Maybe the alt-right is correct

Alt-rightists often argue against large scale immigration from Latin America.  They worry that these immigrants will not share our Anglo-Saxon love of freedom, and will instead support authoritarian, populist demagogues, just as they do at home.

Tyler Cowen presents the results of a recent NPR/PBS poll that measures support for Trump:

African-American approval: 11%

White approval: 40%

Latino approval: 50%

So if I read this correctly, the alt-right is saying that we should not let in Latin American immigrants because once they get to America they might support  . . .  alt-right candidates?

(Do I have to say that I’m joking?)

Meanwhile, Politico reports that:

Across three surveys of eligible voters from 2016 to 2018, we found that as many as half of all Americans do not know that [Trump] was born into a very wealthy family.

So much for the view that Trump’s lies are harmless because people don’t believe him:

Throughout his life, the president has downplayed the role his father, real estate developer Fred Trump, played in his success, claiming it was “limited to a small loan of $1 million.” That isn’t true, of course: A comprehensive New York Times investigation last year estimated that over the course of his lifetime, the younger Trump received more than $413 million in today’s dollars from his father. While this exact figure was not known before the Times’ report, it was a matter of record that by the mid-1980s, Trump had been loaned at least $14 million by his father, was loaned at least $3.5 million more in 1990, had borrowed several more million against his inheritance in the 1990s after many of his ventures failed, and had benefited enormously from his father’s political connections and co-signing on loans early in his career as a builder. . . .

Using a 2017 University of Maryland Critical Issues Poll, we found that believing Trump was not born “very wealthy” leads to at least a 5-percentage-point boost in the president’s job approval, even after considering the many factors that can influence public approval ratings. This shift is rooted in the belief that his humble roots make Trump both more empathetic (he “feels my pain”), and more skilled at business (he is self-made and couldn’t have climbed to such heights without real business know-how).

In retrospect, Hillary ran the wrong campaign.  She should have run non-stop commercials portraying Trump as the spoiled son of a very rich New Yorker, who was given everything he needed in life and has contempt for average Americans.  At the very least, the public would have understood that he was handed great wealth on a silver platter, even if he did add to that wealth.  How much he added is hard to say, as he also lies about his own wealth.


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9 Responses to “Maybe the alt-right is correct”

  1. Gravatar of Benjamin Cole Benjamin Cole
    20. January 2019 at 21:06

    Forgotten today farm activist and labor organizer Cesar Chavez wanted to close the border with Mexico in terms of labor inflows.

  2. Gravatar of E. Harding E. Harding
    20. January 2019 at 21:40

    10 million Latinos voted in 2018. Sample size of this poll is like ten.

    Blumpf is about as far from an alt-right president as one can get.

    Instead of this stupid post, do one on how Congress seems to have no idea that Rusal sanctions and aluminum tariffs have basically the same economic impact.

  3. Gravatar of Patrick R Sullivan Patrick R Sullivan
    21. January 2019 at 08:16

    ‘In retrospect, Hillary ran the wrong campaign. She should have run non-stop commercials portraying Trump as the spoiled son of a very rich New Yorker, who was given everything he needed in life and has contempt for average Americans.’

    Oh yeah, that would have worked great, coming from Ms Deplorables, who had everything she has handed to her by her husband.

  4. Gravatar of Becky Hargrove Becky Hargrove
    21. January 2019 at 08:36

    Patrick,
    If I recall correctly, Hillary’s family was more wealthy than her husband’s family. And by the time the two met, they were already of a similar social standing.

  5. Gravatar of Patrick R Sullivan Patrick R Sullivan
    21. January 2019 at 15:36

    I’m not talking about wealth, Becky (though the Clinton millions are a result of Bill’s ability to extort money from rich foreigners).

  6. Gravatar of Lorenzo from Oz Lorenzo from Oz
    21. January 2019 at 17:17

    The 2016 election was between the wife of a former President and a wealthy demagogue. How much more Latin American can you get?

  7. Gravatar of Chris Chris
    22. January 2019 at 06:58

    I’ve heard speculation that the reason Trump doesn’t want anyone to see his tax returns is that it would reveal how little wealth he actually has.

  8. Gravatar of Scott Sumner Scott Sumner
    22. January 2019 at 11:49

    Lorenzo, Good point.

    Chris, That’s probably one of the reasons, but not the only one.

  9. Gravatar of Christian List Christian List
    23. January 2019 at 02:27

    Make the 2020 election between a Socialist and an immigrant from Austria and it’s Weimar all over again. (Or California).

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