Something strange is happening in American politics—something no pollster or political consultant predicted.
Older Americans, long the bedrock of Republican electoral strength, are suddenly the most critical of President Donald Trump. Meanwhile, the generation raised on TikTok and taught by leftist professors is moving toward him. But this puzzling reversal may say more about media influence and preferences than political ideology.
The numbers are striking. According to a RealClearPolitics poll out late last month, Trump has a positive approval rating among every single age group – except Americans aged 70+. With those respondents, just 40 percent approve of the job he is doing as president, while 54 percent disapprove.
Meanwhile, 42 percent of Americans aged 18-29 approve of Trump, while just 40 percent disapprove. That’s a stunning reversal from recent trends, where Democrats have typically performed well with young people while Republicans have remained strong with seniors.
Anecdotal evidence seems to support the poll’s findings, as it appears older Americans are the ones primarily filling the ranks of liberal protests against Trump and Elon Musk. Katie Notopoulos, a technology correspondent for Business Insider, reported in April that there “sure was a lot of gray hair” at protests she covered. Other social media users have variously shared that “a large majority” of protesters they saw “were over the age of 60” and that anti-Trump rallies were “sparse crowds of mostly older White folks, pre-printed signs, no clever chants.”
Exit polls reveal this trend played out in last year’s election as well. Data from NBC News shows that Trump won voters aged 65+ by a 52 percent to 47 percent tally in 2020, but lost this group 50 percent to 49 percent in 2024. At the same time, Trump made major inroads with voters aged 18-29. Joe Biden won that cohort 60 percent to 36 percent, but Kamala Harris only managed a 55 percent to 42 percent margin – an 11-point swing.
Edison Research’s 2024 exit poll found similar results, with Trump earning 47 percent of the 18–29 vote – up from 36 percent in 2020.
While the corporate media has largely ignored this shift, it nonetheless represents a stunning political realignment. For decades, older Americans were the GOP’s most reliable voting bloc. In 2016 and 2020, Trump dominated among the 65+ crowd. Republicans typically win older voters by wide margins and struggle with the young.
What explains this reversal? It’s not Trump’s policies or personality. Those haven’t changed. But what has changed is how Americans consume media – and how the legacy media covers the 45th and 47th president.
Older Americans are still getting their information from traditional, corporate-aligned outlets that have spent nearly a decade smearing Trump. While it’s true that legacy media ratings are plummeting, the viewers who are left are primarily older.
According to Pew Research, 66 percent of Americans aged 65+ rely primarily on television news. Just 27 percent cite digital sources as their main news source, and even fewer regularly engage with social media platforms beyond Facebook or YouTube.
In other words, millions of seniors are trapped in the echo chamber of CNN, MSNBC, The New York Times, and NPR.
These outlets have never stopped pushing one manufactured “scandal” after another: Russia collusion, the Ukraine phone call, “threat to democracy,” the so-called “insurrection,” and in 2024, a wave of legally dubious prosecutions.
Just look at the headlines and stories that targeted older Americans during the 2024 campaign. Financial publications and mainstream outlets constantly pushed the idea that Trump would wreck retirement plans, gut Medicare, and destroy Social Security. Articles quoted panicked retirees, warning that Trump’s return would lead to economic ruin.
The message is always the same—Donald Trump is dangerous and must be stopped at all costs. Is it any wonder the seniors who primarily consume this content are increasingly starting to believe it?
It appears the corporate media is catching on to their influence with older voters, which perhaps explains why cable news outlets have launched into nonstop fearmongering over the Trump administration’s plans to root out waste, fraud, and abuse in entitlement programs. The legacy press has castigated these efforts – which in reality are a vital step to protect Social Security and Medicare from looming insolvency – as “cuts” to seniors’ benefits.
These aren’t news stories – they’re political propaganda. And unfortunately, they’re working on the very demographic most vulnerable to establishment narratives.
While seniors are being fed a steady stream of doom-and-gloom from traditional outlets, younger Americans are logging off legacy platforms and logging into something very different: social media and “new media” outlets like podcasts and independent websites.
Trump understood this shift better than anyone in 2024. He appeared on popular podcasts, reached millions through social media influencers, and spoke directly to voters without the filter of the mainstream press. He went on “The Joe Rogan Experience,” appeared in viral TikTok videos, and took questions from people who genuinely wanted to hear his point of view.
And it worked. Younger voters—many of whom are distrustful of government, skeptical of media institutions, and tired of being lied to—responded. They’ve seen how the media lied about COVID-19, about Hunter Biden’s laptop, about the Steele Dossier, and about the state of the economy. They no longer take the nightly news at face value.
For younger Americans, Trump’s message—that the media has become a tool of the left—isn’t controversial. It’s self-evident.
The misinformation crisis among American seniors is one that more conservative leaders should recognize. When voters are misled by false narratives, they vote against their own interests—and against the truth. The very people who have lived through the most history, who built this country, fought its wars, and for decades preserved its culture, are now being systematically misinformed by a corporate media machine that sees them as easy marks.
That’s why outlets like AMAC Newsline are so important. AMAC is one of the few new media platforms committed to directly reaching out to seniors and cutting through the lies of the legacy press.
In 2024, Donald Trump made history not just by winning again, but by flipping the script on age-old political assumptions. He lost ground with the group that should know him best, and gained ground with the group that was supposed to reject him outright.
That didn’t happen by accident. It happened because media narratives are powerful. And seniors, just like every other group of Americans, deserve to have new media voices reaching out to them and exposing the corporate media’s deception for what it is.
Hunter Oswald is a Research Fellow for The American Spectator. He is an alum of Grove City College, where he graduated Cum Laude with a B.A. in Political Science. You can follow him on X @HunterOswald8.
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FIRST I DONT BELIEVE THE POLLS. WE ARE IN OUR EIGHTIES ,AND HAVE LISTENED TO TALK RADIO , THE TRUTH , OR THE LAST 550 YEARS AND WE APPROVE 100 PERCENT WHAT PRESIDENT TRUMP IS ACCOMPLISHING.
Look at what, in my opinion, is a RADICAL-LEFT CONTROLLED organization, AARP tells it’s members. AARP has a LOT of influence over the political perceptions and attitudes of it’s 60+ demographic.
I’m 70 and there is no possible way I’d EVER go back to being a Dem. The Dems are the party of lies, hate, intolerance, anti-American, anti-Christian, anti-Jew, anti-life, anti-white, and only for the RICH! DJT/JDV!!!!!!!
So sad when people are no longer able to think for themselves but believe everything the media tells them. Same thing happened with covid and the toxic shots, how many believed the garbage the media was saying and couldn’t wait to have an experimental injection.
I am 78 years old and I have supported President Trump since 2016. He is the only candidate I donated to financially. I have always been at odds with my baby boomer generation. When they took part in the 1960’s protests, I joined the army and served.Today I totally support President Trump. I hope he runs in 2028.
When your sole source of “news” comes from “msm” and newspapers, you’re more politically ignorant than if you got no news at all. So many are pathetically and woefully uninformed. PT Barnum’s poster “children”.
The one thing dims do well is play people…like Strads.
As I like to say, “Some are not just drinking the Kool-aid; some are taking it in intravenously.” I haven’t watched the MSM for decades.
The MSM continue to push the lie that Trump is going to take away our Social Security. Nothing could be further from the truth. It’s the same old story, people are refusing to see the level of corruption that Trump through DOGE is uncovering. I guess some of those people don’t care about the level of government waste that’s been going on for decades.
Go Trump and Elon! Clean house.
I can’t believe this. I’m a senior and I don’t believe anything the media says. Donald Trump is doing exactly what I voted for. I can’t believe there’s a senior citizen out there that supports waste and abuse in government. We were all raised on austerity. I guess people are falling for the old I got to take away your social security and your Medicare and push granny over the cliff in her wheelchair ruse. You got to understand that if their lips are moving they are lying. Meaning the Democrats and the media they are one and the same
the aarp is against Trump and many older americans follow them We need to get them to follow Amac instead!!
For the most part Old timers are the only demographic still watching legacy corporate media, which is predicated solely on hating Trump. They are set in their ways and are being brain washed by the slander and lies perpetrated by CNN, CBS, NBC, and ABC.
It isn’t that media narratives are that powerful, older Americans are gullible. When did we get to the point of believing everything that’s said just because it’s on television? Seniors that are falling for this are lazy, especially when it’s so easy to fact check. Mainstream media is disinformation on a national scale, but this senior isn’t buying it.
This article shows that age does not automatically confer wisdom. I stopped getting my news from mainstream media years ago. Mainstream media is the mouthpiece of the Democrat Party.
No matter what the party, there will always be gullible fools!
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again—many senior citizens still place a lot of trust in traditional news outlets like ABC, CBS, NBC, MSNBC, and CNN. These were once seen as reliable sources, and for those who grew up with them, it’s understandable why they continue to hold them in high regard.
The challenge is that many of these outlets have changed significantly over the years, and not everyone has noticed. A lot of seniors simply haven’t adapted to how much the media landscape has shifted since the 1980s.
I say this as someone who is almost 68 myself. Thankfully, my background in technology and my habit of digging deeper for information has made me more skeptical of relying on just one narrative or source.
this senior ain’t falling for s***, but then again I’m an old country boy, not a citified moron.
Maybe it’s just that older Americans need extra money after suffering through the biden administration of devastation and the loony left is paying for protest participants
I’m 85, I talk to a lot of people around my age. We all think he is doing a great job. Where did they do this study? Boston or Minneapolis.
There is one age group that can fall under the influence of the mainstream media it is those that are older and have always received information from the network news.
My wife and I (72 &69) watch the network news most days, not for the information but for the comedic value. It’s funny to see what the twist and cover and also what they omit.
I don’t pay much attention to AARP.
That’s why I joined AMAC.
AARP is on the Democratic Payroll.
I dropped them Over 10 years ago!
Although I agree the fact that the demographic of seniors ARE typically are stubbornly listening/watching msm, I want to point out that many of the over 70 crowd were liberals in college, during the 1960-70 era. They simply have stayed outspoken liberals all their adult lives. I’m not convinced a flip-flop has happened. I don’t experience it in my lifelong conservative crowd that was Reagan fans in college or grad school.
It’s unfortunate and true. I am 70 and consume Real America’s Voice, GTTER, YOUTUBE, X and numerous conservative media, but…many of my senior friends listen to NBC or ABC News all day long. I’ve had some of them express their hatred for Elon Musk “destroying my country” or badmouthing President Trump for the same reason. It’s my position that they are woefully ignorant of the facts or truth. “Arguing” with them is a waste of breath.
I’m 70+ and I support President Trump 100%. I voted for him 3 times.
Who said with age comes wisdom? They were just wrong as it relates to the over 70s. I’m 77 and see fewer of.my peers showing anything but fear that the government tit will il run dry.
Seniors have known the press long enough to know what they tend to misrepresent. As a senior myself, I’ll say my counterparts should know much better.
People have to stop listening to propaganda, which most of mainstream media is. Help educate them AMAC!
I do not watch MSM tv any more. They have lied and brought disgrace onto themselves. They don’t have any credibility left. I love seeing Trump call them out for what they really are. I wish more people had access to cable news like Newsmax and Fox so they could get more insight.
This doesn’t bode well for the mid-terms. I hope Trump’s team and the Republican Party put a lot of $ into convincing Seniors that what Trump is doing benefits them and their families as well as the nation greatly.
Let’s not forget that the AARP is a Democrat Left organization that starts connecting with people in their 50’s. I was forced to join it to get my health insurance but once established with it, I resigned my membership. I tried to get health insurance through AMAC but was denied coverage because I took Prolia (only 2 shots & stopped) for osteoporosis, as do millions of senior women all of whom could be lost to the Democrat propaganda for that one reason! (AMAC health insurance companies, wake up!)
However, I am unwilling to support any organization that dumps on Trump and propagandizes Democrat nonsense. We need to start seeing ads and interviews that boost Trump and his policies for that demographic — starting NOW.
Maybe financially strapped Seniors are accepting $ to hold up those signs! I’m 80, and we live on SS only – maybe if I was tempted by a lg sum of $ I might be willing to hold up a sign, even though I trust TRUMP explicitly to help Medicare and Medicaid by getting rid of illegals on the rolls, etc.! I’d still VOTE FOR TRUMP AND FOLLOW HIM!!!!
Where is the “How To Change This” part of the article?! How to educate and move oldsters (like me) off the failed Legacy media. I got my wife onto a few conservative YouTube sites, and she now knows to watch the “Lies” on the evening news.
The senior citizens have become idiots. All you have to do is threaten their SS and they go off the deep end. And so many of them live in fear it’s unbelievable. They go to church and stay afraid of their shadows. I hate to say all this because numerically I am one of the seniors but thankfully I have not become one mentally.
The points made thus far all seem to be viable. One that I did not see was that many older folks are afraid of change….ANY change. I have been a conservative my entire adult life [currently 74yo] except for my college years [a Bach degree in ’72]. It took me less than 2 years after my graduation to see past those fairyland ideologies. So, that being said, this Q-tip is NEVER going to vote liberal.
A lot of older Americans have grown up trusting the news, their doctors, and their political leaders. Some of us are just a bit smarter, that’s all.
These are the people who demonstrated and opposed just about everything during the 60’s. They were just of brats then and they still are brats. I said during that period of time the country would be paying for their stupidity for many decades.
The Democrats and their lap dogs in the media are continually telling seniors that Trump will cut Social Security benefits when in fact he is only cutting waste and fraud. Sadly, seniors don’t hear the truth from their local news channels.
I’m 74 years old and a Trump voter and always will be. I stopped believing the MSM a long time ago. It wasn’t Trump who changed my mind, either. It happened long before he ever ran for POTUS. It was the constant BS they were spewing that changed my mind. First of all, we don’t live in a Democracy in this country. We are a Republic. Second of all, they keep spreading rumors about what is going to happen and then nothing happens. After a while, you can see through their lies. I don’t know why other people my age can’t understand this.
As a 72 year old, it is embarrassing to see these older Americans protesting with the young white liberal women. I don’t understand it, although I think all the screaming about Medicare cuts
I hoped older people would be willing to sacrifice some for the betterment of our country.
The reason: AARP and 70+ almost always watch ABC, NBC, CBS, MSNBC. Come on kids, show the folks how to get to NEWSMAX and FOX NEWS or just tell them the TRUTH.
This is one 84 year old Trump supporter! Anyone who believes everything they hear or read is not a thinking person, but a programmable robot. Then again, I think, what if I’m wrong (which is unlikely, lol)? Then I will face it and educate myself.
Many older people (I’m one of the older group) believe lamestream media is “news” when they are really propaganda media for the left. I bailed out of the other senior organization when they sold us out to Obummercare. It was funny that they said how bad it was until they had a closed door meeting with Obummer and suddenly it was a great thing.
I’ma senior & I’m ???? for Trump.
Older “STUPID” Americans.
FIFY.
Same clueless crowd that marched 60 years ago
I am in my 80s and never listen to MSM. They lie so much. I get my info from podcasts and social media. Right now I’m listening to Benny Johnson on Rumble and he has the president’s trip to Saudi on live right now. I’m thinking the older people go to these protests because they get paid and need the money. They may not even think this way, but it’s money. I don’t believe in polls at all.
You have to read between the lines. So called democrats (aliens from outer space) That’s when they fool around with that woke technology, so advanced that it even controls the leaders. Influences their extreme behavior. They are under the influence of A.I.woke tech abusing it it actually destryed the democratic party and still is as they decline into their stubborness. They are not normal. See the movie “They Live” with rodie piper when he puts the sunglasses on he sees the aliens. So when the seniors see media they should be skeptical. Just look at our country can’t they see. Don’t believe them their greatest trick is lieing. What have they done for the people nothing. Groups of people are dumb individuals are smarter. Trust Mr. Trump and his and you.
I just retired shortly after I turned 63, I’ll be 64 in a couple of months.
My first vote (1980) was for Reagan, then again in 1984. But my first (rude)awakening to politics occurred during the Clinton regime, all the lies that spewed out of that man’s mouth was nauseating! Remember: “I did not have sexual relationships with that woman”? —In my opinion, Clinton normalized the blatant and open lies, that the national media (MSM) used to support the democrat lies, especially in election years. The Democrat Party has always been anti-black, throwing their support behind the KKK; presidents like Woodrow Wilson (1913-1921) supporting racial segregation, and Lyndon B. Johnson (LBJ) who began the “War on Poverty”. This effort was used solely to win the black vote by providing handouts to mostly minority groups to win their support and particularly their votes.
My next (rude)awakening to politics occurred over the GW Bush vs. Al Gore controversy – remember the hanging chads debacle, when the Democrat Party used the court system to try and overturn an election. The MSM outcry was “Get rid of the Electoral College”. Mind boggling to me! The Electoral College is established by Article Two on the Constitution of the United States. There are mechanisms in place to change the Constitution and simply voting to get rid of the Electoral College is NOT the proper procedure.
My third (rude)awakening to politics was when Chief Justice Roberts literally CHANGED the democrat’s argument when they tried to get the “Affordable Care Act” (Obama Care) passed. Roberts unilaterally helped the democrat’s effort to get that unlawful bill passed into law. Article Three never gave the Judicial Branch the power to “Create Laws” or to “Help Create Laws”. Their sole roll is to “interpret the constitutionality of a bill created by congress and ratified into law by the president of the United States. Chief Justice Roberts has fundamentally transformed the judicial branch into the “final say” and an over-arching power over the other two branches of government.
Bottom-line, the Democrat Party is truly “Anti-American” and is “Progressive”, which is a “Communist front group”.
Older but certainly not wiser.
Great analysis. Will show this to some seniors who are in the dark. Thanks.
People can be fools and foolish to follow the wrong crowd. One must be Astute to know the difference.
As a 70+ lifetime Republican with a brain, these seniors remind me of the 60’s protests against the Vietnam War. I think they are just reliving the 60’s era when they thought they meant something and now they don’t have anything else. Very sad really. I know people in their 30’s and 40’s who you would think are smarter because of all the info available but who buy into all the BS as well! Oh well you can’t fix stupid!
It’s because they watch the MSM stations and read your opponent, AARP trash magazine. Nothing good comes from those outlets at all. My mother is one of those people, and yet, she’s a Democrat and still believes it’s the same type of party as 30 years ago. I can’t seem to convince her otherwise, even with proof. She claims it’s fake information when, in reality, it’s the truth, and the info she gets is fake. It’s going exactly as those outlets planned, but what are they going to say when all of their “projecting” doesn’t happen?? Hopefully, these folks will wake up and smell the truth when that happens, because it will happen.
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Seniors Falling Victim to Left-Wing Media Machine – AMAC
