Two Gen Zs, Two Different Politics

Young Gen Z men are Trump’s harshest critics

For Democrats wringing their hands over young men since November 2024, this year’s elections offered a rare moment of respite. Men under 30 swung blue from coast to coast, and Zohran Mamdani’s campaign is being touted as a possible playbook for winning the Gen Z vote in 2026.

But which Gen Z?

Since Trump sliced into Democratic margins among young voters, a theory has percolated in political and corporate circles: Gen Z may be better understood as two distinct cohorts rather than a unified generation. “Gen Z 1.0” graduated high school before COVID-19 and entered adulthood amid the anti-Trump resistance. The Women’s March, George Floyd’s murder and the Black Lives Matter protests—these were the touchstones of Gen Z 1.0’s coming of age, forging a liberal politics rooted in activism. “Gen Z 2.0’s” adolescence, by contrast, unfolded under lockdowns. School dances were cancelled, Friday night football sidelined, social lives restricted, all while Democrats held power.

The theory offers a theory for both the 2024 election and the future. As Rachel Janfaza writes, “for many younger Gen Zers, the pandemic restrictions chafed against their youthful discomfort with authority.” Yale’s Spring 2025 Youth Poll seemed to validate the Gen Z split: voters aged 18-21 backed Republicans on a sample midterm ballot by 12 points, while those 22-29 leaned Democrat by six points.

Nearly one year into Trump’s second term, the political dynamics within Gen Z may be shifting. At least among young men.

A nationally representative October survey of men aged 18-29, fielded by Young Men Research Project/YouGov, finds that young Gen Z men are more anti-Trump on nearly every measure. And the gap is widening.

Start with optimism about the country’s future. Among those born between 1995 and 2001—old Gen Z—just one in three believes the country is headed in the right direction. 55 percent say it’s on the wrong track.

Even so, young Gen Z is more cynical. Just 27 percent of men born between 2002 and 2007 see the country moving in the right direction, while nearly two-thirds (63%) say it’s headed the wrong way. Similarly, a meaningful 56 percent majority of the younger cohort now disapproves of President Trump, compared with exactly half of their older peers. These differences are modest, but the gaps blow open on Trump’s most ambitious policies.

Take ICE: Older Gen Z men oppose the agency’s broad detention powers by a decisive 24-point margin. For young Gen Z? They reject this by 41 points. When asked about ending school MMR vaccination requirements, old Gen Z pushes back by 19 points—young Gen Z by 37. As for unilateral presidential authority to fire federal workers, the older cohort objects by a margin of 28 points. For young Gen Z, net disapproval rises to a staggering 40.

On questions of racism, there is little daylight between the two groups. As for gender roles, however, there’s an unmistakable chasm.

When asked about traditional arrangements, with men as the breadwinner and women staying at home, younger Gen Z men rejected this outright: 62 percent disagreed with the statement “Things are generally better when men bring in money and women take care of the home and kids.” For old Gen Z, the trend reversed: a slim majority (51%) actually agreed with this. Older Gen Z men were also more inclined to perceive feminism as biased toward women, and to question the legitimacy of transgender men’s gender identity.

This wasn’t just a particularly “progressive” batch of young Gen Zers, either. YMRP’s May poll showed similar divisions between the two halves of Gen Z on these questions. Could young Gen Z’s relatively skewed reliance on TikTok and other social media for news play a role? Are there meaningful differences in parenting or classroom environments even within this narrow age window? Is older Gen Z simply more ideological, or even aging into more conservative views? These disparities warrant further inspection, as there is no clear explanation from these results alone.

While these social views held steady, young Gen Z men have soured fastest on the country’s trajectory. As of May, just under half of each group saw the country headed in the wrong direction, and the two cohorts shared a 43 percent approval of Trump.

Six months later, the share of older Gen Z men saying the country is on the wrong track rose from 49 to 55 percent—a six-point increase. Among younger Gen Z, the shift was more conspicuous: from 47 to 63 percent. Trump’s approval followed a similar trajectory, falling faster among the younger cohort.

The split also extends to something more fundamental—how the two groups view America itself.

The October survey shows old Gen Z is more faithful in American exceptionalism: a 43 percent plurality believe the U.S. is the greatest country in the world, compared to 16 percent who say it’s worse than other countries. Young Gen Z is decidedly less convinced. Only 29 percent believe America is the greatest country on earth, and nearly half see the U.S. neutrally. Another 23 percent say the U.S. is worse overall than other countries, collapsing the patriotic margin to six points. Given young Gen Z’s particular distaste for the current administration, their bearish view on the country itself is perhaps unsurprising.

We don’t yet have a clear-cut explanation for these swings. The simplest explanation may be the right one: buyers’ remorse.

Young Gen Z was too young to grasp the consequences of Trump’s first term, and is too ideologically unbound to plant their flag in any political camp. As these young men navigate early adulthood, they’re confronting an unforgiving economy where jobs are scarce, and rent is soaring. Most cast their first ballot in 2024, voting for sweeping change that hasn’t materialized. And the change that has materialized—mass deportations, National Guard deployments, cuts to SNAP benefits, the list goes on—are unpopular across the board. Now, having tasted electoral power for the first time, they’re reconsidering their allegiances.

The election results serve as yet another reminder that young men pledge no political fealty. And to be clear, just because young men are breaking with Trump doesn’t mean they’re embracing Democrats. Young men want what any voter wants: leaders who deliver. Until they see the progress they crave, their votes are up for grabs.