John Fetterman’s Support Collapses Among Younger Voters

A large number of younger voters in Pennsylvania have a negative view of Senator John Fetterman, according to a recent poll, in stark contrast to older voters, who by a 22-point margin have a net positive perception of the Democratic congressman.

The Quinnipiac University survey suggests a sharp turn around from November 2022, when Fetterman defeated Donald Trump-backed Republican Dr Mehmet Oz thanks in part to substantial support from young voters.

Fetterman has emerged as one of the most outspokenly pro-Israel Democrats over the past few months, since the October 7 attack on Southern Israel by Hamas and the retaliatory invasion of the Gaza Strip. A recent New York Times/Sina College poll found that just 27 percent of young people sympathize with Israel versus 47 percent with the Palestinians, raising Democratic concern that President Biden’s pro-Israeli position could cost him youth votes in November’s presidential election.

According to the latest survey, of 1,680 Pennsylvania self-identified registered voters, which was conducted between January 4 and 8, only 28 percent of those aged 18-34 have a favorable view of Fetterman. By contrast, 45 percent had an unfavorable view of the senator, with 27 percent saying they hadn’t heard enough to answer.

The story was very different for voters aged 65 or older, 56 percent of whom had a positive perception of Fetterman, against 35 percent who had a negative view. Among this age group, 8 percent said they didn’t know enough to comment, with 1 percent refusing to answer.

Overall, 45 percent of Pennsylvania voters told the pollsters they approved of Fetterman’s job performance, against 42 percent who disapproved. Among those aged 18-34, 39 percent approved of the congressman’s job handling, against 42 percent who disapproved. By contrast, 57 percent of those aged 65 or older had a positive view of his performance, versus 35 percent who disapproved.

In the November 2022 election, voters aged 18-29 favored Fetterman over Oz by 19 points, according to data published by the Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement, a non-partisan research group. It found voters in this age group contributed 120,000 net votes to Fetterman, playing a key role in his overall 185,000 vote victory.

Newsweek has reached out to the Washington office of Fetterman for comment by email.

Fetterman was praised by some conservatives after branding Harvard University “pinko” in response to an ongoing row about antisemitism on campus and allegations of plagiarism against Claudine Gay, which led to her resignation as president of the establishment.

Speaking to Semafor political reporter David Weigel, Fetterman said: “As an alum of Harvard — look, I graduated 25 years ago, and of course it was always a little pinko. But now, I don’t recognize it.”

In a post on X, formerly Twitter, in December Fetterman insisted he’s “not a progressive,” despite having previously used the term to describe himself. Sparking both anger and praise from commentators online, he wrote: “I’m not a progressive, I’m just a regular Democrat.”