Donald Trump’s proposal to ban all Muslims from entering the United States may be turning off young voters.
A new poll released by Monmouth College found that just under half of young voters (age 18 to 24) said the anti-Muslim proposal has made them less likely to support Trump, while just 17.5 percent said they were more likely to support the Republican front-runner now.
When Trump first announced the proposal earlier this month, many of the other Republican presidential candidates rushed to come out against it, including Sen. Marco Rubio, who called the plan impulsive and unconstitutional.
I disagree with Donald Trump’s latest proposal. His habit of making offensive and outlandish statements will not bring Americans together.
— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) December 8, 2015
Harvard University sophomore Cameron Khansarinia, who serves as the national co-chairman of Students for Rubio, said the group is actively fighting against the idea.
Khansarinia said Trump’s plan is ineffective and un-American, and he believes the vast majority of young people disagree with it.
“I think most young people have had the opportunity to interact with Muslim-Americans in our own country,” he said. Khansarinia suggested that older generations have had more limited contact with Muslims, and may judge them based solely on “what they see on the nightly news.”
“The reason the vast majority of Muslims immigrated here is the same reason our grandparents’ generation came to America,” he said; “to make a better life for their families.”
As for the other presidential hopefuls, Governors Chris Christie, John Kasich, and Jeb Bush have condemned the plan as well. Senators Ted Cruz and Rand Paul on the other hand, have tiptoed around questions about it. Both senators have advocated for stricter scrutiny on immigrants entering the United States from countries where ISIS or al Qaeda control substantial territory, without necessarily mandating a religious test.
