No. of Recommendations: 1
I'm merely argueing that Trump is a fraud who isn't actually 'on their side.' He merely panders to their concerns because it's extremely profitable.
I think, though, that this is also a problem that Democrats have in structuring their coalition. This belief that motivation matters.
I frequently saw lots of justifications of the IRA that ran like this. That the Democrats should have got more credit for the IRA because it was "intended" to help the working class, or was "targeting" the working class, or was "designed" to help the working class - all while recognizing that most of the stuff that the IRA was eventually going to do hadn't actually started happening yet to any great degree. Or that Biden should have gotten more credit for being a very enthusiastic supporters of unions generally, that he walked a picket line.
But those specific things didn't actually translate into any material benefits during his term. It doesn't matter if the IRA was "designed" to help working class voters, if it didn't actually help working class voters (at least over the time frame relevant to the election).
I don't think MAGA supporters care whether Trump is doing what they want out of sincere belief or because he's pandering to them - what matters is whether he's doing what they want. Trump might indeed still be a closet supporter of abortion rights....but the evangelicals got their conservative justices. Trump might not actually care about whether higher levels of immigration suppress worker pay at the lower end....but he genuinely wants to restrict immigration. Etc.
