‘Very low support’? CPAC to test Trump’s appeal with GOP millennials

For March 1 Super Tuesday, Donald Trump managed to win seven of the 11 states. He also won with young voters in six of those states, in Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, Massachusetts, and Arkansas.

While Trump emerged the clear winner, it remains to be seen if he can win with a crucial demographic in more than a handful of states for the general election in November. Hillary Clinton looks to be the clear Democratic nominee. Millennials may not like her now, but the crucial question is if they will vote for her despite such dislike if the choice is Hillary or Trump.

Anti-Trump sentiment can certainly be high among some millennials. There’s #NeverTrump and #DumpTrump trends on Twitter. The Tennessean profiled Dave Ross, the 33-year old comedian behind IDK Not Trump Tho. While Republicans of any age won’t agree with his statement “all of the Republican candidates are lunatics,” the idea does reflect a larger trend, and for more than just Democrats.

The president of the Middle Tennessee State University College Republicans doesn’t like Trump either. Jami Averwater, 21, says Trump “makes it easy,” for “our generation [to be] so proud to be against [him].” Averwater explained further:

I think that millennials are more moderate than we realize. I would say that’s the No. 1 reason that the generation is speaking out against Trump: His ideals are so far radical and so far right-wing and so literally and metaphorically loud, that whether you agree with it or not, you are reluctant to listen.

The Washington Times also spoke with young conservatives about their thoughts on the primary season and Trump, many whom are attending CPAC.

Trump is scheduled to speak at CPAC on Saturday morning. Marko Sukovic, a student at the University of Illinois, who used to work for Students for Rubio, doesn’t think Trump will do well among conservative millennials there:

Mr. Trump will find himself in unfamiliar territory at CPAC because the audience will largely be passionate millennials who have busted their butts to save the arm and a leg it takes to come up to D.C. from their campuses and take some time off from school.

Kyle Foley, a sophomore at the University of Central Florida, who is also attending CPAC isn’t a Trump fan. And, he says many Republicans on campus aren’t either:

A lot of us don’t like him because he’s incredibly divisive, he doesn’t have a lot of substance, and any policy he has is just a talking point. When he’s pressed on actual details, he doesn’t have them. He spends his time getting personal with his attacks instead of substantive.

On why young people do vote for Trump, Matthew Mailloux, who heads Students for Rubio at La Salle University says “it’s the cool thing to do, if you will.” On “the truly principled millennials who are involved in politics and who pay attention to the news,” Mailloux however says that “I think you see very, very low support for Trump.”

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