President-elect Donald Trump claimed during a Dec. 16 press conference at his Mar-a-Lago residence that he won the youth vote by 34 points in the 2024 presidential election.

President Trump is asked about the ban on TikTok:

“I have a warm spot in my heart for TikTok because I won youth by 34 points!”

Video via @margomartin pic.twitter.com/yOD4znVlBL

— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) December 16, 2024

Verdict: False

Both data and comments from two polling experts indicate that 2024 Democratic nominee Vice President Kamala Harris won the vote over Trump among 18-29-year-olds.

Fact Check:

During the same press conference, Trump said “the government knows what is happening” in regards to recent drone sightings in multiple states, including New Jersey, but “[does not] want to comment,” according to Reuters.

Following a question about a potential TikTok ban in the U.S., Trump claimed he won the youth vote by 34 points in the 2024 presidential election.

“I have a warm spot in my heart for TikTok because I won [the] youth [vote] by 34 points!” Trump said.

The claim is false as data shows that Harris won the youth vote, not Trump. Tufts University’s Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE) found that Harris led Trump among voters ages 18-29 at 51% to 47%. A further breakdown of the data indicates that 58% of female voters ages 18-29 supported Harris in 2024, while 41% supported Trump.

Female support of the Democratic Party in 2024 slightly decreased from 2020, when 65% of women ages 18-29 supported President Joe Biden, while 33% supported Trump. Looking at males ages 18-29, 42% supported Harris in 2024, while 56% supported Trump. These numbers also slightly differ from 2020, when 56% of men ages 18-29 supported Biden, while 41% supported Trump.

42% of voters ages 18-29 cast ballots in the 2024 presidential election, compared to an estimated more than 50% who cast ballots in 2020. Voter turnout among 18-29-year-olds in 2024 was “approximately on par with the 2016 presidential election,” the same data shows. In addition, 18-29-year-olds cast 14% of all ballots in the 2024 election compared to 17% in 2020 and 19% in 2016, CIRCLE indicated, citing the National Election Pool exit poll conducted by Edison Research.

Looking at young voters by race, Trump fared the best with young white voters, receiving 54% of the vote compared to Harris’ 44%.

Furthermore, although Harris led with young voters overall, more young voters were likely to identify as Republicans in 2024 (39%) versus 2020 (30%), according to the same data. (RELATED: Michael Bennet Claims SALT Benefits The ‘Wealthiest People’)

NBC News reported  Nov. 7 that exit poll shows Trump improved with young male and female voters in 2024. Trump beat Harris by two percentage points among young men in 2024, whereas Biden beat Trump by 11 percentage points among the same demographic in 2020. Additionally, Harris’ lead over Trump among young women shrunk to 24 points, while Biden maintained a 35-point lead over Trump among the same demographic in 2020.

Additionally, Trump “picked up a larger proportion of voters under 30 than any Republican presidential candidate since 2008,” the outlet reported. The same exit polls from NBC News showed that the economy was young voters’ top issue in the 2024 election, with 78% choosing Trump over Harris (21%).

Although Trump gained support among young voters, Harris won the vote among 18-29-year-olds by 11 points, Forbes reported, citing exit polls from CNN. CNN’s exit polls show 54% of 18-29-year-old voters supported Harris, while 43% supported Trump.

Dr. Samara Klar, a polling and American elections expert at the University of Arizona’s School of Government and Public Policy, said Harris “won every age bracket under 40,” according to exit polls.

“Exit polls show that Harris won every age bracket under 40. The precise point-advantages are difficult to know from exit polls but most analyses show that voters under 30 favored Harris by somewhere between 4 and 8 percentage points,” Klar said.

Rob Farbman, executive vice president at Edison Research, also indicated that Harris won the vote among 18-29-year-olds.

“According to the Edison Research exit poll conducted for the National Election Pool, Kamala Harris won the 18-24 vote 54% to 43%. The split among 18-29 voters was the same: 54% Harris and 43% Trump,” Farbman said.