President Trump speaking at a Make America Great Again rally. Photo: Nicholas Kamm/AFP via Getty Images
A new academic study finds that Trump voters' anxiety was driven more by fear of what may come than by anger over the past, according to a New York Times account by Niraj Chokshi that shot to #1 on the site's Most Popular list.
The big picture: Economic anxiety was cited as a reason why Trump voters supported him despite any misgivings or doubts they had about him, but this study suggests that may not have been the case.
- "A study published on Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences [suggests that w]hite, Christian and male voters ... turned to Mr. Trump because they felt their status was at risk" and they felt "a growing sense of racial or global threat."
- "The study is not the first to cast doubt on the prevailing economic anxiety theory."
- "[T]he findings revealed a fear that American global dominance was in danger, a belief that benefited Mr. Trump and the Republican Party."
Be smart: The trends feared by Trump voters have only accelerated, adding to his hold on a base that has stayed rock stable.