Boomers Are Out in Power at Anti-Trump Protests. Why Is That?

I used to be trying via images from the anti-Trump and anti-DOGE protests throughout the US over the weekend, and I could not assist however discover one thing: There certain was a whole lot of grey hair.

That struck me as totally different from what I keep in mind about latest protests of the previous — like Black Lives Matter and Israel/Gaza protests, the place youthful individuals appeared to be main the cost.

I am apparently not the one one that’s seen. On r/50501, one of many Reddit boards for organizing the weekend’s protests, somebody posted, “We actually acquired handy it to the boomers.”

“I noticed three fairly giant protests right this moment round the place I lived,” the particular person stated. “Guess who confirmed up and gave the most important show of help? Boomers.”

My colleague Lakshmi Varanasi flagged one thing related lately, too. She reported on two “Tesla takedown” protests final month in Michigan:

I seen that the crowds in Ann Arbor and Troy have been primarily individuals over the age of 65, white, and retired from jobs that trusted public funding as lecturers, professors at native universities, and social employees.

Enterprise Insider reporters who checked out this previous weekend’s protests from areas across the nation additionally seen an analogous pattern: “Many stated they have been most frightened in regards to the financial system and their retirement investments, which have dwindled in tandem with Trump’s tariff bulletins.”

Anecdotally, I’ve seen one thing to this impact within the suburbs of New York Metropolis the place I reside — the small smatterings of protests on the town squares during the last month or two appear to be largely made of ladies over 60. (This may occasionally should do with the general age demographics of the suburbs, so I did not learn an excessive amount of into it.)

Nonetheless, I’ve a number of theories as to why so many boomers are exhibiting as much as protest.

The primary is that child boomers (who’re typically 61 to 79 years previous) are both at or close to retirement age. They’re essentially the most involved with the destiny of Social Safety and their retirement portfolios. These two issues have been thrown into chaos. Elon Musk has referred to Social Safety as “the most important Ponzi scheme,” though he is additionally stated legitimate recipients may get extra advantages as soon as he is executed rooting out waste.

And the brand new tariffs have despatched the inventory market right into a nosedive during the last week, which may damage the retirement accounts of people who find themselves really retired. If costs on all types of stuff rise, that additionally hurts retirees on a hard and fast revenue. Take into account, plenty of boomers love Temu.

However let’s be trustworthy: A 65-year-old Trump voter who checked out their funding account in dismay on Friday wasn’t going to resolve to point out as much as the anti-Trump protests on Saturday. Child boomers, like all era, aren’t a monolith. (Boomers voted equally for Kamala Harris and Donald Trump within the 2024 election.) And the individuals who attend a protest have most likely held the identical political orientation for many years. This is not a case the place the previous few weeks have radicalized and altered the minds of all boomers.

But I do suppose it is doable that latest occasions activated some sleeper cells — older Democrats who had stayed residence for the coed Gaza demonstrations or the 2020 Black Lives Matter marches.

I requested Robert Cohen, professor of historical past and social research at NYU whose work focuses on the historical past of protest actions, for his tackle all of this. He warned towards making any sweeping generalizations.

Cohen acknowledged that child boomers who had lived via — or participated in — the protest actions of the ’60s and ’70s might, in truth, have a barely totally different perspective and rationale for the anti-Trump protests right this moment.

“What does ‘Make America Nice Once more’ imply? It means America minus the social adjustments of the ’60s,” Cohen stated.

Think about a few of the issues boomers take delight of their era pushing for: civil rights, ladies’s rights, environmental causes — they could really feel an urgency to return to the rescue of these issues being beneath risk.

A era that attended live shows for Reside Assist, the Live performance for Bangladesh, and made a Christmas music with the lyrics “Do they know it is Christmastime in any respect?” might need a distinct perspective in regards to the implications of pulling USAID out of growing nations the place a part of its work was addressing world starvation.

Folks over 65 are essentially the most dependable voting bloc, and which may be significant right here.

“It is actually tougher for [politicians] to dismiss them each as a result of they vote extra, but additionally as a result of they have been round, and it is not like some sort of a youthful exuberance,” Cohen stated.

I ought to as soon as once more give a disclaimer that any sweeping generalization about generations is at all times going to return up quick. (Trump himself is a boomer, in any case.) And all of my proof in regards to the age demographic of demonstrators this weekend is solely anecdotal.

But when our picture of a protester from the previous few years was of a teenager with blue hair, maybe we have to replace to a retiree in capri pants and a “world’s greatest grandma” shirt.