The Deciders Sept. 2024: Young Male Voters in Swing States

Key Takeaways

Seven of the 15 young male voters interviewed were leaning toward Kamala Harris, while eight of them were leaning toward Trump.
Half of the Trump supporters said they like their candidate, while the other half are opposed to voting for Harris.
In contrast, more than one of the Harris supporters saw voting for her as “the lesser of two evils.”

In September, The Deciders spoke to two groups of young male voters in the swing states of Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin. One group consisted of seven young men leaning toward Kamala Harris, and the other was made up of eight young men leaning toward Donald Trump. Though none of these voters admitted to being all-in for their political picks, not one of the 15 was willing to consider the other candidate.

Each month, The Deciders checks in with a different group of voters, who share their views of the presidential candidates and current events. The initiative is a partnership between Sago, Engagious, NBC News, and Syracuse University’s Institute for Democracy, Journalism and Citizenship.

Where Trump Supporters Get Their News About Harris

The young men who participated in September’s focus groups get most of their political news from social media rather than traditional media sources.

The Trump supporters were especially likely to have heard about the candidates on social media. When asked about the most recent thing they’ve heard about Harris and where they heard it, their answers included:

“I heard she had a bad track record in her time as the prosecutor in San Francisco. [On] Instagram or Twitter, I think.”

“The most recent thing I saw was on Twitter and it was just something about Kamala and Diddy, some of her tweets and some endorsements he gave her and stuff.”

“I just saw on Twitter, Tim Walz was talking about how the country can’t go through four more years of what we’ve been going through, which directly correlates to Harris.”

“On Instagram, I saw a side-by-side compilation of her discussing her opinion on guns. In one clip she claimed to be a self-professed gun owner and was not going to take anyone’s guns away. Then, of course, in the other clip, she said the exact opposite.”

Where Harris Supporters Hear About Their Candidate

When asked about what they had seen lately about Harris, the voters leaning toward her mentioned a television interview and TV commercials. Their comments about where they had last seen Harris included:

“It was on one of those TV commercials and it was about how she was a DA that just let criminals back out in the streets.”

“I guess the most recent thing I saw about her was this interview she did with a news reporter in, I think, Philadelphia. She was just talking about what she would do to help the economy.”

“An opposition ad. It was on TV.”

“I probably got about seven to 10 op ads last night during the Monday Night Football game. I would say most were opposition ads. There were maybe one or two pro-Kamala ads.”

Reasons for Supporting Harris

The seven voters leaning toward Harris said their votes are being driven more by opposition to Trump than support for her. Their comments included:

“I think the endorsement of Kamala Harris seems more like a rejection of Donald Trump. The rejection of Donald Trump in the current Republican party comes from a few beliefs or topics that I feel strongly about, like LGBT rights, reproductive rights.”

“The Republican party in this day and age, they seem to want to take the country backwards in some ways … It feels like a lesser of two evils type of situation.”

“We’re stuck in this two-party system, where I, unfortunately, can’t really vote in a way that’s in alignment with what my values actually are. I have to vote in a way that looks to see which candidate is going to, essentially, enact less damage. And, in this case, it would be Kamala.”

“I feel like Kamala Harris is like a step in the right direction, even if it is a small step. I extremely dislike MAGA politics and a lot of the Republican party is basically that.”

“It feels like a lesser of two evils situation or just pick who you dislike the least.”

“ The Republican party in this day and age, they seem to want to take the country backwards in some ways … It feels like a lesser of two evils type of situation.”

Reasons for Supporting Trump

Some of the voters leaning toward Harris described their choice as the “lesser of two evils.” However, not even one Trump supporter thought of their votes that way. Four of the group of Trump leaners said they support Trump because they like him. The other four plan to vote for Trump because they oppose Harris.

Here are some of the reasons they support Trump:

“Selfishly speaking, my life was better back when he was in office than currently… Also, I just feel like I trust him more. When he was in office, I feel like there wasn’t as much world conflict. I feel like things were getting done, such as interest rates were at all-time low. The housing market was doing fine.”

“For me, I just like the way he handled international conflict. I believe the things that are happening in Israel would not have happened if he was president currently. I also believe the same thing about the Ukrainian-Russian war as well … I believe the United States and the whole world was a bit safer, having Donald Trump doing the diplomacy for the United States.”

“We’re not going in a good direction internationally. The international community is laughing at us. Under Trump, sure, maybe he’s crass or whatever it may be, but he got things done. Brokered peace, shook hands with the North Koreans, something unfathomable before. There was peace in the Middle East.”

Memories of Trump’s Time in Office

The voters who are leaning toward Trump have positive memories of the time when he was in office. When asked to describe American life while Trump was president, four used the word stable. Other words they used included:

“Prosperity”
“Peace of Mind”
“Affordable”

The voters leaning toward Harris remembered the Trump years a little differently. The words they used to describe the time he was president included:

“Unbalanced”
“Hectic”
“Dystopian”
“Uncertain”
“Anxiety-ridden”
“Frustrating”
“Confusing”

How These Voters View the Biden Years

When asked to describe the country during Biden’s presidency in a word or phrase, both groups of voters responded similarly. Here’s how the Harris supporters described the United States during the Biden administration:

“Still confusing”
“Unfortunate”
“Uninspiring”
“All over the place”
“Chaotic”
“Stable”
“Uneventful”

The Trump supporters used these terms to describe America during Biden’s years in office:

“Chaos”
“Worrisome”
“Unstable”
“Angst-ridden”
“A joke”
“Expensive”

How These Young Men See Their Generation

Out of the 15 focus group participants, 12 of the young men believe their generation has it harder than people their age did in the generations before them. Economic challenges have been particularly difficult for them. For the Trump supporters, the economy was a particular concern.

When asked to describe their generations in a word or phrase, the Harris supporters said:

“Unmotivated”
“Overstimulated”
“Burnt out”
“Connected”
“Hopeless”
“Social”
“Emboldened”

Here’s how the Trump supporters described their generation:

“Tech savvy”
“Savvy”
“Resilient”
“Privileged”
“Driven, but limited potential”
“Unfortunate”
“Technologically damaged”

Biggest Threats to the Future

The seven Harris leaners said the biggest threat to their long-term futures was environmental. Most of them cited climate change.

The voters leaning toward Trump were divided when it came to their concerns. They see economic worries, political division and the future of artificial intelligence (AI) as the biggest threats to their futures.

As the 2024 presidential election quickly approaches, catch up on previous editions of The Deciders. Each monthly installment of this series features a conversation with a different group of voters expected to play an outsized role in who becomes the country’s next president. And don’t miss the last edition of The Deciders in 2024, which will be published before November’s election.