U.S. News & World Report, July 2024
Joe Biden’s campaign for reelection has long drawn upon the enduring images of a mob rampaging at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, to underscore two of his principal arguments for a second term: Democracy is on the ballot, and Donald Trump is a threat to that democracy. Leaning into the historic depictions of gangs under Trump flags battling with police to breach the gates of the people’s house, of lawmakers fleeing for safety from roving bands of rioters and of Trump appearing to direct them toward the confrontation, Biden’s campaign has tried to drill into young voters’ minds that the violent events of that day were not an anomaly but an indication of a grave threat to their future if Trump returns to the White House.
But the approach might not be working. Exclusive new data from a U.S. News-Generation Lab survey, which polled young adults ages 18-34 in key battleground states beginning June 28, the morning after the presidential debate, through July 5, indicates that messaging isn’t resonating to the extent many Democrats likely hope.
