(NewsNation) — President Biden may be gaining traction among America’s oldest voters, which could make him the first Democrat to win the demographic in more than two decades.
In a Quinnipiac University poll asking voters for their general election preference, Biden is beating Trump by 12% with voters ages 65+. And a New York Times/Siena poll shows Biden beating Trump by 5% with voters aged 65 or older.
When asked to identify “the most urgent issue facing the country today,” 35% of voters aged 65 or older cited the future of democracy, according to the Quinnipiac poll.
“Older voters are more invested in the status quo. They’re more invested in institutions,” NewsNation political editor Chris Stirewalt said. “You have older people that don’t want to shake things up. Younger people are more open to disruption, and Donald Trump is the consummate disruptionist. Maybe we’re seeing some of that. It’s an interesting trend.”
On Wednesday, three groups representing older Americans endorsed Biden for a second term as president as his campaign works to expand existing support among seniors.
The National Committee to Preserve Social Security & Medicare, which defied a 38-year tradition of avoiding endorsements to back Biden in 2020, Social Security Works PAC and the bipartisan National United Committee to Protect Pensions all said they would back Biden in 2024.
The endorsements, which had not been previously reported, follow the January endorsement of Biden by the 4.4-million member Alliance for Retired Americans.
Max Richtman, president of the NCPSSM, said Biden had worked to protect seniors’ earned benefits and the group did not trust Donald Trump to safeguard Social Security and Medicare.
Biden’s campaign manager, Julie Chavez Rodriguez, said the groups represented tens of millions of seniors who would organize, mobilize and activate their peers ahead of the U.S. presidential election this November.
Reuters contributed to this report.