University of Northern Iowa students protest a Donald Trump rally in Cedar Falls, Iowa, last January. | AP Photo Poll: Millennials don’t like Trump

Millennials don’t like Donald Trump, a Harvard Institute of Politics poll released Monday shows.

Hillary Clinton crushes Trump among millennials, who would overwhelmingly support the former secretary of state over the real estate mogul in a general election. Clinton holds a 36-point advantage over Trump, 61 percent to 25 percent, with 14 percent undecided.


Support for Clinton is bolstered by 18- to 29-year-olds increasingly favoring having a Democrat in the White House. More than 60 percent of millennials surveyed said they want a Democratic president in 2016, while just 33 percent want a Republican in the White House. The gap has nearly doubled from this point last year, when just 55 percent preferred a Democrat in the White House and 40 percent wanted a Republican president.

Harvard IOP polling director John Della Volpe told reporters Monday that Trump is playing a similar role in helping the Democratic nominee as former President George W. Bush did during Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign.

“I don’t think there’s a question about that,” he said, “and there’s a lot of evidence that suggests that that’s the case.”

Though Trump is the Republican presidential front-runner, he has the lowest net favorability rating of any remaining presidential candidate among millennials, who also reject Trump’s assertion that he would be the best president for women. Trump’s favorability is minus 57 percent (17 percent favorable, 74 percent unfavorable). Clinton’s favorability is minus 16 percent (37 percent favorable, 53 percent unfavorable).

Only 16 percent of young voters identify as socialists, and just a third support socialism. Nevertheless, Bernie Sanders, a self-described democratic socialist, is the only candidate with a positive net favorability: plus 23 percent (54 percent favorable, 31 percent unfavorable).

Trump supporters are also split on whether they’re enthusiastic about backing the New York billionaire. Fifty-one percent said they were enthusiastic, while 49 percent said they weren’t. In contrast, 60 percent of Clinton’s young backers said they were enthusiastic.

Millennials point to Clinton (29 percent) and Sanders (25 percent) as the top candidates who would improve women’s lives. Ted Cruz, Trump and John Kasich are all in single digits, though nearly one-third don’t know who would do the most for women.

Clinton could become America’s first female president, but 74 percent of young voters are optimistic that they will live to see a female president even if Clinton doesn’t win in November.

The poll was conducted with the government and academic research team of GfK between March 18 and April 3. It surveyed 3,183 18- to 29-year-olds in English and Spanish and has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.4 percentage points.

