Republican strategist and CNN contributor Scott Jennings said a conviction could damage Trump’s relationship with older voters in the 2024 election.
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Scott Jennings said a conviction could hurt Trump’s standing among older voters. “Older citizens still remember a time when you knew these details about presidential candidates weren’t known and people didn’t,” Jennings said. Convicted Felon. pic.twitter.com/Bo5KoQt0F6
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Jennings said:
The group of voters that I’m most interested in if he’s convicted are older voters, Trump, uh, struggled a little bit with older voters compared to other Republicans in 2020. Some of them are siding with Biden because they understand that Trump is not as concerned about their health as he should be. This time, if he were convicted here, I don’t think most of his supporters would care about this kind of case. Most Republicans would yawn. Older people still remember a time when you knew these details about presidential candidates weren’t known and people weren’t convicted felons. This is the senior population I’m looking at. How did they react? Will they keep coming back to Biden?
Trump has struggled with older voters, and Jennings makes a good point. These voters have turned to Joe Biden. If Trump is convicted, it could cause large numbers of older voters to abandon the former president.
When asked about the impact of Trump’s conviction, the only consistent point in the polls was that it hurt the former president’s independent and undecided voters. People who were planning to vote for Trump will not change their minds if he is convicted, but for older voters who may hold presidential candidates to a higher standard, a conviction could be disqualifying.
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Jason is the managing editor. He is also a member of the White House press corps and a congressional reporter for PoliticusUSA. Jason holds a BA in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, particularly social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of Society of Professional Journalists and American Political Science Association
