With all of the rightful analyses by Democrats in the aftermath of Donald Trump’s victory, there’s been an area of confusion among liberal commentators about why Trump, in each of his presidential campaigns, has managed to carve out an increasingly diverse and multiracial coalition. Some explained Trump as being part of a “whitelash” after the presidency of Barack Obama, who Trump himself levied racist conspiracy theories against in 2016. This narrative feels less tenable now with the reality of who Trump supporters increasingly are after three cycles at the top of the Republican ticket. I believe a core aspect of why Trump’s racism seems to have failed to hurt him comes down to how his statements are actually worded and fit into his MAGA nationalism.
Trump came to prominence in 2016 with fear-mongering about Mexican immigrants, stating that Mexico was sending drug dealers, criminals, and rapists — but also some good people. A leaked phone call in 2017 showed him threatening to use U.S. troops to “take care” of “bad hombres.” Most recently, his rally in Madison Square Garden featured an extensive amount of racist remarks by participants, most notably a joke by comedian Tony Hinchcliffe about Puerto Rico being a “floating island of garbage.” The joke faced a huge backlash from Puerto Rican celebrities, which led to many endorsing Harris.
But in the end, Harris lost ground with Latinos by double digits in every swing state except for Wisconsin and Georgia, when compared to Biden in 2020. NBC exit polls showed the economy and cost of living were the key issues cited by voters, and Trump was heavily favored on both these issues. That itself is a sufficient explanation of why people supported Trump, but why did his racism, proposals of mass deportation, and revocation of citizenship not dent his support?
Rather, he seems to have grown more popular than ever. A recent Emerson College poll found that as of Nov. 26, 2024, Trump has an approval rating of 54 percent. In 2016, it was easy to dismiss Trump as another David Duke. A representative of everything crass and backward in American society that would be swept away into the dustbin of history by the tide of progressivism, but it’s clear that Trump represents something within American society. While one could suggest that this is the result of voters themselves growing, something about Trumpism has normalized itself to appeal to a broad audience.
The simple “trick” about the brand of nationalism that Trump espouses is that it’s based on an appeal to American identity through the exclusion and denigration of others. While he channels the energy of white grievance, he frames conflict not as racial but civic. Illegal immigration is an attack on America, and thus, it is in your interest as an American to oppose it regardless of your ethnicity or race.
Americans feeling squeezed by inflation and the housing crisis has led to the rise of zero-sum thinking that improvements to some must come at the expense of others. This is a ready space for populism and nativism to latch onto. It is the basis for common talking points of how immigrants are stealing jobs from Americans and taking up housing. Therefore, a mass deportation — as over half of Americans support in the abstract — would unleash wealth and prosperity for Americans according to this argument, not devastation as many economists suggest.
You cannot combat the appeal of Trump’s nationalism from dismissing it as ethnic or Christian nationalism. His base of support defies this argument. There’s no easy answer to how to break the cultural hold Trumpism has on us now, but it has to start by taking it seriously.
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