As the counting of votes in key battleground states continues in the United States, exit polls published by the New York Times have predicted that across the nation, white women may be showing more support for Donald Trump than they did in 2016.
The exits polls conducted by Edison Research for the National Election Pool, show that 55 per cent of white women surveyed after voting indicated they gave their vote to Donald Trump. That number is up from 52 per cent in 2016. 43 per cent of white women surveyed said they voted for Joe Biden.
According to the New York Times, these exit polls interviewed voters outside of polling places on election day, or at early voting sites, or by phone to account for mail-in voters. The exits polls published were based on interviews with 15,590 voters.
Meanwhile, the exit polls predict that black women voted overwhelmingly for Joe Biden, at 91 per cent of those surveyed. 8 per cent indicated they voted for Trump, up from 4 per cent in 2016.
52% of white women voted for Trump in 2016 and New York Times exit polls predict this to be 55% in 2020.https://t.co/MzMCq1pQPA pic.twitter.com/GENBWKKonX
— Seyi Akiwowo (@seyiakiwowo) November 4, 2020
In the case of black men, nearly one fifth (18 per cent) voted for Trump. 80 per cent said they voted for Biden.
Among Latino voters, Trump performed well, with 28 per cent of women indicating they voted for Trump, up from 25 per cent in 2016. 70 per cent of Latino women said they voted for Biden.
Overall, 57 per cent of white voters, women and men, said they voted for Trump, compared to 12 per cent of black voters and 32 per cent of Hispanic and Latino voters. Biden only narrowly built on Hillary Clinton’s advantage among women from 2016.
If the exit polls are any indication, Trump *gained* support among white women. I’ll withhold full judgement till the final numbers come in, but 🤡🙃🤡
— Jessica Valenti (@JessicaValenti) November 4, 2020
It’s important to note here that these exits polls have a nation-wide focus, and the presidency is won or lost on a state by state basis. The exit polls merely give an indication of how the nation voted as a whole. While the race to the presidency remains tight, it’s clear the Democrats did not achieve the landslide victory they were hoping for.