MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
One group of voters turned out in the millions this election, as they always do. We are talking about older voters. They are the most reliable voting bloc. So what role did they play in Donald Trump's election victory? Hopefully, Nancy LeaMond can tell us. She is the executive vice president of AARP. That's a nonpartisan organization that represents the interests of older people. Nancy, good morning.
NANCY LEAMOND: Good morning.
MARTIN: So I understand that you've been looking at AP's exit polling. What is jumping out at you when it comes to older voters?
LEAMOND: Well, first and foremost, as you mentioned, older voters are the nation's most reliable voters, and this year was no different. They accounted for 53% of the electorate and an even more significant presence in battleground states like Wisconsin, where it was 57% of the electorate. They also voted early. In states like Florida, more than 50% of the early votes were cast by older voters. We also saw this in all of the key battleground states. In summary, older men trumped - no pun intended - older women's support for Harris.
There was a lot of reporting about a late poll out of Iowa showing a surge of older women in support of Harris. This did not fully materialize at the ballot box. Trump won older men by 14 points, while Harris won older women by 4, revealing a significant gender gap. Also, there were notable differences between voters aged 50 to 64 - we call those the younger older voters - and those 65-plus. Those - that younger group, 50 to 64 leaned by 6 points for Trump while the 65-plus were a group that favored him by 2.
MARTIN: Wow.
LEAMOND: So...
MARTIN: Yeah.
LEAMOND: ...We are seeing - yeah. There are no...
MARTIN: You got a - yeah, that's a lot to think about. You've given us a lot to think about. So let me try to take those sort of separately if I can.
LEAMOND: Yeah.
MARTIN: So the gender gap, that's something we've been talking about for some time now, especially since, you know, Harris went to the top of the ticket. But why do you think that older men were so - went so heavily for Trump, as opposed to older women who did...
LEAMOND: Well...
MARTIN: ...Go - who did prefer Harris, but not by as strong a margin? What do you think the key factor there was?
LEAMOND: Yeah. Well, the key factor for older voters, male and female was the economy. The economy was the dominant issue. In some states, we also saw immigration as the second issue. And women, in particular, older women in particular are concerned about the economy. They're concerned about issues like family caregiving. Probably, that had some impact. You saw both Vice President Harris and President Trump talking about these issues very late in the campaign.
MARTIN: So before we let you go, Nancy, do you see - going forward, what do you think that the Trump administration has to do to sort of consolidate its support here, which already seems to be pretty significant?
LEAMOND: Yeah. Well, I think obviously, initiatives on the economy, and especially in areas that are important to older Americans. We know everybody is concerned about the challenges of the costs of groceries, gasoline, but also, particularly from women, the ability to save for retirement, have their retirement savings stretch as far as they need to. And one can never underestimate the...
MARTIN: OK.
LEAMOND: ...Importance of Social Security as an issue for older voters.
MARTIN: All right. That's Nancy LeaMond, the executive vice president of AARP. That's a group that represents older voters. Thank you so much. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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