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.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
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.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Starbucks workers are planning their ‘biggest strike’ everThe Explainer The union said 92% of its members voted to strike
-
‘These wouldn’t be playgrounds for billionaires’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
The 5 best nuclear war movies of all timeThe Week Recommends ‘A House of Dynamite’ reanimates a dormant cinematic genre for our new age of atomic insecurity
-
Has Zohran Mamdani shown the Democrats how to win again?Today’s Big Question New York City mayoral election touted as victory for left-wing populists but moderate centrist wins elsewhere present more complex path for Democratic Party
-
Senate votes to kill Trump’s Brazil tariffSpeed Read Five Senate Republicans joined the Democrats in rebuking Trump’s import tax
-
Border Patrol gets scrutiny in court, gains power in ICESpeed Read Half of the new ICE directors are reportedly from DHS’s more aggressive Customs and Border Protection branch
-
Shutdown stalemate nears key pain pointsSpeed Read A federal employee union called for the Democrats to to stand down four weeks into the government standoff
-
Trump vows new tariffs on Canada over Reagan adspeed read The ad that offended the president has Ronald Reagan explaining why import taxes hurt the economy
-
NY attorney general asks public for ICE raid footageSpeed Read Rep. Dan Goldman claims ICE wrongly detained four US citizens in the Canal Street raid and held them for a whole day without charges
-
Trump’s huge ballroom to replace razed East WingSpeed Read The White House’s east wing is being torn down amid ballroom construction
-
Trump expands boat strikes to Pacific, killing 5 moreSpeed Read The US military destroyed two more alleged drug smuggling boats in international waters