… The most noteworthy aspect of Trump’s economic speech may have been that he adopted many of the tax ideas of congressional Republicans and the Chamber of Commerce wing of the G.O.P. and that he actually had surprisingly little new to say to struggling wage earners. … Still, Trump has broken enough with the Paul Ryan wing of the G.O.P. to suggest that his appeal might have something to do with his economic policies, as muddled as they may be.
In addition, Trump returned this week to the issue that first endeared him to many Republicans: he attacked Obama as somehow foreign and anti-American. … Trump’s birtherism and then his embrace by a loud neo-white-supremacist movement led many to argue that his appeal was not much more complicated than old-fashioned racism.
On Friday, a researcher with Gallup brought some much-needed data and clarity to this debate. Jonathan Rothwell, an economist who drew on eighty-seven thousand interviews in the organization’s polling database, expected to find that Trump’s strongest base of support existed in areas of America adversely affected by international free-trade agreements and lax immigration policy. He made a surprising discovery. CONT.
Ryan Lizza, The New Yorker