Donald Trump is at risk of losing seniors, a critical voting bloc that contributed to his unexpected 2016 victory.
In 2016, Donald Trump won the senior vote by seven points, four years later they have swung sharply against him. Two recent polls, NBC News/ Wall Street Journal poll and the CNN/ SSRS poll shows Donald Trump trailing Biden by double digits among seniors, 27 points and 21 points respectively.
The shift is also evident in state polls as well. The recent New York Times/ Sienna College poll of likely voters in Florida and Pennsylvania, two very important swing states this November, showed Biden leading Trump by 2 and 11 points respectively, among voters over 65.
This problem did not start with the coronavirus pandemic. Seniors were already souring on Trump long before the virus reached our shores, the pandemic just exacerbates it. A year ago, Biden was up by 11 points among seniors in a CNN poll. Their pre-pandemic worries were mostly centered around healthcare after Trump’s budget promised cuts to Medicare, Medicaid and other safety nets.
Seniors are the group most affected by the coronavirus pandemic and with his closing message to them being: I don’t care if you die, its no wonder seniors are determined to make him a one-term president.
