Archived version: https://archive.ph/XeqEM (But this source is really worth subscribing to if you’re in the Southland.)
Many factors explain why people across Western democracies vote for politicians like former President Trump, including economic concerns, rural resentment and racial animosity. Although Trump supporters have been characterized as “left behind,” “stigmatized” or even “marginalized,” these ascriptions are dangerously off base.
For one, they fuel the self-victimization narratives common among radical right movements, driving conspiracies and support for this ideology. Moreover, they neglect that historically powerful groups such as white people, men and Christians are overrepresented among Trump supporters. Even today, these groups remain privileged politically, economically and culturally. By objective measures, most Trump supporters are not left behind, stigmatized or marginalized.
For every Trump supporter you can find that lives in the unpopulated country in a trailer on a swamp, there are a dozen upper class spoiled brats for whom Trumpism has become core to their identity:
Throwing a little bit of anecdote behind that data, the most rabid Trump supporters in my family like to complain about “government teat” liberals while lounging on their 20+ foot boats which they launched from private docks beside their $1+ million lakeside or shoreside homes. That includes my father in law, 1 of my father’s cousins, 4 of my uncles, and the husband of my own cousin. Not even exaggerating that they all either live on the waterfront or have a waterfront vacation home, and they all have huge boats. Three of my wife’s uncles who are feverish Trumpers inherited a textile fortune from daddy and have never had to work a day of hard labor in their lives. The most rabid Trump supporter in my wife’s extended network who routinely bitches and moans about how offended she is at the idea of “white privilege”, lives on a 154 acre estate and inside a 7,550 square foot home that overlooks a private lake. She’s as die-hard a Trump supporter as they come.
I wish I were joking.
I remember hearing an interview with a guy who studied the Jan 6 insurrection. He found that the most common demographic other than white, male, and Christian was that they were a small business owner.
I mean when I see people talking to folks at the rally those folks talk about traveling around and getting to them like they don’t otherwise have to work.