Quote:
Originally Posted by Resolute 14
As noted, Trump's victory was rooted in identity politics.
And no, Trump did not win because people pointed out how Trump was running a campaign that catered to racism, bigotry and sexism. Trump won because - exactly as happened in the UK with Brexit - we all underestimated how pervasive racism, bigotry and sexism still is.
The leave vote in the UK and the Trump vote in the US were both led by two groups: the elderly - who are largely conservative to begin with, who generally wish things were like they used to be and will be dead before the fallout is felt anyway - and the uneducated. Trump outperformed in some other key areas (educated whites being one, I believe), but it was those two groups that really paved the way to victory.
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I agree with you that everyone underestimated just how pervasive Trump's views were and how many closet Trumpists there are.
Not sure I agree that the results were due largely to uneducated whites though. Didn't the exit polls show over 75% of whites (period) voted for Trump?
Similar to how we underestimated how pervasive racism and sexist beliefs are, it may also be a time to accept that the majority of whites in the US still hold dangerous views which align with Trump no?