It’s fascinating because it makes mincemeat of the stereotype that Donald Trump voters are stodgy old farts stuck in a time warp, clinging to yesteryear and refusing to get with the times.
And it’s politically relevant because we’ve just stumbled upon an enthusiastic pro-Trump demo that could swing the midterms.
Let’s begin with the data.
Newsweek: Donald Trump’s Approval Rating Among Frequent AI Users Revealed
Americans who use artificial intelligence (AI) tools every day are the only AI-usage group to give President Donald Trump a net positive approval rating, a new Rainey Center poll has found.
[…]
- Trump's approval stood at 54 percent among daily AI users, compared with 45 percent who disapproved, leaving him nine points above water with this group.
- Weekly AI users gave Trump a net rating (those who approve minus those who disapprove) of minus 35 points.
- Monthly users recorded a net rating of minus 50 points, the weakest result among all groups.
Most of today’s opinion polls put Trump’s approval in the high 30s or low 40s. A 54% approval with daily AI users — a group you’d assume is at least somewhat cross-political and nonideological — is eye-popping. (As is the president’s popularity dropping precipitously when AI usage goes from daily to weekly to monthly. That’s awfully interesting, too.) It’s like accidentally discovering a goldmine.
Some voting clusters are straightforward and obvious. (So much so that the Democrats tend to take them for granted.) Others are counterintuitive.
The cluster of Trump supporters and daily AI usage is counterintuitive: Early adopters of bleeding-edge technology ain’t supposed to be the red-hat-wearing, pickup truck-driving, churchgoing hillbillies. But it’s an absolute treasure trove of actionable intelligence, because there’s only a handful of AI platforms. This means that this pro-Trump demo isn’t hidden or elusive; they’re either on ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude AI, or Grok.
And what do you know, ChatGPT, which has a market share of over 50% all on its own, is now selling ads. (And desperate for revenue, too!)
If the RNC isn’t pursuing this, they’re committing malpractice.
As for how this cluster developed, here are the three leading theories:
One: It’s a policy-driven alignment.
Perhaps daily AI users appreciate President Trump’s defense of AI advancement. Clearly, they enjoy using AI and look forward to it improving. Since the leading Democrats are cheerleading for aggressive government oversight and “pacing the frontier,” Trump is their ally.
He’s literally the only one championing progress.
If their motivation is policy-driven, then the RNC’s ads should reflect it.
Two: AI appeals to young voters who’ve been alienated by the mainstream culture.
We know AI users tend to be young. According to Pew Research, over 30% of 18- to 49-year-olds use AI daily, compared to 19% of 50- to 64-year-olds, and a mere 7% of those 65+.
AI is a business and educational tool, but it’s also a form of entertainment. It’s plausible that one of the things that drives young users to AI platforms is dissatisfaction with their other entertainment options. Consequently, they consume a different information diet.
They’re likely to be young people who’ve rejected Woke ideology. They don’t like what the mainstream media is selling.
If their motivation is cultural alienation, the RNC should focus on those themes.
Three: Optimism and excitement about disruptive technology match Trump’s personality and ethos.
When one side sees AI as something that has a 10% chance of human extinction and the other sees dollar signs, natural-born optimists will follow the dollar signs. Trump’s AI messaging is almost entirely positive: AI will make us rich, we’ll beat the Chinese, and a glorious Golden Age is right around the corner.
Meanwhile, the Democrats are terrified of their own shadow: AI will kill us all! Data centers must be stopped! Our planet is doomed! Waah!
Well, no wonder these voters are siding with Trump: He’s the only sane person in politics.
(Plus, it could also be that daily AI users — who clearly find the technology useful enough for repeated use — are also most aware of its limitations. What nonusers find scary, they find mundane. For them, the tech has been so thoroughly demystified, the idea of an AI Armageddon is preposterous.)
If their motivation is optimism and an appeal to sanity, the RNC should tailor its messaging appropriately.
Because right now, this is just an interesting, unexpected cluster of Trump supporters — full of people who may or may not vote on Election Day. But with the right push, it could be much more than that.
It could be a new class of Republican voters.
Once we determine what their motivation is, we can streamline our messaging appropriately and capture the demo. They’re all sitting there, waiting to be activated — on just a handful of platforms!
It’s a yuuuuge class, too: 25% of American adults use AI every day. That’s approximately 67,440,877 people 18 and older.
And 55% of ‘em support Trump!
RNC: You’ve got a lot of work to do — and you’re running out of time.