Generation X has finally had their big political moment. After years of watching their generational bookends, Baby Boomers and Millennials, decide the fate of the country, Gen X stepped up big in 2024 to send Donald Trump back to the White House.

Gen X is defined as those who were born between 1965 and 1980, which makes them pre-retirement voters who are extremely interested in how the economy is faring. They're also witnessing the struggles of their adult children to thrive in a country that seems more interested in pandering to the pronoun crowd than setting up its citizens for success.

Here's a bit more about the "latchkey kids" of Generation X:

Generation X also has been called the “baby bust” generation, because its members were born when the high birth rates of the baby boomer decades declined (attributed in part to the introduction of the birth control pill, which first went on the market in the early 1960s). It has fewer members than the baby boomer generation that precedes it and the Gen Y and Gen Z (meaning those born during the late 1990s and early 2000s) generations that follow it. This is one of the reasons that Generation X is considered to be forgotten or overlooked when generations are discussed.

Because of its small size, Gen X hasn't traditionally been a powerful or, let's face it, sought-after voting bloc. Even worse, its generation's presidential hopefuls, like Marco Rubio, Nikki Haley, and Ted Cruz, have failed to make it out of the primaries, losing out to Boomers like Donald Trump. But, hey, that's the situation Gen X has continually found themselves in over the course of their lives. They're used to being overlooked.

All of that changed this year, with Gen Xers like Elon Musk and Joe Rogan throwing their support behind Donald Trump and his, of course, Millennial running mate, JD Vance. Musk and Rogan, like many Xers, remember an analog world where people were civil to each other and seemed to be alarmed to find themselves in 2024 with a world on the brink due to leftists having too much influence on public policy and discourse. They saw Trump as the only choice to turn things around.

Musk and Rogan weren't alone. Check it out:

This is fascinating. Any hot takes on why Gen X decided the election? https://t.co/ONhg2HR8ft pic.twitter.com/eVw20W84Az

— David Zweig (@davidzweig) November 6, 2024

It's a bit hard to see all the numbers in that tweet; here's what exit polling showed for 2024 voters aged 45-64:

Harris – 45%

Trump – 53%

This is a dramatic increase from 2020, where the same age group favored Trump over Joe Biden by only +1 percent. Younger generations, of which a big part of Gen X would've been four years ago, favored Biden. So, what's to account for the swing toward Trump?

Let's see what Gen Xers themselves had to say via X/Twitter:

Reason #1: "We just wanted to be left alone, but they had to piss us off completely."

Reason #2: "You're welcome. Cleaning up Boomers' messes is our lot in life."

Reason #3: "We know better than anyone what Trump means when Trump says Make America Great Again. We watched it crumble before our very eyes."

This poster nailed it: 

Gen X has 3 rules: 

1: Don't lie to me or about me

2: Don't mess with my family, friends or people I care about.

3: Don't mess with my possessions or ability to care of my family by interfering with my ability to earn money.

The woke left violated all three rules in less than a year of having control. We were forced to deal with it for 4 years. "Enough is enough". We fought back.

It seems pretty clear: The left *bleeped* around and found out. The left was allowed to continue unchecked for so long that they thought silence was approval. They went too far, and Gen X fought back. Though they be small, Xers proved they are mighty ... when they want to be. 

Whether Gen X now becomes a prized voting bloc remains to be seen, but, for now, the latchkey kids are reveling in their moment.

The most Gen-X thing the American voter could do was to elect Trump.

Think about it. The theme song for Tuesday might well have been Joan Jett’s “Bad Reputation”. Great to be part of this!@LarryOConnor @JGunlock @dbongino @KurtSchlichter

— James Carsner (@james_carsner75) November 7, 2024