{"id":1234,"date":"2024-11-11T19:01:34","date_gmt":"2024-11-11T19:01:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/gen-z-could-decide-the-2024-election-heres-what-theyre-saying-about-harris-and-trump\/"},"modified":"2024-11-11T19:01:34","modified_gmt":"2024-11-11T19:01:34","slug":"gen-z-could-decide-the-2024-election-heres-what-theyre-saying-about-harris-and-trump","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/gen-z-could-decide-the-2024-election-heres-what-theyre-saying-about-harris-and-trump\/","title":{"rendered":"Gen Z could decide the 2024 election. Here&#8217;s what they&#8217;re saying about Harris and Trump"},"content":{"rendered":"<div data-testid=\"byline-container\">\n<div data-testid=\"byline-thumbnail\"><picture data-testid=\"picture\"><source media=\"(min-width: 320px)\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/media-cldnry.s-nbcnews.com\/image\/upload\/t_focal-60x60,f_auto,q_auto:best\/newscms\/2024_45\/3667954\/detzel.jpeg\" alt height=\"48\" width=\"48\"><\/source><\/picture><\/div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<p><time datetime=\"Fri Oct 11 2024 21:01:52 GMT+0000 (UTC)\" data-tests=\"timestamp__datePublished\" itemprop=\"datePublished\" content=\"2024-10-11T21:01:52.000Z\">Oct. 11, 2024, 9:01 PM UTC<\/time><\/p>\n<p><meta data-testid=\"timestamp__datePublished--meta\" itemprop=\"datePublished\" content=\"2024-10-11T21:01:52.000Z\"><\/div>\n<p data-testid=\"byline\">By <span data-testid=\"byline-name\">Allison Detzel<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class>Veteran pollster Frank Luntz joined &#8220;Morning Joe&#8221; on Friday to discuss findings from a recent focus group he held with undecided <a href=\"https:\/\/www.msnbc.com\/know-your-value\/out-of-office\/gen-z-women-will-critical-years-election-s-care-rcna170820\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Gen Z voters.<\/a><\/p>\n<p class>Luntz shared that, after watching the first <strong>&mdash; <\/strong>and likely only <strong>&mdash;<\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.msnbc.com\/brian-tyler-cohen\/watch\/trump-melts-down-over-debate-disaster-219247173572\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">presidential debate between Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris<\/a>he assumed a gap would open up in the polling between the two candidates.<\/p>\n<p class>&#8220;I had thought that Trump&#8217;s debate performance would disqualify him,&#8221;  Luntz said. &#8220;I thought looking at the two candidates side by side, which the American people had been waiting weeks and months to see, that, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.msnbc.com\/top-stories\/latest\/biden-drops-out-2024-election-rcna162537\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">just as Biden&#8217;s performance cost him the nomination<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.msnbc.com\/top-stories\/latest\/biden-drops-out-2024-election-rcna162537\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">,<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.msnbc.com\/top-stories\/latest\/biden-drops-out-2024-election-rcna162537\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"> <\/a>Trump&#8217;s performance would cost him the election.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class>However, that wasn&#8217;t the case: Polls show Harris and Trump remain in a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.msnbc.com\/opinion\/msnbc-opinion\/trump-harris-campaign-election-close-race-rcna174311\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">statistical dead heat.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I had thought that Trump&#8217;s debate performance would disqualify him.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class>Since the presidential race remains so close &ndash; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.realclearpolling.com\/elections\/president\/2024\/battleground-states\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">especially in the seven battleground states that will likely decide the election<\/a> &ndash; Luntz said undecided voters will be essential to either candidate&#8217;s path to victory, particularly young undecided voters. <\/p>\n<p class>&#8220;Make no mistake, we are on a pin&#8217;s edge right now and the essential key point of this is that who they vote for is the next president of the United States,&#8221;  Lunz told the &#8220;Morning Joe&#8221; panel.<\/p>\n<p class>According to one young voter, Chris from Florida, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.msnbc.com\/rachel-maddow-show\/maddowblog\/trump-still-struggling-explain-poor-debate-performance-rcna171291\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Trump&#8217;s debate performance<\/a> did impact how he plans to vote in November. <\/p>\n<p class>&#8220;I think I&#8217;m gonna vote for Kamala Harris,&#8221;  Chris said. &#8220;I just can&#8217;t get over <a href=\"https:\/\/www.msnbc.com\/rachel-maddow-show\/maddowblog\/judge-chutkan-jack-smith-unsealed-presidential-immunity-motion-rcna173721\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">what happened in 2020<\/a> and what&#8217;s been reaffirmed in the debates and the general statements made during the campaign.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class>&#8220;It&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.msnbc.com\/january-6\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">not just the riot <\/a>but the alternative slate of electors scheme is a bridge too far for me,&#8221; he went on to explain.<\/p>\n<p class>Another participant, Angelo from New York, said he was previously leaning toward Harris but is now floating the idea of writing another candidate&#8217;s name on the ballot. <\/p>\n<p class>&#8220;The more I look back into it, the more I watch the debate, the more I look into her campaign, I just cannot trust her,&#8221;  he said. &#8220;I&#8217;m not gonna vote for Trump but the more I think about it, the more I just don&#8217;t know if I can vote for Harris.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class>That wasn&#8217;t the case for Ayshah from Iowa, who told Luntz that if the election were held today, she would cast her ballot for Harris. <\/p>\n<p class>&#8220;I just want to see what she will do because I know she&#8217;s gonna have to run again later,&#8221;  she said. &#8220;So, I&#8217;m hoping she will be an exemplary president for this term.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class>Abigail from Virginia said the discussion with her fellow Gen Z voters influenced her to look further into both candidates. However, she also expressed hesitancy in supporting Trump due to his <a href=\"https:\/\/www.msnbc.com\/rachel-maddow-show\/maddowblog\/republican-dodges-2020-election-still-matter-rcna174242\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">actions in the days and months after the 2020 election.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Trump, if he wants to win, needs to say less,&#8221; Luntz suggested. &#8220;If  Harris wants to win, she needs to say more.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class>&#8220;Some people said some things tonight that motivated me to do a bit more research,&#8221; Abigail told Luntz. &#8220;But the thing is, I do not want to vote for someone, I do not want to tell my children I voted for someone, that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.msnbc.com\/rachel-maddow-show\/maddowblog\/trumps-latest-media-threats-add-authoritarian-style-agenda-rcna174703\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">threatened democracy<\/a>.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class>&#8220;I need to analyze and think a little more before I just vote for Trump,&#8221; she said.<\/p>\n<p class>Reflecting on his conversation with the group, Luntz offered advice to both campaigns on how they can <a href=\"https:\/\/www.msnbc.com\/weekends-with-alex-witt\/watch\/mind-the-enthusiasm-gap-why-gen-z-may-be-the-deciding-factor-this-election-220371525614\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">appeal to Gen Z voters <\/a>in the closing weeks of the election:<\/p>\n<p class>&ldquo;Trump, if he wants to win, needs to say less,&#8221; Luntz suggested. &#8220;If  Harris wants to win, she needs to say more. They don&rsquo;t like who Trump is but they agree with him on inflation and immigration. They do like what Harris represents but they still feel like she hasn&rsquo;t been sufficiently forthcoming.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;If she loses, it&rsquo;s going to be because she didn&rsquo;t answer the questions that voters had wanted her to answer,&#8221; Luntz said. &#8220;And if he wins, it&rsquo;s because he finally realized he needs to say less, not more.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div data-activity-map=\"expanded-byline-article-bottom\">\n<div data-testid=\"byline-thumbnail\"><picture data-testid=\"picture\"><source media=\"(min-width: 320px)\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/media-cldnry.s-nbcnews.com\/image\/upload\/t_focal-60x60,f_auto,q_auto:best\/newscms\/2024_45\/3667954\/detzel.jpeg\" alt height=\"48\" width=\"48\"><\/source><\/picture><\/div>\n<p><span data-testid=\"byline-name\">Allison Detzel<\/span><span><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Allison Detzel is an editor\/producer for BLN Digital.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.msnbc.com\/top-stories\/latest\/gen-z-voter-focus-group-harris-trump-undecided-rcna175069\" class=\"button purchase\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Oct. 11, 2024, 9:01 PM UTC By Allison Detzel Veteran pollster Frank Luntz joined &#8220;Morning Joe&#8221; on Friday to discuss findings from a recent focus group he held with undecided Gen Z voters. Luntz shared that, after watching the first &mdash; and likely only &mdash;presidential debate between Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harrishe assumed [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1235,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1234","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics","category-trump"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1234","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1234"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1234\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1235"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1234"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1234"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1234"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}