A commuter sits as members of the group Patriot Front ride the metro on the 250th anniversary of U.S. independence on the Fourth of July in Washington, D.C., U.S., July 4, 2026. REUTERS Cheney Orr
Survey researcher Ronald L. Hirsch says President Donald Trump has “failed to deliver on almost all the promises he made to his white working-class and rural base during the 2016 and 2024 election campaigns.” So why are they with him?
“Prices are not lower, they are higher. He has not brought jobs back to the U.S. His tariffs have been a disaster for farmers. He has taken many actions that have helped the rich, but precious few that have benefited the average person,” Hirsch said in the Fulcrum. And because of that, many people — both Republicans and others who swung their vote to him in 2024 — have left him. His approval rating has dropped to a record low of 37 percent.”
But that core base of 37 percent is sticking with Trump no matter what, and since they’re not voting with their pocketbooks, Hirsch said there’s really voting for certain things Trump did manage to deliver.
“The one thing that Trump has delivered as promised is an administration that targets illegal immigrants and has eliminated DEI programs — both within the government and all organizations that receive government funding — programs that provide the poor, people of color, and women a more equal opportunity to pursue their right to life, liberty, and happiness,” said Hirsch. “His Defense Secretary has gone against ‘wokeness’ with a vengeance, firing or not promoting many top military commanders who are people of color or women.
In short, Hirsch said Trump managed to deliver on his promises to make the country “more White-friendly and more male-oriented.” He’s also delivered on “culture war matters such as trans rights and abortion rights.”
“A survey of Trump voters (both Republican and swing) found that 37 percent self-identify as racist,” reports Hirsch. “Thirty-seven percent of Republican Trump voters also support ‘deporting as many illegal immigrants as possible by whatever means;’ the rest support deportations but with restrictions.”
Additionally, Hirsch said 59 percent of Republican Trump voters think DEI programs are “illegal” and count as “racial discrimination.”
“So it is not unreasonable to argue that the core 37 percent of Americans that continue to support Trump does so because he has delivered on his anti-immigration, anti-equal opportunity for all, White supremacist, and nativist promises,” said Hirsch, adding that “the foundation for their fervent support is more likely that they are scared of being overrun” by an immigrant invasion and “empowered people of color.”
And Trump has clearly used his demagoguery to “heighten this fear and has taken many actions in an attempt to prevent that from happening,” he added.
This brand of destructive thinking comes from fear, he assured, and the only way to calm something like that is to “create a counter-presence to Trump that gives the people a positive reason” to vote against him. A party must gain this fearful contingent’s support and loyalty by speaking “to the people … as everyday people who understand both what the average person is confronting in his/her life and what will make America greater and the people more prosperous and equal than ever before.”