CNN’s Tapper Predicts Gen Z Will Be ‘A Lot More Conservative’ [WATCH]

CNN anchor Jake Tapper said this week that Generation Z is likely to become “a lot more conservative” than prior generations, suggesting that the shift is a backlash to progressive politics “forced down their throats” in schools, as reported by The New York Post.

Tapper, host of The Lead with Jake Tapper, made the remarks on Wednesday during The Reason Interview podcast with Nick Gillespie, editor at large for Reason magazine. The CNN host said his observation comes from what he’s seen among his own children and their peers.

“I think Gen Z is gonna be a lot more conservative,” Tapper said.

“Just my experience knowing Gen Z kids — my kids and their friends and whatever — I sense much more skepticism, and I think it is a reaction to Gen Xers and millennials forcing on them progressive views in school.”

Tapper, who has two teenage children, said younger Americans are becoming disillusioned with political movements championed by progressives in recent years.

“I also think that it is a reaction to the failures of progressive movements to achieve what they wanted to achieve, whether it’s [Sen.] Bernie Sanders, whether it’s Black Lives Matter, whether it’s MeToo.”

“I think it’s COVID, I think it’s a lot of progressive politics being forced down their throats in school.”

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Tapper, who has faced criticism from Democrats over his book detailing former President Joe Biden’s mental decline, has frequently been at odds with the left despite his network’s historically liberal leanings.

During the interview, he also noted that while former President Donald Trump did not win the youth vote outright, he performed far better among younger voters than prior Republican candidates.

“But then, Trump did not win young voters, as he constantly said he did,” Tapper said.

“But he did do better with them than other previous Republicans.”

The 2024 presidential election showed that younger voters are increasingly divided, with Generation Z supporting then-Vice President Kamala Harris over Trump by only four points — a sharp decline from Biden’s 25-point advantage with the same age group in 2020, according to data from Harvard University’s Kennedy School.

NEW: Jake Tapper predicts Gen Z will “BE A LOT MORE CONSERVATIVE”

“Just my experience knowing Gen Z kids — my kids and their friends and whatever — I sense much more skepticism. And I think it is a reaction to Gen Xers and millennials forcing on them progressive views in… pic.twitter.com/vbxkEqtekM

— Jason Cohen (@JasonJournoDC) October 29, 2025

Polling continues to highlight significant gender differences in political alignment among Gen Z. A survey from NBC News and SurveyMonkey in April found that 45% of Gen Z men approved of Trump’s presidency, compared to just 24% of young women.

The poll also showed that 52% of young women identified as Democrats, the highest percentage among any age or gender group, while only one-third of Gen Z men identified with the Democratic Party.

Tapper’s remarks add to a growing acknowledgment — even among media figures on the left — that the Democratic Party is struggling to connect with younger male voters, many of whom have grown skeptical of modern progressive movements and classroom politics.

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