A newly released poll of millennial trends in the run-up to the election says more than 50 percent of them would sooner have Earth struck by a giant meteor than have Republican candidate Donald Trump as their new president.
Organized by the UMass Lowell Center for Public Opinion, the poll of around 1,200 Americans aged 18 to 35 revealed a 53 percent preference for extraterrestrial destruction before a Trump presidency.
Image source: UMASS Lowell Center for Public Opinion
This was in fact an ambitious, far reaching survey of millennials’ political leanings and the social issues that concern them most (you can study it in full here.) The giant meteor question was an attempt to inject a humorous element into the raft of 51 in-depth questions.
Joshua Dyck, co-director of the study, commented:
“Obviously we don’t think that they’re serious, [but] the fact that one in four of our young people pick ‘Giant Meteor’ tells you something about the political disaffection that is being shown by American youth.”
The results were not especially kind to the Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton either, with around 34 percent preferring the meteor option to having her as president.
This could be partly attributed to the millennials’ mistrust of politicians as a whole, with the glowing exception of President Barrack Obama – whom many wished to keep as life president – and Sen. Bernie Sanders.
However, if the election was held today as a two-horse race, 66 percent of likely voters said they would vote for Clinton, compared to 22 percent for Trump.
In no particular order, here are a few more millennial trends that emerged from the poll:
- Despite a widespread perception that millennials have little interest in the election, 83 percent said they have registered to vote, 50 percent said they are following the run-up closely, and 63 percent said they will definitely vote, or already have by post. Only 10 percent said they definitely won’t be voting.
- After last week’s scandal broke over Trump’s infamous comments about women, all but 8 percent said they were aware of it, while 41 percent said it made them even less likely to vote for him.
- A hefty 66 percent think Trump should abandon the race now. Significantly, this includes 33 percent of those who identified as Republican supporters.
- As many as 87 percent have said their minds are made up and they will not change their choice before election day.
Here’s a Fox News video from May, which asked young Americans what they think about the election.
Featured image: Unnamed artist’s impression via NASA//JPL-Caltech, available in the Public Domain.
