Contributor: why older Americans are Trump's biggest nightmare

That there is a spasm of aversion to the chaotic presidency of Trump is not a new one – new polls show that the Americans are more unhappy with this president at 100 days than any of his predecessors. A large part of the attention focused on his rapid drop with young voters (“Does Gen Z abandon Trump?” Asked Newsweek last week), but we see signs – in data and on the streets – of something that could be an even more important problem for the Maga world. Older Americans are increasingly rejected by this type.

First numbers: if you look at the interns of, let's say, the most recent Marist surveyhe does worse Among the oldest members of the older cohort: only 37% of the largest / silent generation – people in the 80s and 90s – approve of the president's performance. Baby -boomers – those, like us, in our 1960s and 70s – are not far behind, with only 41% giving it the head sign, against very almost half of generation X.

Meanwhile, whoever participated in demonstrations against the administration across the country can testify to the quantity of gray hair in the crowd. We have worked in New York, New England and California in recent weeks, and large crowd bands are definitively qualified for senior cinema discounts. Mark Engler, co-author of “This is a Uprising”, on the rise of modern protest movements, wrote to us last week: “Here in Philly, the crowd made me feel that I was on the youngest side, an increasingly rare experience now that I am about to be 50 years old.”

All this goes against common wisdom: you are supposed to become more conservative as you age, and Trump is not supposed to bring people from our age to our happy youth by making America great Again? But we are not surprised: we have spent the last three years organizing liberal and progressive Americans over 60 years of age. They clearly indicate what is going on.

Some problems are obvious: like Elon Musk and his servants Damn with the Social Security Administration And the plans of the White House Large Medicaid cutsPeople of a certain age feel a rare combination of fear and anger. Two thirds of the older Americans are counting on Social Security For more than half of their income – we have spent our whole professional life paying, on the explicit promise he would be there for us when we retire. Even those who have savings and investments look at them in the middle of Trump's price chaos: if your 401K drops 10% when you are 30 years old, you may have the chance to come back. But if you are 75?

And it goes further than dollars. Older voters watching Musk and Trump's office dismantle the federal government understand why these agencies were built in the first place. If you are 40 years old, the clean Air Act may seem a little abstract, but it is because it worked so well. If you are 70 or 80 years old, you remember the cities and rivers blocked by the Smog that caught fire, and you don't know why someone would like them to come back.

This feeling is worth for all kinds of things. Lani Ritter-Hall, a member of the board of directors of our organization, recently wrote his memories of being a “pioneer of polio” in 1954, queuing for the blows that changed childhood for the best. “I have this special memory of participating in a great scientific experience in favor of humanity.” How do you think she feels looking at RFK Jr. Blather on vaccines? (We are old enough to remember Kennedy's father, by the way, and to cry how far the apple fell from the tree).

We know from experience Why The country had Dei programs, because we remember Jim Crow and its vestiges in schools and separate districts. When The government removes lessons on the air force aviators of the Air Force formation, or Jackie Robinson purge On a website of the Ministry of Defense, these are not figures from the incredibly distant past for us; The visceral anger of those whose life was parallel to these people is the reason why the government had to go back.

Sometimes even the smallest things seem particularly exasperating. The celebration by President Trump of the idea that now children have only two dolls instead of 30 sous the Christmas tree can be ridiculous (has anyone ever obtained 30 dolls for Christmas?)-But do you really know who really likes to spend their remaining money on toys? Grandparents.

One way of saying this is that the older you are, the longer your past, and therefore Trump's assault against normality is particularly blatant for us – we know that he behaves in a way that no former president even imagined behaving.

Fortunately, We vot in higher number That any other age group, and we have a longer future as militants that the president and his allies could imagine. If you are 60 years old this year, there is a good chance that you were living another quarter of a century. Oh, and women – who do not like the president in greater numbers than men – will live even longer.

So expect a few decades to cause us to cause good problems, with all the skills and connections that we have established during a lifetime. Trump turns out to be our nightmare, and we are more than ready to be his.

Akaya Windwood is main advisor to Third actwhich organizes older Americans for climate action and the protection of democracy. Bill McKibben is founder of the group.