White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Wednesday during a briefing that President Donald Trump “is doing this for you” when asked about how young voters should react to domestic gas costs’ drastic increase rising due to the ongoing military operation in Iran.
Leavitt was asked about young voters’ impression of Trump considering the current economic and military landscape. Youth voters swung dramatically towards Trump in the 2024 presidential election—closing a wide margin that was enjoyed by Joe Biden in 2020—based largely on the economy and immigration.
“President Trump is doing this for you—he’s doing this for young people so that we are no longer threatened by a rogue terrorist regime in the Middle East that seeks to kill the brave men and women who serve our country in the Middle East—many of them young men and women themselves,” Leavitt said.
She added that “President Trump finally had the courage to step up and do what’s right by our national security, by our homeland security.”
“As for the temporary short-term fluctuation in gas prices, the president has said that once these combat operations are over, this administration is going to continue to unleash energy dominance," Leavitt said. "We’re continuing to do that every day, and we’re going to see prices go back down at the pump as we have the past year because of this president."
Gas prices averaged $3.98 across the United States as of Wednesday, March 25, according to AAA. Prices have recently skyrocketed due to the oil chokepoint within the Strait of Hormuz.
On Wednesday, it was reported by the Associated Press that the U.S. military is preparing to deploy at least 1,000 troops from the 82nd Airborne Division to the Middle East in the coming days.
Trump's Economic Message Turned Out Youth
Leavitt also laid blame on the Biden administration for record-high gas prices, saying that Democrats “if they had their way” would lead the nation to those same higher prices.
In June 2022, gas prices under Biden reached a record high in U.S. history when costs per gallon exceeded $5 and were higher than costs in 2008 during the recession.
Those costs, which more than doubled the average compared to Biden’s first month in office, have been attributed to recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, shortcoming in the supply chain, and the war in Ukraine that led to Russian oil restrictions.
Youth voters actually supported Democratic candidate and former Vice President Kamala Harris over Trump, but the eventual victor drastically closed margins compared to his loss to Biden four years earlier.
Harris won over young voters by a 4 percentage points over Trump, while Biden’s margin in the same department over Trump was 25%.
The economy and jobs were viewed by youth voters in 2024 as the most important issues facing the country, followed by abortion and immigration, according to an analysis conducted by Tufts University’s Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE).
An AP VoteCast survey following the last election allowed voters to choose one of nine issues as the “most important facing the country.” Roughly 40% of youth selected “the economy and jobs” with abortion (13%) and immigration (11%) lagging far behind.
