Students from a top university abandoned their support for Vice President Kamala Harris and opted to back former President Donald Trump. This is the first time in twelve years that the student body has favored a Republican presidential nominee.
According to a new poll at the University of Notre Dame, 47.6 percent of respondents favored Trump, and 45.9 percent preferred Harris. The survey’s findings are a stark difference from four years ago when 66 percent of the study body favored President Joe Biden compared to Trump’s 29 percent. In 2016, twice-failed Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton secured 59 percent of the support, while Trump only had 24 percent.
Traditionally, college students tend to lean more liberal. However, Americans are beginning to wake up and notice the stark differences between what the country looked like under the Trump Administration and what it’s like under Democrat leadership.
One college student told the survey that the “Last four years are why my family is on welfare.”
“Honestly, the economy really needs to improve from what Biden and Harris are doing because it is becoming very hard to live,” he added.
Notre Dame students prefer Trump to Kamala… first time they’ve preferred a Republican in a longtime. pic.twitter.com/6H6nqCQo4l
— Ryan James Girdusky (@RyanGirdusky) September 25, 2024
This comes after a Gallup poll found that more American adults identified as Republican in the third quarter of the presidential year, including elections for the House and Senate-- the first time in recorded U.S. history.
Forty-eight percent of American voters now identify as Republicans or lean Republicans, while 45 percent are Democrats or lean Democrats. In addition, 46 percent of respondents believe the Republican Party can be more trusted to handle important issues, versus 41 percent who say Democrats are the better option.
“The measure has been highly predictive of election outcomes in Gallup trends dating back to 1948. The party rated as better at handling the most important problem has won all but three presidential elections since that year,” the survey noted.
Meanwhile, half of American voters say the GOP is better able to keep America prosperous, compared to 44 percent of Democrats who say the opposite.
“Gallup also tracks perceptions of which party can best handle economic and international matters broadly. Americans currently give the Republican Party a six-percentage-point edge, 50 percent to 44 percent, as the party they think would do a better job of keeping the country prosperous,” the poll found. “Gallup has asked this question since 1951. In 16 presidential elections since then, when one party has had at least a minimal advantage on this measure, that party has won 12 times.”
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