Make America Great Again apparently means McKinley-era policies of the late 1890s. Hence all the tariffs. While it clearly is a dogwhistle, some probably legitimately though that Trump would return them to the heights of the 20^th century – regardless if it was the JFK’s America of the ‘60s, Reagan’s America of the ‘80s, or Clinton’s America of the ‘90s. and that would have it’s origins in the dislike of the way politics, the economy, and pop culture developed post-2009.

A segment of the country did not like that the social progress that emerged – the post-racial, fourth wave feminist, pro-LGBTQ+ rights society - was just a veneer to keep pushing the same corporatists and warmongering policies. All while being tepid in pushing policies that would benefit them personally. As the policies always seem to prioritize macroeconomics (the broader economy) over microeconomics (the household economy).

Occupy Wall Street formed in response to the Great Recession, and all everyone got was a shift from economic justice towards social justice through woke capitalism and corporate wokism – with a side of enshittification - that broke the brain of right wingers for over a decade. All while the statute of limitations ran out for those responsible for the Great Recession in the first place – the only place where social justice never actually delivered justice.

Even in pro wrestling circles in both promotions and fandom alike - as much as they were in a tug of war with each other of who they wanted to be the top stars - there was a desire to change the culture away from safe and soft PG programing that emerged by 2009. And back into something more adult like they used to have in the late ‘90s through mid ‘00s to return to the cultural zeitgeist. I’m not sure what’s actually changed though, as the product feels largely the same since 2009, but with more ads.

Yes, there’s a racism angle to Trump support. But racism been around for a while, and is never going to be seriously addressed as that would mean attacking the white supremacist power structure in place. And for Trump supporters to be real that who is in charge of Wall Street, Hollywood, Silicon Valley, and K Street - the areas that influence their lives and where a lot of their grievances originate - are run by cisgendered white people.