How Gen-Z is feeling about Kamala Harris at the top of the ticket

Transcript

AILSA CHANG, HOST:

President Biden has struggled with young voters. Before he dropped out on Sunday, national polling showed a strikingly close race between him and former President Trump, even though voters under 30 overwhelmingly backed Biden just four years ago.

But now that Biden is out and Vice President Harris is in, younger voters are recalculating. Here to help us understand how Gen Z is feeling about Harris at the top of the ticket is NPR political reporter Elena Moore. Hi, Elena.

ELENA MOORE, BYLINE: Hey.

CHANG: OK, so what are you hearing from young voters in these first few days of Harris' presidential run? Like, are they excited, skeptical - I don't know, doomscrolling? What?

MOORE: Let's just say all of the above but mostly excited. Remember, this is a group of voters who have been unenthusiastic about the prospects of a Biden-Trump rematch, but Harris is a wild card now. You know, she's younger, and she's also Black and South Asian American and just a very different messenger.

We haven't seen a major shift yet in NPR's polling, but among voters under 35, 1 in 10 remain undecided when given the choice between Harris and Trump. So her campaign may have potential here. Also, you know, a few days ago, I did a callout on social media and asked young voters what they thought about Harris as a candidate. And within a day, I got about a hundred responses from left-leaning voters, mostly. So some excitement, potentially.

CHANG: Wait, so what did people have to say?

MOORE: Someone told me that they were refreshed, energized and inspired. Another argued that Harris could reinvigorate the party. I also spoke to 26-year-old Zach Berly of North Carolina, and he voted for Trump in 2016 but then Biden in 2020. And he hasn't followed Harris as much, but he saw her speak last week in North Carolina, and he said she was fantastic. He characterized himself as typically more pessimistic about these things, but, you know, now he's ready to get to work.

CHANG: OK. Well, you know, one of the issues that young voters really split away from Biden on was the lack of an explicit call for a cease-fire in Gaza. And how is that playing into the way they're looking at Harris now?

MOORE: Yeah, Some voters are cautious here. Even though Harris came out for a temporary cease-fire before the president did, she has still stayed within the lines of the Biden administration's stance. But, you know, voters around the country told me that they are going to be watching how she speaks about this issue.

You know, I talked to 18-year-old Mason Pressler of Michigan about this, and that's kind of where he stands. He's uncommitted, but if Harris were to, you know, call for a permanent cease-fire, that would really be a deciding factor for him.

CHANG: OK. So Harris may still have to face some of the baggage that she's tied to by being Biden's VT - Biden's vice president.

MOORE: Right.

CHANG: But are there aspects of her candidacy that are freshly engaging young people right now? Like, she's become sort of a meme candidate, right?

MOORE: Yeah. I mean, well, if memes could vote, Ailsa, I don't even know who would be president, but a few things are true. Young voters are very much online, and there has been a wave of Internet content tying Harris to pop culture, remixing her speeches.

But memes are not a measure of political turnout. We know young people don't turn out as high as other generations. But it's going up. It can have a real impact in states where it comes down to the margins. And one young voter I talked to kind of summed it up. He said, memes are funny and all, but don't take our voters for granted, Harris.

CHANG: That is NPR political reporter Elena Moore. Thank you, Elena.

MOORE: Thanks. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.