In many ways, Trump represents a revolt by Americans who are afraid of change. Some critics argue his support is driven solely by racism - white voters overwhelmingly supported Trump over Biden in 2020 by 58 to 41 per cent - but this doesn’t allow for other crucial factors, including poor education, religious fundamentalism and the impact of the Global Financial Crisis and Covid on the struggling middle class and America’s “forever wars” in Iraq and Afghanistan. This growing discontent and pathological mistrust of most institutions has been mirrored around the world, including in New Zealand.
Yet to outsiders, there is an even more obvious reason for Trump’s continued success. He prevails in spite of his horrific track record because America’s democracy is so deeply flawed. Voting restrictions, cynical gerrymandering of electoral boundaries and the outdated, disproportionate voting weightings for the electoral college and the Senate combine to produce a system which is skewed towards whites, rural areas and the South and denies millions of Americans a voice. Electoral reform in the US would not solve the many deep-seated problems behind Trump’s angry support base, but it would be a great start.