The Significance of the Distrust in the U.S's 2020 Elections Results

The extremely polarized 2020 presidential election in the U.S. was an event we all knew would be filled with controversy. With two candidates that held strong animosity for one another and supporters who held, even more, it was clear that this election would not be without problems. Even before the winner was declared, many conservatives began to spread the notion that there was a conspiracy against Donald Trump and that votes were being tampered with. When Joe Biden was officially said to be the winner on Nov. 7th, these beliefs only got stronger and have become increasingly popular among certain conservative groups. What started out as a fringe belief in the early days of the elections has now snowballed into a prominent theory that 53 percent of Republicans agree with to at least some extent, according to a new Reuters\Ipsos opinion poll. This same poll found that 3 percent of Democrats and 25 percent of all Americans also agreed with the idea of a rigged election. If just a little over half of Republicans and a quarter of Americans believe that the presidential election was illegitimate and that we currently have a president in office who did not fairly win, what does it say about the American political system? 

Even before the winner was declared, many conservatives began to spread the notion that there was a conspiracy against Donald Trump and that votes were being tampered with. (Rebecca Blackwell | AP)

This may signify a larger problem that has been brewing within the U.S. for decades that only intensified in the past few years. While independent audits and verifications of the election results have already happened several times and have repeatedly confirmed Biden’s victory, this does nothing to settle the distrust and frustration many are feeling. While anybody could have guessed that Donald Trump was not going to simply accept a loss and move on without creating some sort of controversy, the idea that a sizable number of Americans would back him up was not something many people expected. It seems as if this sentiment is more about rejecting certain elements of the American political system than it is about actually rejecting Biden. It's more about standing behind Trump than it is about rejecting Biden. What is meant by this is that Biden could be replaced with almost any other institutional Democrat and the widespread disbelief in the results would still exist. While many Democrats were motivated to vote for Biden by their strong disapproval of Trump, the same was not true of Republicans. There were many who were strongly against Biden, but most were not motivated to vote for Trump solely because of the same specificity that many Democrats’ anti-Trump stance did. So, why do the majority of Republicans think that Trump won the election? Why do they cling to the idea that the U.S. government would falsify an election? Why are they so convinced that Trump is an outsider fighting against an institution that is conspiring against him?

The answer may lie in the connection Trump built with a group that felt abandoned by a party that once supported them. Many southerners voted Democrat for decades after the Civil War but began to switch in the middle of the twentieth century. While many did this because of the Republican party's stance on Civil Rights and their opposition to it, there was the additional motivation of the promise of financial improvement for a group that struggled with poverty. Republicans promised tax cuts and more jobs. These people needed a quick fix to the residual issues they were left with, and Republicans appeared to have just that. Although much of the Republican platform focused on boosting big businesses and corporations, the party successfully convinced these people that they were on their side. Southerners, especially white working-class ones, were pulled away from the Democratic party out of fear that it would exacerbate their financial instability and bought into the trickle-down narrative of the Reagan era. They believed that the Republican party would restore the south, both socially and economically. This trend was brewing long before Regan’s presidency, but he managed to solidify it. In 1976, most southern states were won by Democratic presidential candidate Jimmy Carter, but by the 1980 election, they were almost all red. Reagan represented the American dream for southerners; their idea of American capitalistic success once again seemed possible. This idea spread to other working-class areas of the U.S., such as the Rust Belt. By the time the Bush election came along, it was a widely-held conviction. The Republican party has heavily relied on this to garner support for government positions.

So, what does this have to do with Trump? This demographic of conservatives continued to vote for the Republican candidate every election for this same reason. Many began to think critically about why they had left the Democrats, and if their choice had benefited them at all. People began to point out how the Democratic party became institutionally focused and did not properly advocate for those it claimed to. Their criticisms of the liberals stemmed from their feelings of betrayal and their desire to find a party who would advocate for them. However, the conservative platform with policies like regressive tax reform obviously does not help these people. Trump managed to find his niche by blending the rhetoric most Republicans support with Democratic populism. He marketed himself as someone who was fundamentally for these people, specifically white working-and middle-class people, and who was an ‘outsider’ to the institutional two-party system. By appealing to the conservative mainstream platform and creating a sense of unitedness, he garnered the majority of the party’s support and created a following who believed they had finally found a politician tailored to them. The ‘Trumpism’ that developed in the past four years sucked in many who felt like it was their last hope to be represented. 

How do Democrats reclaim the white working class? It would first begin with an admittance that they have failed them. The Democratic party has let Republicans convince these people they are the best option and largely ignored them in their advocacy. It would then require grassroots work and educating these people about the policies that would benefit them, such as progressive tax policies and universal healthcare. This would take a while, but it would be worth it as we could finally create an actual people’s party in the United States. If we don’t, the U.S. will only become more politically polarized and no real progress will be made. This will help undo the damage that Trumpism and the negligence of institutional Democrats have done. Our parties need to actually become for the people and not manipulate the people into thinking they are.