Public Notice: Trump ran on identity politics and won

[Dennis Donovan]

Public Notice - Trump ran on identity politics and won

He united voters around shared grievances, not plans to solve their problems.

Anna Gifty
Dec 04, 2024



Trump’s reelection has prompted many to wonder, How did we get here again? One under-discussed factor is the role identity politics played in his campaign.

This might sound counterintuitive. Pundits, after all, have attributed Kamala Harris’s loss to identity politics, accusing her campaign of being too “woke” — a term that refers to any position intended to specifically benefit marginalized people.

In reality, Harris went to painstaking lengths to avoid campaigning on identity issues, including downplaying the significance of her possibly becoming the first woman president. Trump, by contrast, ran a campaign that associated Harris with the outgroups his supporters are united in despising — among them migrants, trans people, and anyone who spends time thinking about their pronouns.



Trump kept his coalition together by stoking shared grievances. In this way, his presidential bid represented a type of inverted identity politics. He didn’t campaign on making life better for certain identity groups. He campaigned by mobilizing people against ones they loathe and fear.

Throughout his campaign, Trump proposed three core sets of policies that are steeped in this form of identity politics: mass deportation, law and order, and policing gender identity.

First, Trump championed stricter immigration policies, including mass deportations and completing a wall along the US-Mexico border, framing them as essential for keeping America safe and protecting jobs. These policies appealed directly to voters, both white and non-white, who view immigration as a threat to their economic and cultural status — recall Trump regularly talking about migrants purportedly “taking Black jobs.” This relentless fear-mongering was not just about security or economic concerns, but also about the reality of changing demographics.

/snip

[drmeow]

1. Exactly!

I'm so f**king tired of Democrats being accused of identity politics when Ref**klicans run on nothing but identity politics.

[happy feet]

2. Exactly!

and the worthless media continues to spread Republican Orwellian disinformation.

[Historic NY]

3. We will see he won;t take responsibility for anything again

[ColinC]

4. Its also why he didnt win by much

[Quiet Em]

5. Exactly. Harris ran on economic and kitchen table issues

The con artist ran on bigotry and cruelty.

It was never about the damn price of eggs.

[Paladin]

6. So did Hitler. (nt)

[iluvtennis]

7. KnR. n/t

[Mr.Bee]

8. Never Listen To What They Say

Check Their Record!

[Hekate]

9. But Dems are once again flagellating them/ourselves for identity politics ?

[Efilroft Sul]

10. OMG, this is what I was trying to tell people in the run-up to 11/5.

Trump ran on white male grievance while Harris was offering real solutions.

[Keepthesoulalive]

11. The republicans have run on identity politics

Since Nixon because it works.

[jalan48]

12. Identity politics works for Republicans because 75% of voters are White and that's who they target in elections.

[Blue_Tires]

13. Well obviously... That's also how he won in 2016

[Solly Mack]

14. Well, no shit.

[lees1975]

15. Trump won because his message of hate was pushed by the media 24-7 from the time he left the White House.

Every newscast featured some story about Trump. Without even doing any research, it's pretty clear that he got all the support he needed from the media who kept pushing. I'd bet that research will show he got 75% more coverage during the last four years than the President did.

Of course, this didn't change the grievances, it just kept everything up there and let him lie through his teeth. Democrats always seem to have difficulty crafting a narrative that simply communicates what they are doing. We had the most successful Presidency since Johnson, a four year period of major accomplishment, and no one knew about it, and those who did had no idea how it worked to their benefit.

We've got to figure this out instead of beating ourselves up and changing our position.