'Mourning and shame': Sociologist explains the Trump ritual that his supporters — and critics — fall for

When the late country singer and Kentucky native Loretta Lynn recorded her major hit "Coal Miner's Daughter" in 1969 — long before JD Vance wrote "Hillbilly Elegy" — she detailed the hardships of Appalachian life but also celebrated the spirit of the people she grew up with (including her father, who really was a coal miner). Many years later, Appalachia still has a great deal of poverty. Yet residents of the area that Lynn vividly described 56 years ago voted for Donald Trump in huge numbers in 2016, 2020 and 2024 — and quite a few remain loyal to him describe draconian cutbacks to safety-net programs.

Sociologist Arlie Russell Hochschild has studied rural Eastern Kentucky, and she discussed the area's loyalty to Trump during an interview with the New York Times' David Leonhardt for the podcast "The Opinions."

During the interview, posted on June 16, Leonhardt noted, "He’s shutting down government agencies and his bill that he’s trying to pass through Congress would cut taxes for the rich while taking away health insurance from the middle class and poor. And yet millions of Donald Trump supporters continue to stand strongly by him."

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Trump, Hochschild emphasized, gave residents of rural Kentucky a "story" that resonated with them.

Hochschild told Leonhardt, "It involves kind of a mourning and shame. And that created a setup for Donald Trump to direct feelings of loss and shame into anger. When he came to Kentucky's Fifth, he came with policies and he came with a story. As for the policies, his first term brought them nothing. But he also brought a story, and that was a story about how to shape feelings into rage. I think he did this through a four-moment, anti-shaming ritual. The Democratic half of America reads one half of the ritual, and I think the Republican half of America reads the second part of the ritual."

Hochschild described the hold Trump continues to have on residents of Eastern Kentucky — even when his economic policies hurt them.

"Moment 1, in that ritual: Donald Trump says something transgressive, like, Haitian immigrants are eating your pet cats and dogs," Hochschild told Leonhardt. "Moment 2: the punditry shames him. Moment 3: Donald Trump becomes the victim of the shamers. 'Oh, look how they’re looking down at me'…. So he's the victim. He’s the Christ-like figure of taking your shame away, carrying it himself. And Moment 4: very un-Christlike, he is the retribution and the revenge at the shamers."

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Hochschild continued, "I feel like the Democratic half of America has been listening to moment 1, the transgressive statement, and 2, the shaming, and thinks the story ends there. But the Republican half of America hears the taking of the shame and the retribution."

The sociologist warned against treating Trump supporters like pariahs.

Hochschild told Leonhardt, "I don't think there is some iron law of history that is unfolding and this is the era of autocracy and nothing to be done. No. I think what we learn is that there are a lot of failed efforts to establish fascism, and it all depended on what people did and how effectively people of conscience mobilize themselves…. If the left continues to shun and castigate, and separate itself from the white, blue-collar class then I think we could slide further in the direction of autocracy. Because whatever the policies, these voters are following the story and the emotional payoff of that anti-shaming ritual."

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Listen to the full interview or read the transcript at this New York Times link (subscription required).