muñoz. These include young immigrants who are angry about how bad theirs are Parents were partially treated. “There is a lot of anger at the start,” explains the expert.
More than that half of Americans are millennials or younger, and they can influence future presidential elections, such as 2024 and 2028. During the midterms in November, students flocked to the ballot boxes on campus, resulting in long queues.
Voter turnout among young people is increasing tremendously in the US
GenZ activist Victor Shi posted numerous videos on his Twitter account. Recently, students at the University of Wisconsin once again put up with long waits to cast their vote in the Supreme Court election. Shi was blown away by the high turnout.
He writes on Twitter: The turnout of young people at the University of Wisconsin Madison has increased by 240 percent since the last general election in spring 2019. “Once again it shows that the youth are not doing well – they want to save us,” says Shi.
According to Muñoz, it is like a race against time, which is why every election is so hard fought right now. According to the motto: It’s about democracy, it’s about the future. Many issues are immediately politicized in the US.
The expert says:
“And then there’s social media as a catalyst. Topics never really cool down. It all feels like a permanent crisis, and that puts an additional burden on the young people. But there’s also a lot of frustration at the start because decisions are made over their heads becomes.”
Apparently, Trump Republicans are also realizing that this frustration could cost them future votes. Therefore, they probably now want to make it more difficult for young US citizens to vote.
Republicans probably want to restrict elections for young people
“Republicans have devised a plan to restrict college voting and postal voting,” Shi writes Twitter. The bottom line is: “Republicans are afraid of Gen Z and their answer is to suppress our voice.” But according to Shi, they’re messing with the wrong generation.
Republican legal strategist and close Trump ally Cleta Mitchell says loudly “Washington Post“that the conservatives must unite to put obstacles in the way of young voters. Among other things, voting on the university campus should be limited.
Trump supporter Cleta Mitchell addresses the young electorate in the USA as a big problem.Bild: Planet Pix via ZUMA Wire / imago images
US journalist Brian Tyler Cohen posted Mitchell’s recording on Twitter. According to him, she claims that college student voter turnout is “a big problem.” She calls for “fighting” Gen Z suffrage.
“You can’t think of something like that,” Shi continued on Twitter. “Instead of listening to us and arguing with us, they make it difficult for us to vote. It’s shameful and won’t work.”
Young people’s interest in voting in the USA has risen sharply in recent years.Bild: IMAGO/ZUMA Wire / Olga Fedorova
Clear campaign statement by Gen Z against the Republicans
Young Democrat Harry Sisson is certain: “Republicans are terrified of Generation Z”. On Twitter he writes:
“Republicans will try to disenfranchise us and silence us. We’re not just going to sit back and watch it happen. Instead, Gen Z will vote their asses out of office.”
