Many of the viewers and audience members of the 2016 Teen Choice Awards may not be able to cast their votes for president of the United States this November, but that doesn’t mean they don't care. Hosts Victoria Justice and John Cena had the teens in the audience and at home tweet for their choice of presidential candidate in the upcoming election, and Hillary Clinton won Choice President at the Teen Choice Awards, which is a prize that I think should be taken seriously.
Even though teens under the age of 18 can’t vote yet, they still care about what is happening in their country and what will happen in the future. And if you can acknowledge that, you shouldn't be surprised to see that when given this chance to vote for the 2016 presidential nominees, they chose Clinton over Donald Trump. As reported by The Atlantic, the current "young generation" tends to lean left — a trend also supported by data gathered by the Pew Research Center in 2015. It makes complete sense that left-leaning or progressive teenagers would align themselves with a candidate that is more progressive than the GOP pick, Donald Trump, even if they can’t vote for Clinton in the actual election. The teens have spoken, and they want to see Clinton in the White House.
Something interesting to consider with Clinton's Teen Choice win is whether social media may have played a role. Teens are very active on social media, which means they are very likely to see the incendiary comments and tweets that Trump makes and posts, and perhaps they have a more minute-to-minute grasp on his online messages than older voters who don’t use social media as often do.
This is just a guess on my part, but clearly, something made Clinton resonate more with Teen Choice voters than Trump. Whatever their exact reasons, the teens were able to cast a vote for our next president and though it may not affect the election, I'm sure Clinton will be glad to see that the youth of America wants her to become President this November.
Image: Giphy
