Putting a billionaire back in the White House, and hoping that he would solve the economic woes of the working class, never made sense, but that is exactly what white working-class voters did in the 2024 presidential election.
Trump immediately took office and demonstrated why this was not a good idea, as within a few months, he launched a trade war and declared that inflation had been fixed, even though it definitely had not.
Most voters, when they are forced to choose between what is happening in their own finances or the sales pitch of a politician, will go with their own experiences.
The economy is an issue that Trump has not been able to gaslight his way out of. Trump keeps telling the American people that his economy is great, but people go to the grocery store, and they see otherwise.
The backbone of voters who sent Trump back to the White House were white working-class voters. Trump has been able to play into their resentments and anger for a decade.
Trump won working-class voters by 34 points in 2024. In that same election, House Republicans won working-class voters by 33 points. All of these advantages are now gone.
