Associated Press
President Donald Trump’s path to reelection runs through places like Sun City Center, a former cow pasture south of Tampa, Florida, that’s now home to a booming retirement community. But some residents in this conservative swath of America’s premier battleground are growing restless.
Irvin Hilts is among them. The 72-year-old retiree voted for Trump in 2016 but has grown frustrated with the tumult surrounding his administration. His support for Trump collapsed entirely amid the coronavirus pandemic, which Hilts blames the president for mishandling.
“I don’t think Donald Trump is doing a very good job at all,” Hilts said. “Changes his mind too often, leaving too much up to the states when the federal government should be handling more of it.”
Such sentiment could damage Trump’s bid to keep the White House. Trump has virtually no path to victory without winning Florida, and older voters are key to that effort.
Older voters make up an outsize share of the voting population in the state, where Trump defeated Democratic rival Hillary Clinton by just over 1 percentage point in 2016. Nationally, Trump carried voters 65 and older in the state by 9 percentage points, according to a Pew Research Center analysis.
Some Republicans warn that could be tough for Trump to repeat as the public health and economic fallout of the pandemic deepens.
“They were willing to look past his tweets and consider their 401(k)s,” said Alex Conant, a Republican strategist who advised Florida Sen. Marco Rubio’s 2016 presidential campaign. “That message worked until the pandemic caused the market crash.”
Any erosion of support among seniors could doom Trump if this November’s election is as close as four years ago. A trio of Midwestern battlegrounds — Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin — feature sizable aging populations. Arizona, another state that Democrats hope to flip in 2020, is home to a growing number of retirees.
But as is often the case during close elections, it could all come down to Florida.
As she sat in a Sun City Center cafe on a recent day, Jan Hubble was hyperaware that many of the other diners who were seated a respectful distance away were Trump supporters. She made clear she was not one of them.
“I do not support him,” the 67-year-old retired nurse said. “But it has nothing to do with the pandemic. At this point in time, he may be doing the best he can. But he could be doing everything perfectly, and I still wouldn’t vote for him.”
But others said they haven’t tempered their support for Trump at all; in fact, they’ve increased it.
“I wasn’t a Trump supporter until this,” said 83-year-old Jim Baldwin, referring to the pandemic. He said he voted for Clinton in 2016. Now he’s voting for Trump. “I think he’s doing all that can be done.”
Still, Trump’s team is closely following any sign of faltering support among seniors and other core constituencies.
In a series of recent meetings, top advisers briefed the president that he was currently losing the race to Democrat Joe Biden and urged him to discontinue his daily task force briefings, according to five administration and current and former campaign officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to speak publicly about private discussions. Trump protested, citing high TV ratings, but aides said that seniors, the largest viewing group, were being increasingly unsettled by the president’s erratic behavior, false theories and fights with reporters.
Trump quit the briefings after suggesting injecting disinfectant to battle the disease. But a news conference Monday abruptly ended after another flash of anger at reporters.
Trump once held massive rallies largely attended by baby boomers and seniors, who treated them like rock concerts. With those events scuttled because of the pandemic, the campaign has largely turned to online events, which have limited reach to seniors. The campaign has discussed trying to target digital events for older Americans, while the White House has begun highlighting the president’s accomplishments for seniors.
Standing in the ornate East Room earlier this month, Trump surrounded himself with health officials as he signed a proclamation declaring May to be “Older Americans Month.”
“The virus poses the greatest risk to older Americans,” said Trump, vowing to protect them. He has also reiterated his pledge not to touch social safety net programs while the administration has launched efforts to safeguard nursing homes, which have been disproportionately affected by the virus.
“President Trump and his administration remain focused on protecting our most vulnerable citizens, including our nation’s senior citizens,” said campaign spokeswoman Sarah Matthews. “Seniors want the peace of mind knowing that their government is doing everything in its capacity to care for them and the Trump administration has taken countless measures to ensure the safety and well-being of seniors during this critical time.”
But in Biden, the 73-year-old Trump is facing a rival who has also shown strength among seniors. The presumptive Democratic nominee, who is 77, won the support of 55% of Democratic voters age 65 and older, according to AP VoteCast surveys conducted in 17 states during this year’s primaries. No other Democrat earned more than 14% support from this group.
Trump’s campaign is focusing on driving Biden’s negatives up and plans to release a new ad campaign this week. But there are questions about whether such efforts will be as effective this year as they were in 2016 against Clinton.
“One of the reasons Trump did well with seniors in 2016 was because a lot of seniors really disliked Clinton,” Conant said. “He needs to make Biden as disliked.”
And some voters, like Hilts, have those doubts about Biden. As he waited outside a barber shop to get his hair cut for the first time in weeks, Hilts shook his head. While he’s not voting for Trump, he’s not sure he’ll vote for Biden, either. It will depend on who he picks as vice president.
“I might just sit it out, based on the lesser of two evils,” he said.
5 comments
MediaBias
May 16, 2020 at 10:38 am
I can understand all of the concerns of the senior citizens about Trump. However, when push comes to shove, and they look at the actual candidate for the Democrats and compare that candidate with Trump, and when they look at the agenda of the Democrats which has become more Socialist, than ever before, they will take a second look at Trump and vote for him again.
Media, like AP, are no longer fair and independent thinkers. Most have become arms of the DNC and will do whatever they can to help the Democrats take power.
I prefer to see what happens in October, just before the election takes place. Until then, articles like this are meaningless.
Margaret Blustine
May 16, 2020 at 4:07 pm
The data clearly shows americas horrific daily increasing cases and numbers vs what so Korea etc did to protect their people.Inot numbers from media but true world data.shows horrific national continuing destruction.of economy and lives.experts trump hired himself warned him to act.he in Jan Feb etc.he fired them all did nothing.it was his job to use fema red Cross military months ago yet he instead told us virus was under control.told governors to handle a national pandemic.that was his job.governors had no experts no resources no money no knowledge how do this. But trump had resources money etc.he didn’t do anything.americas horrific numbers speak for themselves compared to other countries govt acted to protect their people.trump uses his ego driven notions hunches with nothing to back them up.so now america continues on path to total destruction he started and continues.he’s done herd immunity experiment since beginning obviously as he delayed and lied for months.it won’t work.you can tell by americas cases and deaths are daily always increasing isn’t working.his phase 1 2 3 rules clearly state any state can open if positive numbers lower than negative.that let’s states like fla with accurate cases always way to high safely open.800 still daily.800 every 4 weeks is total 78000 cases in 4 weeks.trumps plan per phase rules is let die as many fast see if enough workers left by November so he can get elected.won’t be.virus mutated is disabling sickening worker age now more and more will continue ongoing still wave 1 now for years,elderly and disabled vulnerable are disposable to die now as trump wrongly counts on workers surviving.elderly can a
ll die.his phase rules state any state can open.isn’t safe to open so trump knowing this tells america expect lot deaths expect it to get bad.it already isn’t bad enough as worse than all other countries combined?dr faucI many experts say will be disaster if open without good testing tracing.america barely 30 per cent.way too little
Testing or tracing.not media.other countries govt numbers show what not doing strict lockdown does.fla and americas horrific numbers show what no strict lockdown is self destruction get america more daily.trump said in March under control and lied.trump told americans inject sanitizer ad people died.it’s his job since January protect americans.he’s a terrible businessman.was bankrupt again when TV show paid him.it’s his job protect americans in a national pandemic.he didnt.he isnt.elderly and disabled he’s now opened up to die as his too vague phase reopening rules let millions now of exposed infected and unknowncarriers unleashed on america population of 326 million.too many people exposed with too many exposing.his experiment will kill most elderly and disabled vulnerable fast now but also will sicken so many workers ongoing total economic collapse by August for years.obvious.take number 800 new cases still fla add to 44000 is in 4 weeks 68000.will go up now daily as trump admitsays because he opened nation while still high increasing daily numbers and deaths.not country acts like that but him.Switzerland tried failed.elderly now are disposable obviously now to trump.as he starts killing them even more now with massive exposure still from states he’s letting open with always way too high new cases and still are.de santis uses sneaky trump positivity forMula in phase rules to open all unsafe states like fla.positivity base as de santis states publicly he uses is he takes daily per cent of tests figures a positive number that is percentage of total negative tests and his number is half as reported by fla dept of health.for ex.he says 349 early may was 941 actually.he keeps doing this even tho state doh numbers are right and way high.de santis stated himself he uses positivityour basis not the media.trump snuck that loophole rigging of true new cases into his vague phase rules america using.elderly are disposable under this can all die.except also now plants closing businesses closing huge fast sickened workers.many have strokes disabilities can’t work more and more.trump doesnt obviously care abt lives and deaths only getting elected.he wont.his nonactions show for months he didn’t care abt elderly dying.he had 3 years and expert staff told him produce pandemic equipment in america.he fIred them all.he thinks kill off most Americans the strong young will live to work help economy so he gets elected.wrong.working age getting hit harder longer more daIly will increase as is.it was his job protect americans with fedl resources Inn January february.he didnt.he isnt.he never will.he speaks with no empathy.he lies.he promises falsepromises.he is illerate he cannot focus on what’s happening more than a minute before talking abt himself everybody else according to resulting American numbers on his watch is disposal go die.as we are in huge increasing numbers.don’t need read in media.experts even trumps say he’s wrong what he’s doing,america testing tracing hospitals not near enough to open without disaster of economy and death toll.so he goes on TV opens anyway america and tells us it’s going to get real bad.so why is he opening america if it’s going to be even more bad as he tells us which says it’s not safe?? Because he wrongly thinks he can kill many millions of americans and still have enuf workers.he wont.Italy didn’t etc etc and they even did strick lockdown.please print trumps phase rules showing most states he’s letting open unsafe with his rigged formula for open.elderly to trump are now really clear are disposable go die I don’t care.
Anes11
May 16, 2020 at 2:33 pm
Good vs evil. Freedom vs socialism/Marxism. Life vs murder. Earth worship vs conservation. Freedom of speech vs censorship. Self protection vs tyranny. Borders vs chaos.
The choice is easy. Those old folks are libs who move here to ruin the state and escape from their hellholes. Go home.
Sonja Fitch
May 17, 2020 at 4:00 pm
20000 Americans on average have died from covid 19 a day since March 1. Most old over 60. Sociopath trump does not give a damn. Paranoid delusional trump says it’s War! Welll the war from China has kicked his racist sexist white butt! Who you gonna blame next looooser trump! Oh wait Biden or Obama! Such a goptrump cult leader trump the loser!
Michelle
May 18, 2020 at 12:39 am
Has senior in Tampa Bay. I am fed up with trump. My husband and I will not vote for this time. He only cares about the stock market but not us. This pandemic finally opened my eyes. I am still waiting on that wall he promised or the healthcare for my sons and daughters. I am afraid he will cut my social security.
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