Trump’s African Americans? Racial resentment and Black support for Trump in the 2020 elections

Abstract

The juxtaposition of the 2016 and 2020 elections reveals that despite articulating prejudiced positions as a candidate and then as president, Donald Trump broadened his support among minorities. Particularly perplexing is the fact that support for Trump grew among African Americans. We propose a counterintuitive explanation: racial resentment among Blacks accounted for Trump’s increased support. Our highly robust results motivate a reevaluation of standard understandings of the role of race in American politics writ large and in American elections more specifically. Blacks show considerably more variance in voting behavior than what would be expected given accounts focused on their linked fate; Blacks behave not just in the mold of Stacey Abrams, but more than commonly thought also in the mold of Clarence Thomas. As racially resentful Blacks reside disproportionately in certain swing states, our account portrays Blacks as citizens with political agency, who may be pivotal in determining election outcomes, sometimes in unexpected ways.