Trump’s popularity with his base isn’t the result of economic anxiety, as many claimed in 2016. It’s about race and demographics.

TO UNDERSTAND THE rise of Donald Trump, you don’t need to go to a diner in the Midwest or read “Hillbilly Elegy,” J.D. Vance’s memoir.

You just need to know these basic facts:

In 1980, white people accounted for about 80 percent of the U.S. population.

In 2024, white people account for about 58 percent of the U.S. population.

Trump appeals to white people gripped by demographic hysteria. Especially older white people who grew up when white people represented a much larger share of the population. They fear becoming a minority.

  • Nougat@fedia.io
    21·
    1 month ago

    I want to go on the record on the side of “Yes, people without kids are absolutely capable of caring about education.”

    But I also wanted to offer a correction:

    Is this limited to people with kids going to that specific school?

    School boards are for the school district, which is obviously composed of many elementary schools, junior highs, high schools. Without speaking for every school district in the country, I would expect that school board members would need to be residents of the district.

    • jmp242
      2·
      1 month ago

      Heh. I grew up rural, the school was the district. Thanks for the info.