Deconstructing the Trump Appeal
Why Poor White People Can’t Quit Donald Trump (Pt. 1)
The art of the con
Donald Trump’s relationship with his supporters is not that of politician and constituent. Countless other Republican politicians are now peddling policy agendas virtually indistinguishable from Trump’s, and in some cases even more “Trumpian.”
Nor does it fit the mold of salesman and customer. Any product failing to deliver promised results as consistently as Trump did over the course of four years would have been abandoned long ago by customers no matter how persistent the salesman.
Largely poor or working class and white, Trump’s most fervent supporters appear to have little in common with the New York tabloid star who built a paper tiger business “empire” with inherited money, so the attachment isn’t one of familiarity.
Poor white Americans’ seemingly confounding devotion to Trump begins to make much more sense when viewed through a different lens: con artist and mark. He gives them fast talk; they hand him money. He sells a dream; they buy in with their faith, labor, and more money. He incites their latent fears and insecurities; they storm the Capitol to install him as dictator, some ultimately paying with their freedom or their lives. And more money.
