Donald Trump’s victory in the presidential election was a stunning rebuke by the American people of the policies and leadership of the Biden-Harris administration. When paired with Republicans taking control of Congress, it represents a clear rejection of the progressive economic and cultural agenda Democrats are pushing.
Trump’s second coming relied on a new, more diverse and historic coalition of Americans who didn’t buy Vice President Kamala Harris’ middle-class credentials and found her record disqualifying.
So, what did Donald Trump offer the working class?
The answer, most simply, is dignity.
Voters were frustrated with the Biden-Harris administration’s inability to fix imminent national crises and its part in creating them. Think of the border and the Middle East.
But they were also angered by their inability to get ahead in the current economy — or make basic ends meet. They’ve worked just as hard, and under increasing government control, but prices have gone up and life has gotten harder.
Trump promised to fix what Harris had broken.
“You have been told to lower your expectations and to accept less for your families,” Trump said in his July acceptance speech in Milwaukee at the Republican National Convention. “I am here tonight with the opposite message: Your expectations are not big enough.”
Trump promised to put more money in their pockets. He offered the working class lower taxes through the extension of the Trump tax cuts. For hourly workers, he created “no taxes on tips or overtime,” a concept so enticing that Harris stole it weeks later.
Trump reminded voters of the economic stability they enjoyed during his first term, before COVID. To an electorate whose wages and take-home pay have stagnated, it wasn’t a hard sell.
Trump offered energy independence, directly taking on the climate change alarmists with “drill, baby, drill.” Voters understand the direct impact that could have on gas prices, the cost of electricity in their homes and businesses, and the reliability of their power.
Trump promised to re-shore lost American manufacturing jobs, attacking Democrats’ mandate to adopt electric vehicles.
He promised to keep his hands off Social Security. He offered the working class a chance at a better life, supporting school choice and rejecting Democrats’ elitist transgender ideology in favor of basic safety, privacy and fairness for women.
By repudiating Big Tech censorship and “cancel culture,” he told them they deserve to know how their information is being controlled.
Trump promised to give people more power over their lives and their destinies and return to the time when hard work led to the promise of the American Dream, not cradle-to-grave government dependency.
He offered them redemption, a chance to prosper on their own terms.
Kaitlyn Buss is assistant editorial page editor at The Detroit News.
