… “Trump’s supporters are distinctive in their unique combination of anti-expertise, anti-elitism, and pro-nationalist sentiments,” political scientists J. Eric Oliver and Wendy Rahn write in the Annals of the American Association of Political and Social Science. “Trump’s supporters are also distinctive in their high levels of conspiratorial thinking, nativism, and […] Read more »
Win or lose, Trumpism may be here to stay in the GOP
The latest shake-up in Donald Trump’s presidential campaign has jolted the Republican establishment out of denial to a new realization: Whatever happens to their nominee in November, Trumpism may well endure as a source of ferment in their party. Until this week, it had been possible for party elders to […] Read more »
Understanding the Trump Voter
Yes, Donald Trump has fallen behind in the national polls. All of them. But here’s a number you don’t hear enough: 41 percent of voters are still supporting him. Four out of every 10 people. Who are they, exactly? In the latest episode of The Run-Up, we spoke with a […] Read more »
What we learned about Trump’s supporters this week
… 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 […] Read more »
Is Trump Wrecking Both Parties?
… You can look at the populist insurgency spearheaded by Donald Trump as either a corrective or a threat to mainstream Republican orthodoxy. On the threat side, Trump has exploited a racist and authoritarian vein in American politics. On the corrective side, Trump has tapped into and exploited the inadequacy […] Read more »
Donald Trump May Break the Mold, but He Fits a Pattern, Too
… Historians see in Mr. Trump’s candidacy the winding together of different strains in reactionary politics under a single banner. No reality television star has run for president before, but Mr. Trump, with his grasp of the art of notoriety, has forebears of a kind in General MacArthur and Charles […] Read more »