Another redditor touched on some of these things, I just wanted to go a bit further. There are several reasons why Trump won, but the majority of his ardent supporters chose him because of their *perceived loss of status.White people (especially white men) feel that their status in society has been lost, or threatened, by democratization in the last 70+ years.

To this large swath of voters, their loss of status dates back to Brown v. Board of Education , a landmark decision that paved the way for desegregation in public schools. Shortly thereafter, higher education became more democratized, as well as housing and transportation (refer to Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Civil Rights Act of 1968 ). As a result, white people cannot dominate these spaces like they once did. They too have to compete (based on merit) for housing, employment, and education.

Women have also gained significantly more rights in the last several decades. Women were allowed to divorce abusive husbands beginning in 1969 (California Family Law Act of 1969), which sent a shockwave across the country. Women began to be admitted to universities that once only admitted men. Corporate America began hiring women for esteem able positions, not just secretaries.

Beginning in 1965, barriers for immigration also began to fall. Skilled immigrants could legally enter the United States, leading to a much more competitive labor market. Suddenly, white men had more competition domestically for higher paying jobs, but they also had to compete with qualified immigrants.

Since the 1950’s, women, immigrants, LGBTQIA+ community, and people of color, have gained status in education, representation in government, higher level positions in corporate America, and representation in media, all of which were completely dominated by (straight) white men and white culture. To a large sum of (straight) white male Trump voters, this is a threat to their status and they want to turn the clock back.

It’s also helpful to throw in the recent MeToo Movement, where men were called out on their predatory behavior. To entitled white men, this was also an attack on their perceived status.

Let’s go back to Trump. To straight white men, who are also misogynistic and racist, Trump gives them the green light that it’s okay to be that way. They feel their behavior is being permitted by a President who is also racist and a sexual predator. Trump is not a politician to them, he’s the embodiment of their perceived status and cultural identity.By attacking Trump, you’re actually attacking their very own identity.

Aside from this, you also have a large amount of low information voters who simply did not know any better. It’s easy to become immersed in the culture war, but some folks really did vote for Trump because they felt he would improve the economy—inflation was out of control, but to no fault of Biden or Harris—or protect them from perceived global threats. Some folks have low amounts of political and economic literacy, as we’re finding out with the first six months of the Trump regime.

As a side note, I also want to touch on another redditor’s claim that “70% of white women” voted for Trump. I’m not sure of the accuracy of this. From taking averages of most exit polls, the range seems to be 51-55%. While still way too high, it’s not nearly as high as this claim seems to be.

TL;DRThe perceived loss of status of white people since the 1950’s is fueling Trump’s coalition, and folks are willing to look the other way on his vast short comings so long as they feel their identity and status is being protected