How Trump defines a ‘real’ American

Donald Trump has recently doubled down on his derogatory depictions of undocumented migrants in his bid to win the 2024 presidential election. In an interview with Time magazine, published on April 30, 2024, Trump referred to migrants as “criminals”, who “come in and they steal our jobs, and steal our wealth, and they steal our country.”

Trump was especially disparaging towards migrants from China, who he said are a “major force that’s forming in our country.” In short, according to Trump, undocumented migration is “an invasion of our country.”

Trump’s recent anti-migrant rhetoric is particularly inflammatory, but it is not new. It has been Trump’s calling card since he entered the political fray. For example, in his first speech announcing his candidacy for the 2016 presidency, Trump infamously referred to Mexican migrants saying, they are “bringing drugs, they are bringing crime and they are rapists.”

Why does Trump use this kind of negative rhetoric to refer to migrants? Because it works as an electoral strategy. It has been especially successful in cultivating support from Trump’s core voting base: white, working-class Americans.

A recent aggregate analysis of leading polls shows Trump 13.7 percentage points ahead of Biden among white voters. This electoral advantage is even greater among white Americans without college degrees, among whom 60% prefer Trump. So, while many observers have noted Trump’s recent gains with black and Hispanic voters as a key dynamic to watch in the 2024 election, his support remains firmly rooted in white America.

How has a billionaire from New York City managed to cultivate such strong support among working-class Americans? This has been a question many have asked since Trump’s win in