The underlying principle of this faith, shared by Democrats and never-Trump Republicans, was simple: Trump is a fraud, and eventually people are going to realize this. For the most part, those who believed Trump was a fraud have not changed their mind. Surprisingly, however, some of them still retain hope at this late date that something will make scales fall from Trump supporters’ eyes so that they will realize it too. [...]
There are many things that Trump seems not to understand, but he clearly has a strong grasp on using populist grievance as a political tool. In fact, the president’s remarks illuminate how his particular brand of populism works. Trump trades on cultural and economic grievances, and he uses his own status to prove his credibility. During the GOP primary, for example, he turned his past donations to politicians, including Hillary Clinton, from a weakness into an asset, saying it showed how corrupt the campaign-finance system was. [...]
The nice homes and nice boats Trump conjured in Fargo might seem to be at odds with cultural and economic grievance, but that misunderstands who really voted for Trump. Contrary to the superficial glosses that have circulated since November 2016, most members of the white-working class actually voted for Hillary Clinton, according to a poll by The Atlantic and the Public Religion Research Institute. The truly poor voted for the Democrat. The people who voted for Trump are not those with no economic status—it is those who are worried they could lose the status they already hold. [...]
This voter sees Trump sneering at elites and he appreciates that the president shares his disdain. Nor does Trump’s invocation of his own luxury apartment alienate him. After all, Trump has never made a secret of his wealth. In fact, he’s spent most of his career inflating it. Liberal pundits sometimes argue that poorer voters support Republicans whose policies enrich the wealthy because they hope to someday join the ranks of the wealthy. That may be a factor here, but there’s another dimension, too: The elites may look down on the heartlanders, either in reality or in the minds of the heartlanders, but Trump looks down on the elites. Just as when Trump bragged that he had bought politicians with his campaign donations, he’s better off than these people, so he has special credibility to criticize them.
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