Donald Trump’s victory was helped in no small part by the unexpected shift of support he received among Gen Z voters.

While voters under the age of 30 still broke for Kamala Harris, her margin of victory was much smaller than the one enjoyed by President Joe Biden, who, according to a survey based on 2020 validated voter files, secured 59 percent of the youth vote compared with 35 percent of young voters who backed Trump. Depending on which exit poll you view, Trump improved his performance by between 8 points and 11 points among young voters compared with the 2020 race.

Trump’s performance with the nation’s youngest voters, however, was very uneven along gender lines. Analysis of the AP Vote Cast Survey by CIRCLE at Tufts University shows young women preferred Harris to Trump by an 18-point margin (58 percent to 40 percent), while young men broke for Trump by 15 points (56 percent to 42 percent). Trump’s gains among young male voters were particularly large, as a slight majority of men under 30 backed Joe Biden just four years ago.

Why did Trump do so much better among young men?

Some point to Trump’s masculine, tough guy aesthetic as holding particular appeal to young men. This is particularly relevant as some studies suggest that young men are increasingly less feminist in their ideals and have become more likely to believe that they face discrimination in society than older men, probably in response to gains that young women have been making with respect to academic progress and growing participation in the workplace.

© The Hill