Taking Gen Z’s Political Pulse as Trump’s Second Term Begins

Sign up for our brand new newsletter: “From A to Gen Z.” This biweekly email will put the biggest headlines about Gen Alpha, Gen Z and millennials into context to help readers better understand these key generations. 

Welcome to Morning Consult’s A to Gen Z. In this biweekly letter, we put the headlines you’re reading about Gen Alpha, Gen Z and millennials into context with our high frequency survey data to help you better understand exactly how and why they’re spending their time — and their dollars. 

Gen Zers — especially Gen Z men — were instrumental in re-electing Donald Trump. On the first full day of his second administration, we’re checking in on the young cohort’s final assessment of the Biden presidency, their ongoing shift to the political right and how they feel about the state of U.S. affairs in general.

📉 Biden finishes well underwater with Gen Z 📉

As of January 15, 2025, Joe Biden’s net approval rating among Gen Zers was -23. (Net approval rating is the share of respondents who approve of the job a president is doing minus the share who do not approve.) That’s six points worse than he fared among all U.S. adults (-17).

Gen Zers’ review of Biden’s performance first dipped into negative territory in the fall of 2021, shortly after his administration withdrew military forces from Afghanistan, which resulted in the death of 13 U.S. servicemembers. It never again found the black.

Instead, the negative gulf between the share of Gen Zers who did and did not approve of Biden’s job as president continued to widen throughout the rest of his term, peaking in July 2024 when he announced he would no longer be seeking re-election. 

The administration’s handling of things like student loan forgiveness and the Israel-Hamas war undoubtedly made harsh critics out of young people, too. But Biden’s especially low approval rating with Gen Z is also reflective of a broader move away from liberal ideology altogether, which we've been tracking for months. 

▶️ To learn more about the data that powers this research, reach out to your Morning Consult contact or email [email protected].

👉 Gen Z’s rightward shift has continued post-election 👉

At the start of Biden’s presidency, the share of Gen Zers who said they identify as political liberals was 41%, double-digits higher than the share of all U.S. adults who said the same (30%). As of last week, this figure was 27% — now roughly on par with that of the general population (25%). 

Meanwhile, the share of Gen Zers identifying as political conservatives grew eight percentage points between January 2021 and January 2025, climbing from 16% to 24%.

That this trend, which is being driven by a number of factors, has held in the two months since the election is telling. It may make the Trump administration feel as though they have a mandate with young people — and in some ways, this could be true.

Trump’s popularity is currently at a seven-year high, thanks in large part to gains among voters ages 18 to 34. Trump’s popularity is currently at a seven-year high, thanks in large part to gains among voters ages 18 to 34. And his pre-inauguration "efforts" to allow TikTok — one of Gen Zer’s most beloved social platforms — to restore service to the U.S. will surely further inflate his standing. 

But even with a new Republican government to match their burgeoning conservatism, Gen Zers still aren't feeling all that rosy about America’s future at a high level.

▶️ To learn more about Gen Zers’ evolving beliefs, head here.

🐻😬 Most Gen Zers remain bearish on the country’s trajectory 😬🐻

As of last week, Gen Zers are nearly twice as likely to say the country is heading in the wrong direction (62%) than the right one (38%). That said, these views are notably more optimistic than those held by all U.S. adults. Plus, they’re significantly improved from before the November election.

It should be noted, however, that post-election bumps in sentiment are something we always observe in our tracking data at Morning Consult — and they usually don’t last for very long. 

But with Gen Zers shaping up to be (almost) as fickle as Trump himself — and many of their favorite companies already clamoring to curry his favor — it’s hard to predict what contours the political profiles of young Americans will take on this time around. 

▶️ Our tracker on public opinion about the state of U.S. affairs lives here. 

What Else We’re Reading

• How Democratic Gen Z activists lost the Gen Z vote (Vox)  
• How are young people feeling about dating in 2025? (Dazed)
• Dry January Has Gone Fully Mainstream (Morning Consult)
• Beauty Shoppers Turn to Mass Brands For Savings (Morning Consult)

Upcoming

Jan. 22 — What Brands Need to Know About High-Income Travelers. This report examines the attitudes, behaviors and expectations of travelers in households earning $100,000 or more annually. 

Jan. 29 — The State of Sports Marketing. This report provides fresh data on sports fandom across more than a dozen professional leagues and unpacks what the growing influence of all things athletics means for brands.