White fear elected Trump: Political scientist Diana Mutz on the "status threat" hypothesis

[workinclasszero]

White fear elected Trump: Political scientist Diana Mutz on the "status threat" hypothesis
"Economic anxiety" had nothing to do with the 2016 election, study finds. White people felt they were under threat
CHAUNCEY DEVEGA MAY 7, 2018 9:00AM (UTC)

Bad ideas have a life all their own. Speaking last Saturday at a rally in Washington Township, Michigan, Donald Trump was in rare form. He worked his audience into a fever pitch with threats to shut down the government and punish the Democrats and his other enemies. He spread more irrational fear about a "caravan" of "illegal immigrants" who will somehow "invade" America. He grossly exaggerated his policy successes, which is nothing new, and in ominous tones targeted "Hispanics" in one of his tirades, to which his almost uniformly white audience responded with a mix of boos and disdainful silence.

Despite the news media's obsession with the "white working class" and its purported "economic anxiety," that did not seem to be the prime motivating factor for Trump's supporters at this rally. The median household income in Washington Township is almost $80,000 a year; average household income there is more than $100,000. Both amounts are higher than the respective national averages. Like most Trump voters, those attending his rally were motivated by other factors, which hardly need to be spelled out.

The evidence that racism, sexism and nativism motivated Trump's voters is overwhelming.

https://www.salon.com/2018/05/07/white-fear-elected-trump-political-scientist-diana-mutz-on-the-status-threat-hypothesis/

[BumRushDaShow]

1. This exactly

I believe that some who were truly into him for "economics" are realizing that it ain't coming and we will find them fading away back to the obscurity that they had originally been in (and will eventually refuse to talk to reporters anymore). Meanwhile his rabid, foaming-at-the-mouth "base" is not being "stoked" on "economics". They are being fed and marinated in pure hate against "other".

[workinclasszero]

3. Yeah it's all about

white supremacy for sure.

[lunasun]

2. K&R

Trump's supporters at this rally. The median household income in Washington Township is almost $80,000 a year; average household income there is more than $100,000. Both amounts are higher than the respective national averages. Like most Trump voters, those attending his rally were motivated by other factors, which hardly need to be spelled out.

[Gothmog]

4. Trump supporters are racist ignorant deplorables

They fear losing status and so voted for this asshole