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Then-presidential candidate Joe Biden speaks to a crowd at a Democratic National Committee event for it IWillVote program, aimed at registering voters, in Atlanta on June 6, 2019. (Photo: Dustin Chambers/Getty Images)
Progressive political observers on Monday said that beltway pundits should not be surprised by President Joe Biden's plummeting approval rating among voters under the age of 34, considering the Democratic Party's failure to pass anti-poverty measures or climate action, and address the student debt crisis after the president garnered significant support from young people in the 2020 election.
Polling by online survey company Civiqs showed Sunday that while only 36% of voters between the ages of 18 and 34 disapproved of Biden the day he was inaugurated in January 2021 and 48% approved, those numbers have now shifted significantly, with 55% of respondents saying they feel Biden is doing a poor job as president.
\u201cSomething very interesting and troubling happening with Biden's approval rating among young people, which has collapsed by more than any other age group since Jan 2021:\n\n18-34 all: -19 points \n...no college: - 20 points\n...Hispanic: -26 points\n...Black: - 30 points\u201d— Derek Thompson (@Derek Thompson) 1650288469
The survey results were posted four days after Gallup released polling showing that support for the president among voters aged 18-25 has fallen by 21 points since January 2021 and among voters aged 26-41 by 19 points.
Another poll released last Wednesday by Quinnipiac University showed only 21% of respondents aged 18-34 approving of Biden.
On Twitter Monday, Vox journalist Zack Beauchamp called Biden's collapse in support among younger voters "mysterious"--an assertion that unleashed a torrent of responses from progressives who pointed to young people's urgent calls for bold policy changes to mitigate the climate crisis and narrow the wealth gap in the United States, which have been largely ignored by the administration or obstructed by right-wing members of Biden's party.
"Compare the life a young person had in January 2021... to the life they have now and I think you'll get much of the answer," said Ryan Grim, Washington, D.C. bureau chief for The Intercept.
\u201c@zackbeauchamp Compare the life a young person had in january 2021 -- flush checking account, plussed-up UI, CTC if they had kids, hope of student debt relief, fairly stable prices and wages rising -- to the life they have now and I think you'll get much of the answer.\u201d— Zack Beauchamp (@Zack Beauchamp) 1650298510
The recent polling follows the breakdown late last year of negotiations over the Build Back Better Act, the president's signature domestic spending bill which would have invested $1.75 trillion over 10 years to provide millions of families with monthly child tax credits; incentivize the use of renewable energy by utilities; offer free, universal pre-kindergarten to children, and take other steps to help middle- and lower-income households.
It also comes as economic justice advocates push the White House to take executive action to solve the student loan crisis by broadly canceling debt for more than 43 million Americans who owe an average of more than $37,000 for their education.
As Common Dreams reported in March, voters in their late teens, 20s, and 30s have been clear in their demands for bold climate action, calling on Biden to declare a National Climate Emergency--which would empower him to allocate federal resources specifically to the issue--and to create millions of sustainable jobs while addressing the climate crisis by passing a Green New Deal.
Biden, however, has responded by approving oil and gas drilling permits at a faster rate than former Republican President Donald Trump and refusing to ban crude oil exports.
Kate Aronoff of The Nationtweeted Monday there there is "probably a decent amount of young people not all that pleased to see the administration sucking up to fossil fuel executives as the Earth rapidly loses its capacities to maintain life."
Biden's plummeting support among young voters represents a significant loss of an age group that was instrumental in securing the White House for the Democratic Party, noted Jeet Heer, a columnist for The Nation.
\u201cUnder 44 was the only age group Biden won a majority of in 2020. The collapse of support for Biden among young is a disaster. Meanwhile, leading pundits are telling Biden to ignore the young because median voter is 50.\u201d— Jeet Heer (@Jeet Heer) 1650298320
According to Pew Research Center, Biden won a majority of voters under the age of 49, and his strongest support came from people under the age of 30.
Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, a professor of African-American studies at Princeton University and writer at The New Yorker, also noted that Biden took office less than a year after a national uprising over racial injustice and police brutality--only to disparage organizers of that movement in his State of the Union address earlier this year and propose more than $32 million in funding for police departments.
\u201cMillions of young ppl flooded the streets in 2020 to end racism & police brutality: not much has changed. Biden pledges to give cops $32mil; no movt on student loans & debt; no mov't on decriminalizing weed; no mov't on climate; upholding the status quo..\u201d— Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor (@Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor) 1650301488
When the Democratic Party is confronted with demands for progressive policies, said Taylor, "it's always 'wait' which inevitably turns into 'never' and it's why young people and all workers are so fed up."
Trump and Musk are on an unconstitutional rampage, aiming for virtually every corner of the federal government. These two right-wing billionaires are targeting nurses, scientists, teachers, daycare providers, judges, veterans, air traffic controllers, and nuclear safety inspectors. No one is safe. The food stamps program, Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid are next. It’s an unprecedented disaster and a five-alarm fire, but there will be a reckoning. The people did not vote for this. The American people do not want this dystopian hellscape that hides behind claims of “efficiency.” Still, in reality, it is all a giveaway to corporate interests and the libertarian dreams of far-right oligarchs like Musk. Common Dreams is playing a vital role by reporting day and night on this orgy of corruption and greed, as well as what everyday people can do to organize and fight back. As a people-powered nonprofit news outlet, we cover issues the corporate media never will, but we can only continue with our readers’ support. |
Progressive political observers on Monday said that beltway pundits should not be surprised by President Joe Biden's plummeting approval rating among voters under the age of 34, considering the Democratic Party's failure to pass anti-poverty measures or climate action, and address the student debt crisis after the president garnered significant support from young people in the 2020 election.
Polling by online survey company Civiqs showed Sunday that while only 36% of voters between the ages of 18 and 34 disapproved of Biden the day he was inaugurated in January 2021 and 48% approved, those numbers have now shifted significantly, with 55% of respondents saying they feel Biden is doing a poor job as president.
\u201cSomething very interesting and troubling happening with Biden's approval rating among young people, which has collapsed by more than any other age group since Jan 2021:\n\n18-34 all: -19 points \n...no college: - 20 points\n...Hispanic: -26 points\n...Black: - 30 points\u201d— Derek Thompson (@Derek Thompson) 1650288469
The survey results were posted four days after Gallup released polling showing that support for the president among voters aged 18-25 has fallen by 21 points since January 2021 and among voters aged 26-41 by 19 points.
Another poll released last Wednesday by Quinnipiac University showed only 21% of respondents aged 18-34 approving of Biden.
On Twitter Monday, Vox journalist Zack Beauchamp called Biden's collapse in support among younger voters "mysterious"--an assertion that unleashed a torrent of responses from progressives who pointed to young people's urgent calls for bold policy changes to mitigate the climate crisis and narrow the wealth gap in the United States, which have been largely ignored by the administration or obstructed by right-wing members of Biden's party.
"Compare the life a young person had in January 2021... to the life they have now and I think you'll get much of the answer," said Ryan Grim, Washington, D.C. bureau chief for The Intercept.
\u201c@zackbeauchamp Compare the life a young person had in january 2021 -- flush checking account, plussed-up UI, CTC if they had kids, hope of student debt relief, fairly stable prices and wages rising -- to the life they have now and I think you'll get much of the answer.\u201d— Zack Beauchamp (@Zack Beauchamp) 1650298510
The recent polling follows the breakdown late last year of negotiations over the Build Back Better Act, the president's signature domestic spending bill which would have invested $1.75 trillion over 10 years to provide millions of families with monthly child tax credits; incentivize the use of renewable energy by utilities; offer free, universal pre-kindergarten to children, and take other steps to help middle- and lower-income households.
It also comes as economic justice advocates push the White House to take executive action to solve the student loan crisis by broadly canceling debt for more than 43 million Americans who owe an average of more than $37,000 for their education.
As Common Dreams reported in March, voters in their late teens, 20s, and 30s have been clear in their demands for bold climate action, calling on Biden to declare a National Climate Emergency--which would empower him to allocate federal resources specifically to the issue--and to create millions of sustainable jobs while addressing the climate crisis by passing a Green New Deal.
Biden, however, has responded by approving oil and gas drilling permits at a faster rate than former Republican President Donald Trump and refusing to ban crude oil exports.
Kate Aronoff of The Nationtweeted Monday there there is "probably a decent amount of young people not all that pleased to see the administration sucking up to fossil fuel executives as the Earth rapidly loses its capacities to maintain life."
Biden's plummeting support among young voters represents a significant loss of an age group that was instrumental in securing the White House for the Democratic Party, noted Jeet Heer, a columnist for The Nation.
\u201cUnder 44 was the only age group Biden won a majority of in 2020. The collapse of support for Biden among young is a disaster. Meanwhile, leading pundits are telling Biden to ignore the young because median voter is 50.\u201d— Jeet Heer (@Jeet Heer) 1650298320
According to Pew Research Center, Biden won a majority of voters under the age of 49, and his strongest support came from people under the age of 30.
Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, a professor of African-American studies at Princeton University and writer at The New Yorker, also noted that Biden took office less than a year after a national uprising over racial injustice and police brutality--only to disparage organizers of that movement in his State of the Union address earlier this year and propose more than $32 million in funding for police departments.
\u201cMillions of young ppl flooded the streets in 2020 to end racism & police brutality: not much has changed. Biden pledges to give cops $32mil; no movt on student loans & debt; no mov't on decriminalizing weed; no mov't on climate; upholding the status quo..\u201d— Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor (@Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor) 1650301488
When the Democratic Party is confronted with demands for progressive policies, said Taylor, "it's always 'wait' which inevitably turns into 'never' and it's why young people and all workers are so fed up."
Progressive political observers on Monday said that beltway pundits should not be surprised by President Joe Biden's plummeting approval rating among voters under the age of 34, considering the Democratic Party's failure to pass anti-poverty measures or climate action, and address the student debt crisis after the president garnered significant support from young people in the 2020 election.
Polling by online survey company Civiqs showed Sunday that while only 36% of voters between the ages of 18 and 34 disapproved of Biden the day he was inaugurated in January 2021 and 48% approved, those numbers have now shifted significantly, with 55% of respondents saying they feel Biden is doing a poor job as president.
\u201cSomething very interesting and troubling happening with Biden's approval rating among young people, which has collapsed by more than any other age group since Jan 2021:\n\n18-34 all: -19 points \n...no college: - 20 points\n...Hispanic: -26 points\n...Black: - 30 points\u201d— Derek Thompson (@Derek Thompson) 1650288469
The survey results were posted four days after Gallup released polling showing that support for the president among voters aged 18-25 has fallen by 21 points since January 2021 and among voters aged 26-41 by 19 points.
Another poll released last Wednesday by Quinnipiac University showed only 21% of respondents aged 18-34 approving of Biden.
On Twitter Monday, Vox journalist Zack Beauchamp called Biden's collapse in support among younger voters "mysterious"--an assertion that unleashed a torrent of responses from progressives who pointed to young people's urgent calls for bold policy changes to mitigate the climate crisis and narrow the wealth gap in the United States, which have been largely ignored by the administration or obstructed by right-wing members of Biden's party.
"Compare the life a young person had in January 2021... to the life they have now and I think you'll get much of the answer," said Ryan Grim, Washington, D.C. bureau chief for The Intercept.
\u201c@zackbeauchamp Compare the life a young person had in january 2021 -- flush checking account, plussed-up UI, CTC if they had kids, hope of student debt relief, fairly stable prices and wages rising -- to the life they have now and I think you'll get much of the answer.\u201d— Zack Beauchamp (@Zack Beauchamp) 1650298510
The recent polling follows the breakdown late last year of negotiations over the Build Back Better Act, the president's signature domestic spending bill which would have invested $1.75 trillion over 10 years to provide millions of families with monthly child tax credits; incentivize the use of renewable energy by utilities; offer free, universal pre-kindergarten to children, and take other steps to help middle- and lower-income households.
It also comes as economic justice advocates push the White House to take executive action to solve the student loan crisis by broadly canceling debt for more than 43 million Americans who owe an average of more than $37,000 for their education.
As Common Dreams reported in March, voters in their late teens, 20s, and 30s have been clear in their demands for bold climate action, calling on Biden to declare a National Climate Emergency--which would empower him to allocate federal resources specifically to the issue--and to create millions of sustainable jobs while addressing the climate crisis by passing a Green New Deal.
Biden, however, has responded by approving oil and gas drilling permits at a faster rate than former Republican President Donald Trump and refusing to ban crude oil exports.
Kate Aronoff of The Nationtweeted Monday there there is "probably a decent amount of young people not all that pleased to see the administration sucking up to fossil fuel executives as the Earth rapidly loses its capacities to maintain life."
Biden's plummeting support among young voters represents a significant loss of an age group that was instrumental in securing the White House for the Democratic Party, noted Jeet Heer, a columnist for The Nation.
\u201cUnder 44 was the only age group Biden won a majority of in 2020. The collapse of support for Biden among young is a disaster. Meanwhile, leading pundits are telling Biden to ignore the young because median voter is 50.\u201d— Jeet Heer (@Jeet Heer) 1650298320
According to Pew Research Center, Biden won a majority of voters under the age of 49, and his strongest support came from people under the age of 30.
Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, a professor of African-American studies at Princeton University and writer at The New Yorker, also noted that Biden took office less than a year after a national uprising over racial injustice and police brutality--only to disparage organizers of that movement in his State of the Union address earlier this year and propose more than $32 million in funding for police departments.
\u201cMillions of young ppl flooded the streets in 2020 to end racism & police brutality: not much has changed. Biden pledges to give cops $32mil; no movt on student loans & debt; no mov't on decriminalizing weed; no mov't on climate; upholding the status quo..\u201d— Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor (@Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor) 1650301488
When the Democratic Party is confronted with demands for progressive policies, said Taylor, "it's always 'wait' which inevitably turns into 'never' and it's why young people and all workers are so fed up."
"Corporations get let off the hook, Musk gets insider information, and the American people get hosed."
The latest U.S. agency in the crosshairs of billionaire Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency is reportedly the Federal Trade Commission, an already-understaffed department tasked with preventing monopolistic practices and shielding consumers from corporate abuses.
Axios reported Friday that at least two DOGE staffers "now have offices at" the FTC. According to The Verge, two DOGE members "were spotted" at the agency's building this week and "are now listed in the FTC's internal directory."
The Verge noted that the FTC is "a fairly lean agency with fewer than 1,200 employees," a number that the Trump administration has already cut into with the firing of some of the department's consumer protection and antitrust staff.
At least two of Musk's companies, Tesla and X, have faced scrutiny in recent years from the FTC, which is now under the leadership of Trump appointee Andrew Ferguson, who previously pledged to roll back former chair Lina Khan's anti-monopoly legacy.
Emily Peterson-Cassin, corporate power director at the Demand Progress Education Fund, which referred to the operatives as Musk's "minions," said Friday that "DOGE is yet again raiding a federal watchdog tasked with protecting working Americans from Wall Street and Big Tech."
"The FTC has worked to stop monopolistic mergers that would have led to higher grocery prices and is now gearing up to go to court against Meta's social media monopoly," said Peterson-Cassin. "It's no surprise that at this moment, while the economy is in freefall and fraud is on the rise, DOGE is choosing to raid the federal watchdog that protects everyday Americans and threatens corporate monopolies and grifters."
News of DOGE staffers' infiltration of the FTC came as Trump's sweeping new tariffs continued to cause global economic turmoil and heightened concerns that companies in the U.S. will use the tariffs as a new excuse to jack up prices and pad their bottom lines.
Ferguson pledged in a social media post Thursday that under his leadership, the FTC "will be watching closely" to ensure companies don't view Trump's tariffs "as a green light for price fixing or any other unlawful behavior."
But Trump has hobbled the agency—and prompted yet another legal fight—by firing its two Democratic commissioners, a move that sparked fury and has already impacted the FTC's ability to pursue cases against large corporations.
Peterson-Cassin said Friday that "the only winners" of DOGE's targeting of the FTC "are Trump's billionaire besties like [Meta CEO] Mark Zuckerberg and especially Musk, who now stands to gain access to confidential financial information about every company ever investigated by the FTC, including the auto manufacturers, aerospace firms, internet providers, tech companies, and banks that directly compete with his own companies."
"Corporations get let off the hook, Musk gets insider information, and the American people get hosed," Peterson-Cassin added.
"The president single-handedly wiped out Americans' retirement savings overnight and subjected businesses to intense whiplash with his increasingly erratic and chaotic policies that continue to drive consumer and business uncertainty."
Alarm over U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs continues to grow, with stocks plummeting and JPMorgan warning that "the risk of recession in the global economy this year is raised to 60%, up from 40%."
After China announced new 34% tariffs on all American goods beginning next week, The Associated Press reported Friday that "the S&P 500 was down 4.8% in afternoon trading, after earlier dropping more than 5%, following its worst day since Covid wrecked the global economy in 2020. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 1,719 points, or 4.3%, as of 1:08 p.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 4.9% lower."
Noting the state of Wall Street this week, Groundwork Collaborative executive director Lindsay Owens declared in a Friday statement that "Trump has officially brought the economy to its knees."
"The president single-handedly wiped out Americans' retirement savings overnight and subjected businesses to intense whiplash with his increasingly erratic and chaotic policies that continue to drive consumer and business uncertainty," she said. "To call this an economic downturn is an understatement; Trump is marching us straight into a depression."
Political and economic observers have been publicly wondering for weeks if Trump is intentionally crashing the economy. Further fueling those fears, he ramped up his trade war on Wednesday by announcing a minimum 10% tariff for imports, with higher levies for dozens of countries. Although he claimed those steeper duties are "reciprocal," his math "horrified" economists and has been called "crazy."
Responding in a Thursday note titled, There Will Be Blood, head of global economic research Bruce Kasman and other experts at JPMorgan wrote that "if sustained, this year's ~22%-point tariff increase would be the largest U.S. tax hike since 1968."
"The effect of this tax hike is likely to be magnified—through retaliation, a slide in U.S. business sentiment, and supply chain disruptions," states the note, which came before China's announcement.
As Bloomberg reported:
Several Wall Street firms on Thursday warned of a U.S. recession, with some making it their base case, after... Trump announced major levies on goods imported from countries around the world. Other economists, including those at JPMorgan, said the hit could be big, though they are taking a wait-and-see approach before revising their projections.
The announcement rocked global financial markets, and the S&P 500 suffered its worst day since 2020. Trump, speaking on Air Force One on Thursday afternoon, said he was open to reducing tariffs if trading partners were able to offer something "phenomenal."
"We are not making immediate changes to our forecasts and want to see the initial implementation and negotiation process that takes hold," the JPMorgan note says. "However, we view the full implementation of announced policies as a substantial macroeconomic shock not currently incorporated in our forecasts. We thus emphasize that these policies, if sustained, would likely push the U.S. and possibly global economy into recession this year."
The team also pointed out that the United States is in potential danger no matter how other countries are ultimately impacted, calling a "scenario where rest of world muddles through a U.S. recession possible but less likely than global downturn."
As Common Dreams reported last week, in anticipation of Trump's tariff announcement, Goldman Sachs published a research note projecting that the odds of a recession in the next year are 35%, up from 20%.
Other financial industry research firms that have recently warned of a possible recession include Barclays, BofA Global Research, Deutsche Bank, RBC Capital Markets, and UBS Global Wealth Management, according to Reuters.
"This is a game-changer, not only for the U.S. economy, but for the global economy. Many countries will likely end up in a recession," Olu Sonola, head of U.S. economic research at Fitch Ratings, said in a late Wednesday note about the levies. "You can throw most forecasts out the door, if this tariff rate stays on for an extended period of time."
Experts have made similar comments to the press in the wake of the president's Rose Garden remarks on Wednesday. Time on Friday shared some from Brian Bethune, a Boston College economics professor:
"[Consumers] are not even going to the grocery store and paying more for vegetables because there's none available from Mexico, or going to Whole Foods, for example, and finding the big sections of fresh fruit are being shut down. They haven't really felt the full impact [yet], and they're already saying something isn't right," Bethune says.
However, while some economists... are more cautious in their discussion about a possible recession, Bethune says it's "inevitable." The question, he says, is just how long until it happens and for how long will it occur? He sees Trump's admission of there being " some pain" on the horizon as only proof of the inevitability.
"At least they [the Trump administration] are not pretending that it's not disruptive, but they're basically soft-selling it, reflecting their ignorance about the way business operates," Bethune claims.
Also on Friday, the Bureau of Labor Statistics released the latest U.S. jobs data. Although the unemployment rate rose from 4.1% to 4.2% in March, the economy added 228,000 jobs, which was better than expected.
However, economists warn of what lies ahead. As University of Michican economics professor Betsey Stevenson put it, "Today's jobs report is like looking at your vacation photos after you had a horrible car crash on the way home."
"Immigration. Medicaid. Workers' rights. Unions. Education. You name it—we're drawing the line," wrote one union.
In what one outlet has reported is slated to be the largest single-day action to resist the Trump administration since U.S. President Donald Trump's return to power, hundreds of thousands of people nationwide are planning to mobilize on Saturday to say: "Hands Off!"
A list of locations for the events, which are not all slated to start at the same time on Saturday, can be found here.
Trump and Musk "think this country belongs to them," according to a website for the Hands Off! events. "This is a nationwide mobilization to stop the most brazen power grab in modern history."
"They want to strip America for parts—shuttering Social Security offices, firing essential workers, eliminating consumer protections, and gutting Medicaid—all to bankroll their billionaire tax scam. They're handing over our tax dollars, our public services, and our democracy to the ultra-rich," according to the website's about page, which also notes nonviolent action is a "core principle" behind the events.
A spokesperson for the events told Common Dreams on Friday afternoon that the events have generated over 500,000 signups nationally, a number that is "growing rapidly," and there are over 1,000 events taking place on Saturday, a number that is "also growing steadily."
The actions are the latest warning sign for the Republican Party under Trump, who has allowed Elon Musk to play a core role in his administration, particularly in the administration's efforts to carry out cuts to federal personnel and spending.
Musk poured millions of dollars into a high-profile Wisconsin Supreme Court election that took place on April 1—helping to make it the most expensive judicial election in U.S. history by one tally—only to have his preferred candidate, judge Brad Schimel, lose.
"This is a huge signal from a battleground state that Americans are genuinely upset, genuinely angry, I think, with Trump and with Musk," said John Nichols, a correspondent for That Nation, when recapping the outcome of the race on Democracy Now!
Dozens of unions, watchdogs, and advocacy groups—such as Service Employees International Union (SEIU), Americans for Tax Fairness, and Accountable.US—are supporting the action as partners.
"People nationwide are rising up at hundreds of events to say one thing loud and clear: Hands Off!" wrote SEIU on the platform X, which is owned by Musk, on Friday. "Immigration. Medicaid. Workers' rights. Unions. Education. You name it—we're drawing the line."
The environmentalist iIll McKibben wrote on Bluesky on Wednesday: "Expect to see a lot of gray hair at the April 5 Hands Off rallies—we've been organizing like crazy at Third Act," a group that mobilizes Americans over the age of 60.
In early February, anti-Trump "Movement 50501" protests took place nationwide and protestors united under the slogan #TakedownTesla have also targeted Tesla, Musk's electric vehicle company, in recent weeks.