Trump says he can engage with Gen Z voters and brags about popularity on college campuses

Rally is former president’s first appearance since Biden announced his re-election bid

Former president Donald Trump said he is popular on college campuses and among the Generation Z while interacting with the audience at a campaign rally in New Hampshire on Thursday.

During the rally an audience member named Christine asked the former president about how he planned to engage with Gen-Z – the generation of people born in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

“Engaging with young voters is crucial. Here in New Hampshire we have America First warriors like Caroline Lovett. How do you plan to engage with Gen-Z voters,” she was quoted as saying in a clip shared on Twitter by user Acyn.

Mr Trump replied: “I think we are doing that. I tell you what you would be shocked, like Charlie Kirk and others the job that they do, it’s a youth movement, you would be shocked to see how popular we are in college campuses-much different than what you hear.”

According to AP VoteCast, a sweeping national survey of the electorate conducted in December voters under 30 went 53 per cent for Democratic House candidates compared with only 41 per cent for Republican candidates nationwide.

However, the level of support for Democrats was down compared with 2020, when such voters supported Mr Biden over his predecessor Mr Trump, 61 per cent to 36 per cent.

Prior to that in 2018, when Democrats used a midterm surge to retake control of the House, voters 18 to 29 went 64 per cent for the party compared with 34 per cent for the GOP.

The rally on Thursday was his first since president Joe Biden announced his re-election bid.

It also marked his first appearance in New Hampshire since his legal troubles increased with an indictment in New York.

Also at the rally, Mr Trump took aim at the president.

“We are a nation in serious decline, a nation that has lost its way,” he was quoted as saying by the Associated Press.

“We are led by a hopeless person, but we will win in 2024 and make America great again. We can do it. It’s not too late.”

While Mr Trump is considered as the front-runner for the GOP nomination for the 2024 elections, other Republicans are expected to jump into the race soon, including Florida governor Ron DeSantis.