Donald Trump and the White Working Class

Exit poll data for the 2020 election show, as they did in 2016, that Donald Trump was very popular among working class (i.e., no college degree) whites, particularly white men.¹ The question is, why? At first blush, working class whites would seem to have little in common with Trump. By most standards President Trump, a wealthy city-slicker with an Ivy League education, would be considered elitist by the working class. What could he possibly offer ordinary white folks? In this essay, I attempt to answer that question.

To begin, it's necessary to understand the perspective of the working class white male. More aptly, it's necessary to understand that many in this group are aggrieved. And, their grievances are not wholly unfounded. About 30-40 years ago, a working class male could have status, respect, and make a decent living—even make enough to send his children to college—if he was willing to sweat, work his tail off every day, and could do good work with his hands. However, the status of people working in many of these careers has dwindled, many of the jobs have been shipped overseas or lost to technology, and the wages have been stagnant for 60 years.

During this same time period, however, the United States economy has ballooned, with huge gains in GDP per person and record-shattering stock market prices. But the farmers, mechanics, carpenters, warehouse workers, and factory workers of America haven't felt an ounce of this growth. By all economic indicators, the U.S. is richer than it has ever been, but this group of people is seeing almost no change in income and a downgrade in perceived status.

Now, to that we might say, "Hey, boys: Pull yourselves up by your bootstraps. Get a college degree and compete in the modern economy." Unfortunately, this is unrealistic. Not everyone can go to college. There are financial and skill-based exclusionary criteria (e.g., GPA, SAT scores). Moreover, not everyone is gifted enough at academics to get something out of college that will yield impactful career results. Sending people to college when it won't improve their career saddles the working population with massive college debt. Meanwhile, the U.S. has millions of people—of all colors and backgrounds—who are skilled with their hands and passionate about hard work. The modern U.S. economy offers very little to people who do not have the ability to get a degree in economics or law, but who are nonetheless willing to work their tail off every day. What are these people—people who are watching their livelihoods and their family's future disappearing right in front of them—to do?

Now, let's return to the key question. What did Trump, the born-rich New Yorker with an Ivy League education, offer these folks? One answer is that he offered them respect and dignity. At a bare minimum, Trump at least pretended to pay attention to their grievances. He told them that they should be proud of their background and willingness to work hard. Even if this group of people found a great deal of Trump's behavior unruly, at least they felt they had his respect.

Which brings me to an important point: What alternative did this group of people have? What did the political Left offer working class white men? While some will protest that what I am about to say is an unfair characterization of the Left, one can understand why many working class white men would perceive that the Left's message was that they should feel guilty for their white male privilege. Hillary Clinton went so far as to call (at least half of) them deplorable. My point here is not to deny the existence of white or male privilege, nor is it to deny the existence of racists, sexists, and homophobics. Rather, my point is that there may be relatively little in the political Left's messaging that is appealing to white working class men.

Ultimately then, it should not be so surprising that working class white men have overwhelmingly supported Trump in consecutive election cycles. Even if neither Trump nor the Left has offered this group enough of a tangible way to improve their lives (to be fair, Trump did promise and bring manufacturing and mining jobs back to the U.S., just not as many as he hoped), Trump offered something psychological. All people—regardless of race, sex, or any other demographic—want to feel respect and some modicum of status. Trump repeatedly and consistently offered this group respect and status. Many on the Left offered them degradation. If Democrats hope to win over this group—and I have no insight into their strategic intentions—they will have to offer more.

Footnote

¹ I am using the term working class here because that is the term popularly used by the media. However, this group is perhaps better categorized as middle-class in terms of income; it is neither rich nor poor, with a median income of around $70,000 per year.