Why did 74,216,154 Americans vote for Trump?
“You know, to just be grossly generalistic, you could put half of Trump’s supporters into what I call the basket of deplorables. Right? They’re racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamophobic — you name it.”
Hillary Clinton on September 9, 2016, at a campaign fundraising event
This statement by Hillary Clinton, reflects what many in the second camp think of most of Trump’s voters. They are racists, they are extremists, and they are not “intelligent” people. These same people broke into the United States Capitol. However, this of course is not true. So why did so many people really vote for Trump?
Well here are the main reasons why voters still support Trump.
• LOSS AVERSION Not willing to lose but refuse to win — — One of the basic assumptions is that the voter acts rationally, it turns out that this is not exactly the case. In 2002, psychologists Prof. Daniel Kahneman and Prof. Amos Tversky won the Nobel Prize in Economics for their theory known as “Prospect Theory”. Their research has shown that human beings relate to the decisions they make in terms of profit and loss. Their main conclusion was that people hate to lose more than they like to gain and so they sometimes act irrationally which makes them lose more. Several studies conducted to test this phenomenon, have found it to be correct. I mean for some voters, choosing a new government is a gamble they are not willing to take, even if the current government is not the best, at least we know it, and are willing to choose it again despite its shortcomings. No research needed to prove it; in all of American history, only six incumbent presidents have lost a second term election.
Voters do not like change.
• Social dominance theory — In the simplest way, many voters like to vote for the strongest candidate. The basic premise of many is that an exemplary woman is a weaker leader. Many Americans, of course, mistakenly assumed that it would be better for a man to face Putin rather than a woman like Hillary. A lot can be said about Trump but he certainly conveys to large sections of the population the figure of a strong leader. A study conducted in Europe among far-right voters showed that many voters supported extremist candidates because they did not want to identify themselves with weakness but with strength and power and voted for a candidate who conveyed these qualities, regardless of his views. Trump is undoubtedly a stronger “leader” than Biden is and therefore worth supporting. Biden will not be able to be “tough” with Iran or China, need a strong leader for that.
• The MAGA movement — Although many think so, Trump’s phenomenon is not unique to the US. The Tea Party Movement preceded it and many examples of similar movements that can be seen in other countries, like the The German Alternative Party (AfD) or the British Independence Party (UKIP). In almost all these cases, populist leaders have succeeded in sweeping away those voters who were less educated than the general population. Among Trump supporters, the continuation of his movement includes, for example, a cultural war against various groups in the population such as immigrants. The feel that trump it waging a war for them.
• Relative Deprivation — One of the main reasons for voting for Trump is economic. For example, for some voters, they lost their jobs to China or Mexico because of the globalization process. A process that Trump is fighting against. Trump uses America’s first rhetoric a lot and it attracts those voters. Studies have shown that large sections of the population do believe that this policy of Trump is right and justified. After all, voters do not delve into or understand the details. For them, Trump is right, or so it seems.
• Clear and immediate danger — voters are very vulnerable when they exposed to a strong sense of threat. Populist leaders understood this, by presenting existential threats to society and presenting simple solutions. The advantage of this strategy is that when the voter is threatened, he focuses only on solving that threat, and “chooses” to ignore the other problems. Trump for example presents the risk of the extreme left or socialism as a threat to the way of life in America, something that will harm the freedom and choices of many Americans. For many voters this is indeed the case. Moreover, while Trump is not a perfect leader he at least will not hurt basic American values and fight the extreme left. In the weeks, leading up to the election Fox News has repeatedly said that if Biden wins, the left in America will “take over” and they will for example going to significantly raise income tax. I do not want that to happen and therefore I vote for Trump. This is a clear and immediate danger. So many voters, Decide to choose someone who dealing with the danger.
So how do you explain a vote for Trump?
Make America Great Again is not just a successful election slogan; it is the perception of reality for many voters.
