Who, exactly, is voting for Donald Trump?

Even pollsters are baffled by who, exactly, is supporting Donald Trump. The real estate mogul has risen to the top of GOP polls in recent weeks, earning the support of 17 percent of Republican voters. Thing is, while the rise of Trump supporters is pretty clear, it's hazy where these supporters are from and who they are. "It's a strange coalition of people," Patrick Murray of Monmouth University told Politico. "We can't pin them down demographically. ... It appears he's cherry-picked individual voters."

As Politico puts it, "The Trump coalition looks a lot like the rest of the Republican Party." It might skew more white and more male, but not notably so. A recent Monmouth University poll reveals, if anything, Trump supporters tend to simply be "middle Americans." "They're in the middle of the Republican Party. They're not evangelicals. They're not hardline social or fiscal conservatives. They're also not on the liberal side of the party," Murray explained.

So then, what's driving Trump's appeal? Trump's New Hampshire co-chairman, Steve Stepanek, says it can be broken down into two things: "The issues that are driving the average Trump voter are, first and foremost, that he's not a politician. Secondly, he is self-funding his campaign, so he can't be bought." For people tired of Washington spin, they like that Trump simply says what's on his mind.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up