Poll: 70% of Millennials Would Vote for a Socialist

Seventy percent of millennials admit that they would vote for a candidate who identifies as a socialist, according to a poll released on Monday.

A recent poll released by the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation revealed that 70 percent of millennials (defined as between the ages of 23 and 38) said that they are somewhat or extremely likely to vote for a socialist candidate.

Moreover, the poll found that 64 percent of Generation Z (between the ages between 16 and 22) also said that they are somewhat or extremely likely to vote for a socialist candidate. The poll also noted that 50 percent of millennials and 51 percent of Generation Z have a somewhat or very unfavorable view of Capitalism.

As for the older generations, 44 percent of Generation X (between the ages of 39 and 54), 36 percent of Baby Boomers (between the ages of 55 and 73), and 32 percent of the Silent Generation (ages 74 and above) also said they are somewhat or extremely likely to vote for a socialist candidate.

“Favorability of communism and Marxism is rising among millennials,” notes Monday’s poll, which adds that around one-in-three millennials view communism favorably, putting the figure up by eight points from last year. Meanwhile, favorability of Marxism is down by 6 points for Generation X from last year.

Additionally, only a little over half of millennial respondents said that they believe the Declaration of Independence better guarantees freedom and inequality over the Communist Manifesto — compared to 94 percent of the Silent Generation, who came of age during the Cold War.

The poll also revealed that 72 percent of Americans in general do not know that communism has killed less than 100 million people in the past 100 years.

A separate poll released over the summer by Chegg and College Pulse revealed candidates identifying as socialist poll highest among college students, as they prefer the more fringe candidates such as Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) over moderate Democrat alternatives.

You can follow Alana Mastrangelo on Twitter at @ARmastrangelo and on Instagram.