The guy that we all know to brag about his wealth has been under the fire for his rhetoric with working class voters. Trump’s rhetoric so far in the election with working class has been racially charged and highly nativistic. Trump has been targeting what he believes to be the working class as only white males, when the working class consists of far more than that. Today, the dynamics of our working class includes not only whites but important voters of the working class also include African Americans and immigrants. Trump’s entire campaign represents the economic despair and r
acial anxiety that are felt by white working class men. His rhetoric has been completely against minorities arguing that Mexican immigrants are criminals and rapists and suggesting that there should be a temporary ban on Muslim immigration.
Because Trump has narrowed his view on who the working class actually is, this in a way could help the working class votes for the Democratic Party. During Obama’s speech during a rally in Philadelphia, while Clinton was recovering from pneumonia, he questions working class supporters on letting someone like Donald Trump become the next “champion”of our county. “This is a guy who spent 70 years on this earth showing no concern for working people. He spent most of his life trying to stay far away from working people. He wasn’t going to let you on his golf course,” Obama said. According to Obama, he describes Trump as a fake-working class hero. It will be interesting to see in the future how or if Trump will change his rhetoric to gain more of the working class vote.
Image: https://www.theodysseyonline.com/12-trump-cartoons-smile
I think the important idea that the working class is a diverse group of individuals (
rather than just white men) is important to think about when thinking about Trump filled headlines saying he has the support of the working class, because as you explained- the working class is so much more than that and I think that comments he’s made will pull him further and further away from the other part of the working population.
I don’t necessarily agree that Trump is only trying to target the white working class, but I do think his attempts to target black working class voters have been pitiful. He repeats his talking points on “inner cities” as if all working class blacks live in inner cities, and he uses talking points like “what do you have to lose.” But you could actually be right, maybe these comments are just a half-effort at best, and he isn’t really even interested in targeting any working class voters other than the white ones.