Trump Won In 2016 Due to ‘Whitelash’ Against the First Black President

Brett T. | 11:30 PM on October 07, 2024

I haven't written about David Sirota for years, but here he is, back in my X feed. Sirota says that, like 2016, this is one of history's most winnable presidential elections for Democrats.

Like 2016, this is one of history’s most winnable presidential elections for Democrats. If they lose, Democratic leaders have nobody to blame but themselves. They have almost all of the advantages but I have seen very little evidence that they are actually trying to win.
— David Sirota (@davidsirota) October 7, 2024

Nothing did more damage to the Democratic Party than accepting the folk wisdom that Trump won in 2016 because of “whitelash” to the first black president, rather than because he sold pseudo-populism and isolationism to an economically battered and war-weary public. 2016 Redux. https://t.co/3PHXCokI3R
— Tyler Austin Harper (@Tyler_A_Harper) October 7, 2024

Mehdi Hasan decided to chime in and claim that the evidence for "whitelash" was almost indisputable.

I mean, the evidence for ‘whitelash’ over ‘economic anxiety’ is almost indisputable at this point. @zackbeauchamp
— Mehdi Hasan (@mehdirhasan) October 7, 2024

Trump is the candidate for racists. But I also think he excited a lot of his rust belt base by being both anti-Iraq + critiquing Wall Street, whereas Hillary was parsed as a neoconservative in the pocket of finance. Clinging to whitelash as the sole explanation is convenient.
— Tyler Austin Harper (@Tyler_A_Harper) October 7, 2024

I’m not dismissing the racial motivations that carried Trump’s victory. I am dismissing the idea that whitelash is the only explanation you need to understand what happened in 2016, and I’m arguing that latching on to whitelash became a way to ignore other issues/vulnerabilities.
— Tyler Austin Harper (@Tyler_A_Harper) October 7, 2024

It’s only “indisputable” if you only get your news from the Daily Show.
— Lisa eM (@TheeLisaMaree) October 7, 2024

There were no racial motivations that carried Trump's victory. He was running against Hillary Clinton, who also happens to be white, and also happens to be distinctly unlikable.