Donald Trump is losing the senior vote, reversing a trend 20 years in the making.
For the first time since 2000, the Republican nominee doesn’t have the majority of the support of voters 65-years-old and above, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis of a September poll published Sunday.
Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton leads Trump 44 percent to 42 percent among seniors. That represents a striking turn around from 2012, when Mitt Romney led Barack Obama 56 to 44 percent, according to national exit polls.
Not since George W. Bush beat John Kerry in 2004 has a Republican lost the senior vote (52 to 47 percent), and the trend moving in the Republicans’ favor began way back in the 1990s.
Other recent polling has shown seniors backing away from Trump, who has become a lightning rod of controversy this election for his tweets, off-hand comments about women, minorities and immigrants, and pledge to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.
A Washington Post/ABC poll published Sept. 20 showed Clinton on top by a 52-to-44 percent margin.
Another September survey, conducted by the New York Times and CBS, showed Trump with a slim 3-point lead among seniors, but far behind Romney’s 15 point lead in the same poll at this time last election.
The numbers may prove particularly concerning for Trump in the battleground state of Florida, where recent figures show about 19 percent of the population is 65 years old and above.
