Donald Trump won Florida's 65-plus voters by 17 points in 2016, according to exit polls. But now, with Democratic rival Joe Biden breathing down Trump's neck in a state famous for its haven of retirees, older voters are putting the state back in play for Democrats.
Recent polls of the state's 65-plus crowd aren't perfectly in line with each other, but few if any suggest Trump is doing as well as he did four years ago with this important demographic. As Politico notes, a September poll from AARP showed Biden leading by one point among older voters. A Monmouth poll this month put Trump up by just 2 points among the demographic, 49%-47%. Then there's the recent Washington Post/ABC News poll that gives Trump an 8-point edge with the state's older voters, 52%-44%, and a CBS News poll that had Trump up 53%-44%.
What none of those polls demonstrate is the strength Trump showed last cycle with the voting bloc. In the meantime, the state's polling aggregate gives Biden a two-point edge over Trump among likely voters statewide.
Trump's major missteps with older voters appear to be his abysmal handling of the coronavirus and the fact that he and Republicans continue to threaten Social Security.
Harry Nesteruk, who has voted Republican in every election since 1964, plans to cast a ballot for Biden this fall, particularly because of Trump's pandemic response. "He just totally mismanaged it," Nesteruk told the Wall Street Journal, "So buyer's remorse? Yes."
“I really got sick of him when he did not wear a mask," Joy Solomon, a 65-year-old from Boca Raton, told Politico. “He just lies about everything."
Roger that. Looks like lying isn’t playing very well to older voters in this life-and-death situation. Imagine that.