Amid pandemic, more polling shows dramatic erosion in Trump's approvals among older voters

Amid the ongoing pandemic, new polling from the Public Religion Research Institute shows Donald Trump's favorability among voters 75 and older has suffered a significant double-digit tumble in the last month, from 56% approval in March to just 34% in April. Civiqs polling has similarly shown an erosion among voters 65 and older, particularly white independents.

Donald Trump won the age 65 and over voting bloc by 7 points in 2016, which is why top aides have reportedly become alarmed by internal polling showing a similar downturn among the must-get demographic. The softening in approvals has driven several recent White House decisions, such as the idea of scrapping the daily White House task force briefings and declaring May to be “Older Americans Month,” among others.  

In the PRRI graph below, there's a split between 75 and over voters in the Silent Generation and voters 65-74 in the upper tier of the Baby Boomers. In 2019, support from the two groups was nearly lockstep, with Trump averaging 47% support among 75 and up voters and 46% support among the 65-74 demographic. In March, Trump was similarly enjoying a bump in support among both groups, at 56% and 54% approval respectively. But by April, Trump had taken a big 22-point slide down to 34% among 75 and up voters while experiencing a slightly more modest 9-point dip among voters 65-74, from 54% to 45%. Either way, Trump isn’t headed in the right direction with the group as older voters appear to be rejecting the idea of becoming sacrificial lambs in Trump’s reelection bid.