It appears to some that Donald Trump is a populist. He is many things, but he is not a populist. Populists look out for ordinary people and care about working men and women. Donald Trump is a demagogue who uses fear and anxiety to convince people his way is right. This is not populism, it's propaganda. The true roots of populism in the U.S started taking shape in the early 1890s and continued to grow until about 1912.
Populism started with workers and farmers joining together to promote themselves, not the corporatists and the elitist that controlled businesses. The populists became popular in working and rural areas. The major populist political parties were the Populist Party and the Democratic party, although the latter had more ideological divides.
Populism after 1912 merged with progressivism in a sense. Woodrow Wilson and F.D.R had many populist attributes that went over well, especially for Roosevelt, with working-class people, a demographic modern Democrats can't seem to win. Democrats today have moved from the left to the center-right and it has only hurt them. This has opened a new world for Republican "populists" such as Trump.
This opening has been utilized in a large part by Republicans like Trump to tear what remains of the working-class vote away from a Democratic Party that they truthfully call elitist. This has worked well and will continue to harm Democrats in the future unless something is done and soon.
The other issue is that Donald Trump and Republicans appeal to the working class, though they absolutely have no appeal. Even as they mock the increasingly elitist Democrats, the Republicans still have no merit. They are, in fact, much worse. They've been controlled by elites longer than the Democrats and have no issue with it. They only enjoy the support that they don't deserve because of harsh and unfair rhetoric and when they get in office they enact a social-conservative agenda that alienates a majority of the country on many issues. Now that is not populism.
The ordinary man is the root of populism and the root of Donald Trump and the Republican party's victory in November. This, however, doesn't mean populism is the ideology of Donald Trump. Quite contrary; populism uses the working man as its champion and Trump used them as a way to use fear and lies to accomplish what he and other GOP elitists wanted - control.
It appears to some that Donald Trump is a populist. He is many things, but he is not a populist. Populists look out for ordinary people and care about working men and women. Donald Trump is a demagogue who uses fear and anxiety to convince people his way is right. This is not populism, it's propaganda. The true roots of populism in the U.S started taking shape in the early 1890s and continued to grow until about 1912.
Populism started with workers and farmers joining together to promote themselves, not the corporatists and the elitist that controlled businesses. The populists became popular in working and rural areas. The major populist political parties were the Populist Party and the Democratic party, although the latter had more ideological divides.
Populism after 1912 merged with progressivism in a sense. Woodrow Wilson and F.D.R had many populist attributes that went over well, especially for Roosevelt, with working-class people, a demographic modern Democrats can't seem to win. Democrats today have moved from the left to the center-right and it has only hurt them. This has opened a new world for Republican "populists" such as Trump.
This opening has been utilized in a large part by Republicans like Trump to tear what remains of the working-class vote away from a Democratic Party that they truthfully call elitist. This has worked well and will continue to harm Democrats in the future unless something is done and soon.
The other issue is that Donald Trump and Republicans appeal to the working class, though they absolutely have no appeal. Even as they mock the increasingly elitist Democrats, the Republicans still have no merit. They are, in fact, much worse. They've been controlled by elites longer than the Democrats and have no issue with it. They only enjoy the support that they don't deserve because of harsh and unfair rhetoric and when they get in office they enact a social-conservative agenda that alienates a majority of the country on many issues. Now that is not populism.
The ordinary man is the root of populism and the root of Donald Trump and the Republican party's victory in November. This, however, doesn't mean populism is the ideology of Donald Trump. Quite contrary; populism uses the working man as its champion and Trump used them as a way to use fear and lies to accomplish what he and other GOP elitists wanted - control.
It appears to some that Donald Trump is a populist. He is many things, but he is not a populist. Populists look out for ordinary people and care about working men and women. Donald Trump is a demagogue who uses fear and anxiety to convince people his way is right. This is not populism, it's propaganda. The true roots of populism in the U.S started taking shape in the early 1890s and continued to grow until about 1912.
Populism started with workers and farmers joining together to promote themselves, not the corporatists and the elitist that controlled businesses. The populists became popular in working and rural areas. The major populist political parties were the Populist Party and the Democratic party, although the latter had more ideological divides.
Populism after 1912 merged with progressivism in a sense. Woodrow Wilson and F.D.R had many populist attributes that went over well, especially for Roosevelt, with working-class people, a demographic modern Democrats can't seem to win. Democrats today have moved from the left to the center-right and it has only hurt them. This has opened a new world for Republican "populists" such as Trump.
This opening has been utilized in a large part by Republicans like Trump to tear what remains of the working-class vote away from a Democratic Party that they truthfully call elitist. This has worked well and will continue to harm Democrats in the future unless something is done and soon.
The other issue is that Donald Trump and Republicans appeal to the working class, though they absolutely have no appeal. Even as they mock the increasingly elitist Democrats, the Republicans still have no merit. They are, in fact, much worse. They've been controlled by elites longer than the Democrats and have no issue with it. They only enjoy the support that they don't deserve because of harsh and unfair rhetoric and when they get in office they enact a social-conservative agenda that alienates a majority of the country on many issues. Now that is not populism.
The ordinary man is the root of populism and the root of Donald Trump and the Republican party's victory in November. This, however, doesn't mean populism is the ideology of Donald Trump. Quite contrary; populism uses the working man as its champion and Trump used them as a way to use fear and lies to accomplish what he and other GOP elitists wanted - control.
