Gen Z has the opportunity to decide 2024, but Biden and Trump make us want to sit out.

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In a piece I published this spring, I wrote about how I am unwilling to vote for either President Joe Biden or former President Donald Trump. While I stand by that column, I feel it is important to continue to discuss the problem that disaffected voters like me are a symptom of.

Because I am not alone in my dissatisfaction with the two candidates.

Though we lean in favor of Biden, Generation Z has a large portion of voters who are undecided or apathetic about voting in this election. Less than half of those ages 18-29 say they will “definitely vote” this year, down from 57% of respondents in 2020.

While Gen Z, born between 1997 to 2012, has become a substantially larger voting bloc, with 8 million aging into the electorate over the past four years, enthusiasm is undeniably down.

Gen Z has an opportunity to decide an election, but we are wasting it. But the problem isn’t only our growing apathy. Just 37% of younger voters say they are “satisfied” with the candidates they have to choose from in this election. We're realizing we don't want to vote if we don't support who's running.

TOPSHOT - (COMBO) This combination of pictures created on September 29, 2020 shows US President Donald Trump (L) and Democratic Presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden squaring off during the first presidential debate at the Case Western Reserve University and Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio on September 29, 2020. (Photo by JIM WATSON and SAUL LOEB / AFP) (Photo by JIM WATSONSAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)

Gen Z still leans a little to President Biden

In the latest Harvard Youth Poll, a survey that monitors Gen Z attitudes on a variety of issues, Biden leads with 45% support, compared with Trump’s 37%.

Among Gen Z likely voters, Biden’s support balloons to 56%, whereas Trump’s remains the same. Notably, this poll marks a significant boost for Trump since the 2023 year-end edition, in which he trailed by double-digit margins among Gen Z.

Plus, Biden has a growing problem with us.

Biden losing Gen Z?: Why are Gen Z voters souring on Biden? I decided to ask them about that frustration.

Many in Gen Z have fully drank the Kool-Aid on the anti-Israel movement. Biden’s supposed “unwavering” support for Israel amid its war against Hamas terrorists in Gaza poses a unique problem for him.

Gen Z is the most anti-Israel generation in our country, with 49% believing there is a genocide happening in Gaza, and 28% supporting an immediate cease-fire, more than any other generation for each category.

Interestingly, Gen Z has apparently begun trust Trump more than Biden on the handling of the conflict in the Middle East (although “neither” is the far and away leader in that polling), despite the fact that Trump has said that Israel must “finish what they started.”

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Another glaring issue for Biden is the economy and inflation, an issue that is repeatedly listed as the No. 1 issue for Gen Z in polling, an issue that Gen Z trusts Trump with.

While the inflation rate has fallen in recent months, Biden still shoulders the blame for prices being higher than they were four years ago.

Gen Z is left without direction from political leaders

When candidates’ personalities are a bigger issue than their policy, and when trust on major issues is split between the two parties, Gen Z is left without direction. We are politically homeless, with conservative youth pushing the party further toward populism and liberal youth pushing further toward a systematic “revolution.” We recognize the need for change, but the two parties are pushing us further away from their target base with their own decision-making.

The good news for both Democrats and Republicans is that our vote remains up for grabs. The bad news for Americans is that they are realizing this and turning into full-fledged pandering machines to harness our vote.

Biden has chosen to uproot our nation's entire foreign policy for the sake of appeasing a bunch of bratty Columbia undergrads, whereas Trump has softened his ever-changing position on abortion because protecting life “doesn’t poll well.”

I'm a young conservative: Republicans can't follow Trump's lead on abortion. He flip-flops too much.

Despite these sudden radical actions from candidates, I don’t see it being enough for Gen Z to overwhelmingly come to the support of either candidate. Our concerns about either candidate are unlikely to be overcome at this point in an election cycle, and our somberness about another election between two men born in the 1940s is likely to be loud in November.

Younger voters are rapidly becoming America's largest voting bloc, with the power to influence elections at the national scale. For 2024, however, we're being asked to choose between Trump or Biden, and many will opt to not make a choice at all.

It's frustrating for my generation to have such an influential and involved voice but a lack of quality candidates.

Dace Potas
Dace Potas

Dace Potas is an Opinion fellow for USA TODAY. A graduate from DePaul University with a degree in political science, he's also president of the Lone Conservative, the largest conservative student-run publication in the country.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Who will Gen Z vote for in 2024? We dislike Biden and Trump.