3 Major Takeaways From New Survey on Trump and Millennials of Color

By Kenrya Rankin Mar 20, 2017

The latest installment of the the GenForward survey from the Black Youth Project and the AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research shows that not only does President Donald Trump continue to be a divisive figure among millennials, but that his first 50 days in office have spurred many young people to take activist action.

Here are three key takeaways from the March 18 report, which draws on data collected from 1,833 people, ages 18 through 30, from February 16 through March 6.

1. Millennials of color do not feel Trump is a “legitimate” president.
While 53 percent of White millennials surveyed said that Trump is a legitimate leader, youth of color consistently said he’s #NotMyPresident. Fully 74 percent of Blacks, 71 percent of Latinxs and 60 percent of Asian said that Trump holds his post illegitimately. Per this data, millennials of color hold Trump in even less esteem than the rest of the nation. Gallup’s March 19 job approval poll put Trump at just 39 percent approval rating.

{{image:2}}

2. Disapproval of Trump’s time in office has spurred millennials to take action.
The survey found that the majority of millennials across the board have participated in the political process in at least one way since Trump took office. And among those who reached out to their elected officials, most of those actions were in opposition to his presidency and policies.

{{image:3}}

{{image:4}}

3. Millennials’ priorities have shifted in response to Trump’s executive orders and work with the Republican-dominated Congress.
The president’s executive orders regarding immigration and GOP legislators’ moves to repeal the Affordable Care Act appear to have changed what the surveyed millennials count as the most important issues of the day. While racism still occupies the top spot for Black people, health care has replaced police violence as the second most cited problem. And immigration and health care both swooped in to share the top spot for Asian Americans. For Latinxs, immigration concerns jumped from 29 percent to 46 percent. Meanwhile, racism—one of only two constants for all people of color surveyed—does not make the top three for Whites, who now rank health care as most important.

Now:

{{image:5}}

Versus October 2016:

{{image:6}}

Read the full survey results here.