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ALGOP chair John Wahl appeared on Good Morning America Tuesday for a special segment featuring the nation’s two youngest party leaders.
GMA hosts asked Wahl, as well as North Carolina Democratic Party Chair Anderson Clayton, what they saw as top issues for young voters headed into the 2024 Presidential elections.
Wahl said inflation will be a key motivating factor for young Republicans.
“People are struggling to put food on the table; to make ends meet,” Wahl said. “That’s what I’m hearing a lot from young people.”
Wahl said foreign policy is also an important issue to young Republicans, especially witnh recent unrest in the Middle East.
“There’s been a major shift between the two parties, kind of over foreign policy recently and I think that’s something the Republicans, um— defense, but also not getting into conflicts is something that’s very appealing to young voters,” Wahl said.
When asked how the Republican party should respond to research suggesting young voters are trending liberal on issues like abortion and climate change, Wahl talked about his background as a butterfly farmer.
“With that, I care a lot about our environment; you know, that’s something I love that’s important to me,” Wahl said. “So I think better communication from the Republican Party that the Republican Party does care about conservation. We do care about the environment and we do want things to be better for the people of America, and also for our climate in general.”
He continued that Americans need to “look past global warming,” stating that carbon dioxide is a natural product and expressing concern about China and what chemicals they may be polluting the air with.
On abortion, Wahl said both parties can find consensus that “abortion is a tragedy.”
“It’s something that nobody wants to be put in that position,” Wahl said. “I think what you’re seeing from younger Republicans is the answer to that, which is compassion for both mothers, but then also understanding that there is—in the case of an unborn baby—there’s also a fundamental right and we should keep life as sacred.”
Clayton pushed back on Wahl about abortion, arguing that young people across party lines want to “have the choice” of what to do in the case of an unplanned pregnancy.
