Who Actually Supports Donald Trump?

The rabble-rouser is beating the party elite at its own game: Donald Trump is dominating the Republican primary campaign despite inconsistent performance in the debates. He has delivered hardly any details about his potential policies — and that pleases his followers.

Donald Trump dominates the polls among Republicans in the primary race for the office of U.S. president — and he is actually extending his lead. All hopes by the GOP establishment that Trump will suddenly vanish from the political scene just as quickly as he appeared have been put to rest. The multibillionaire is changing the primary race with his brutal style. But who are Trump’s supporters, who apparently overlook each of his pompous performances and each of his sexist remarks, which none of his opponents would have survived politically?

It is common among his followers to see Trump as an outsider to the political system, someone who is no more swayed by lobbyists than by the party elite in Washington. Trump is already considered to be an unabashed, authentic, self-made man, who turned himself into a billionaire by his own doing, and therefore can finance his own election campaign — and to eventually run the U.S. like a company. In a seemingly bygone manner, he represents the American dream, which is why people want to emulate him, thinks Rayna Gangi, who recently praised Trump along with 30,000 other supporters at an appearance in Mobile, Alabama. “Among the participants there were seniors and youth, blacks and whites, also many people with Asian and Latin American backgrounds,” says Gangi excitedly. “What united everyone was the hope that Trump will turn everything upside-down and save the Republicans.”*

Trump Bridges the Lost Connection between the Party Leadership and Its Base

Trump is very effective at bridging the large gap that has formed between the Republican Party elite and traditional voters, the gap of people who are all united in their rejection of the Washington political caste, which they believe has only lied to them and deceived them. That Trump’s most important opponent, Jeb Bush, is an established member of that caste is not exactly detrimental to Trump’s cause. Even in a television debate, in which Trump acted less convincing and had generally little to offer in his answers to technical policy questions, Bush was unable to be completely convincing.

According to the most recent surveys by the Republican-leaning Fox network, working class white Americans currently favor Trump. Thirty percent of them want to send him into the race for the highest office in the land; among those who have a university degree, that number is 21 percent. According to surveys by CNN, the New York businessman is particularly favored by 50+ year old traditional supporters of the Republican Party. Supporters are entrusting Trump to bring back the good old times, which seemingly vanished for many Americans through all the cycles of economic crises and globalization.

The most up-to-date polls from this Tuesday, commissioned by The New York Times and CBS, indicate that 39 percent of Republican supporters believe Trump has the best shot at winning the presidential election — in August, it was only 26 percent.

The demise of the working class in America over the past few decades was not only an economic one — people regret losing their position in the middle class of society, and now actually fear losing their sidelined place on the edge of society due to a strong influx of immigrants. These are the strings that Trump is pulling. His tirades are addressed to the “silent majority” of voters. Richard Nixon once addressed this presumably under-represented group in his 1968 election campaign.

The radical tea party, which has changed the face of the Republican Party since 2009, also plays a particular role. Its supporters celebrate Trump just as much as evangelical Christians do. It’s exactly Trump’s lack of political experience that gives him the advantage in these voter groups.

In any case, his followers naturally do not focus on what he lacks, but on what he evidently has — success and experience as a businessman. The economy is obviously one of Trump’s central themes, whereas in other political realms, he shies away from exact answers. He unites the voter base under the slogan “Make America Great Again.” With a provocateur as president, the country will be powerful and mighty once again. The promise to build a fence on the Mexican border hits a nerve with both moderate Republicans and tea party supporters.

‘Americans Have Had Enough of Political Correctness’

Michael Moon, the Republican party leader in Michigan, explains Trump’s success as such: “The Americans have had enough of ‘political correctness.’ There is just too much of it.” Trump makes clear that there are more important things than being politically correct, such as the state of the nation. “He simply doesn’t have a filter like the other politicians. He says what he means and doesn’t give a damn if he offends someone.”*

That’s how it’s come to be that a money guru has successfully established himself as the voice of protest in an already very populist and shrill primary campaign. “Many candidates’ answers to pressing questions have been same since the 1950s. Trump lets them have it in the debates,”* says Moon.

Despite everything, most analysts in the U.S. believe that the chances of Trump winning the primary are not very high. An election is a marathon, not a sprint, or so it goes. Trump still has a year to fall back in the polls due to any faux pas, such as when he insinuated that moderator Megyn Kelly was having menstruation problems after a round of questions. This went too far, even for many Republicans. Another major disadvantage for Trump is his overwhelming temperament and tremendous ego. Even among Republicans, the opinion on him is split — and something that a candidate surely needs for success is a united party behind him.

*Editor’s note: These quotes, although accurately translated, could not be independently verified.