A scene from the RNC in Milwaukee. (Andrew Harnik/Getty)
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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.
Source: twitter
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.
Generation Z is the last majority-white generation in US history, with Latinos and Hispanic people steadily increasing their representation over time. The right has weaponized this shift to stoke fears among voters who believe immigration jeopardizes their standing. These appeals were mainly aimed at white voters, but they were also successful with people of color to the extent that Trump won Latino men.
Second, Trump emphasized “law and order,” frequently calling for the reinstatement of “stop and frisk” policies and advocating for police immunity, particularly in response to protests against police brutality and incidents of “migrant crime” he sensationalized at every opportunity. These appeals were aimed at voters who view racial justice movements like Black Lives Matter as destabilizing and/or are fearful of Black and brown people. Once again, the goal was to generate hysteria around a perceived threat to an existing social order.
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Finally, Trump’s campaign focused on gender identity with crude transphobia and by portraying Harris as a radical advocate for trans causes, even as she avoided talking about them on the campaign trail. Notably, Trump blanketed the airwaves with TV ads claiming “Kamala Harris is for they/them. I am for you.” He regularly mocked transgender athletes at his rallies and vowed to “get transgender insanity the hell out of our schools, and we will keep men out of women’s sports.” Harris may have tried to avoid engaging on this issue, but Trump forced it upon her and made it seem as though she was the one playing identity politics.
The reality is that none of this was about actually improving life circumstances for Trump’s identity coalition, or anyone else for that matter. Mass deportations, for example, will disrupt key sectors like agriculture and construction where immigrants make up a significant portion of the workforce. These disruptions could increase the cost of food and housing, both of which were among the reasons Trump won in the first place.
Evidence also shows that Trump’s proposed “law and order” policies are ineffective. Stop-and-frisk policies do not reduce crime or make communities safer (neither does police immunity). Trump’s attempts to campaign as a crime-fighter were absurd for many reasons, not the least of which is that crime has actually fallen since he left office in January 2021.
Along similar lines, Trump’s talking points about the country being in the throes of an occupation by violent migrants are a dystopian fantasy. From 1850 to 2020, immigrants actually had similar or lower incarceration rates than white men born in the US. In places like Texas, where the border is a major issue, both documented and undocumented immigrants have lower rates of offenses compared to US-born individuals.
Lastly, in an era of evolving gender identity and expression, it’s important to note that despite the uproar about trans people, they make up only about one percent of the American population. Anecdotal evidence from Minnesota shows that efforts to introduce gender-neutral bathrooms have actually made students feel safer.
The panic around trans people ignores the facts. Trans people are four times more likely to be victims of violent crime and are at greater risk of experiencing sexual assault and suicidal ideation. Everything anti-trans advocates fear might happen to them and their communities is already happening — at alarming rates — to trans people. That’s why not protecting trans people opens up the floodgates for harm to be done to anyone else in the name of “safety,” including women the right does not deem sufficiently “feminine.”
Trump spoke to his coalition’s fears, not their realities. He successfully masked policies that will harm his voters with a negative brand of identity politics. He won’t solve actual problems, but he will validate grievances.
As Trump rolls out his nightmarish cabinet nominees and resumes his chaos machine method of governing, his rhetoric continues to define “American” identity in the narrowest way possible. His vow to carry out mass deportations now comes with “no price tag” and his incoming border czar is talking about arresting Democratic officials who refuse to comply. His attacks on trans people have emboldened Republicans to call for the abolition of marriage equality and to make bigoted attacks on the first transgender person to be elected to Congress.
The MAGA playbook will remain the same: dividing, conquering, and pitting one group against another. It’s a terrible way to run the country, but as Trump just demonstrated, it’s still an effective way to win elections.
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