As an independent voter and Gen-Z woman, here’s what I want to hear from Donald Trump

Trump and Biden should both be courting Gen Z voters in Thursday's debate. REUTERS

I’m a Gen Z independent voter. I identify as a libertarian — I’m fiscally conservative and socially liberal.

I don’t think Biden is good for the economy, and I don’t think Trump is good for the social fabric. In fact, I’m part of the 63% of my generation who doesn’t like either candidate.

But I think Trump can win over more Zoomers if he leans in hard on the economy, tones down the divisiveness and looks spry — especially considering that only 9% of my generation thinks the country is headed in the right direction.

The first point is Trump’s strongest inroad with young voters. A recent Harvard youth poll found that, when it comes to the economy, we trust him over Biden by a whopping 15-point advantage.

Young voters have more confidence in Trump than Biden when it comes to the economy. AP

We want to hear that our economic futures are front and center to his campaign, because, as it stands, Gen Z actually has it worse than millennials financially, thanks to inflation and debt.

We’re coming up in an economy in shambles, and Trump should point to Biden’s abysmal economic record in terms of how it affects our future.

And, on that note, Trump would be wise to actually acknowledge the student debt conversation.

While Biden has chaotically tried to cram through forgiveness and been kneecapped by courts, the Democrats have never given a positive, restorative vision for how we can stop the next generation — my generation — from falling into the same doom loop as Millennials.

Biden has attempted to win young voters over with student loan forgiveness. Getty Images

Just forgiving student debt doesn’t help the next cohort of students who need to find their way through the world. Trump should wage war on soaring tuition and consider promoting alternative routes like trade schools.

Secondly, the border crisis matters to my generation, too.

According to Harvard, just 16% of 18-to-29-year-olds disagree with the statement “the United States is experiencing an immigration crisis at the Southern border.”

Trump should be highlightinghow an unmitigated influx of migrants into the country will affect our future — from job prospects to social cohesion and law and order.

But, more than the issues at play, I think the optics of Thursday’s debate are key. As macabre as it is to say, Trump can win over Zoomers by looking alive.

Age, optics and cognitive ability are key to Thursday’s debate. AFP via Getty Images

It hasn’t gone unnoticed by Gen Z voters that our president just isn’t with it. Clips of 81-year-old Biden inexplicably wandering off and losing his train of thought mid-sentence don’t just play on Fox News — they constantly go viral on TikTok, too.

Biden has consistently failed to inspire confidence in his cognitive ability and his leadership ability. If Trump can, at 79, look relatively spry, with it, and energetic by comparison on the debate stage, I think the night will be his.

But, most importantly, I think Trump needs to quell our fears that he’s going to further fray the social fabric.

While his off-the-cuff, unfiltered and oft bombastic tone is appealing to many voters, it turns me — and many of my peers — off.

Trump actually performs better among younger Zoomers than older ones. REUTERS

Most of us only really remember the “lesser of two evils” elections of 2016 and 2020. We’ve watched politics ruin friendships, send Thanksgiving tables into chaos and pull our nation apart.

We are at a point where 57% of Republicans and 41% of Democrats say the other side is better described as “enemies” than as “political opponents.” That’s an unsustainable place to be as a diverse and pluralistic democracy, and I believe Trump had no small role in getting us there.

As a young voter, divisiveness simply isn’t appealing. We have the biggest stake in keeping our country together in the long run.

The thing Trump shouldn’t do is give the mainstream media reason to claim he’s on a revenge tour, or make voters see him as an inflammatory provocateur who stokes divisions. This is time to take the high road.

Stoking divides could be a turn off for young voters on all sides. AP

I know Gen Z adults have a reputation for being ultra-woke, and the idea of them voting red might seem unthinkable — but it really isn’t all that remote.

Trump only trails Biden by 8% among members of my generation. He actually performs better with 18- to 24-year-olds than 25-to 29-year-olds.

At the moment, young voters — like people of all ages — are overwhelmingly dissatisfied, uninspired and disillusioned. Most of us feel we need a change, and it’s up to Trump to prove to us that he’s be the right one.