The election of Donald Trump caught many by surprise. What’s more, he won the White House with the type of race-baiting not seen since George Wallace’s unsuccessful campaign in the 1960s. Drawing on my prior work on the Tea Party movement, I put Trump’s victory (and the MAGA movement) in historical context, serving as a successor to the Klan of the 1920s and the John Birch Society. Trump’s rise, like the formation of other reactionary movements, was fueled by a sense of existential threat: the belief that “real American” culture is under siege. I also explore another application of threat: the threat the election of the 45 th president poses to the progress of people of color (POC). I demonstrate that POC who felt threatened by Trump’s candidacy were far more politically engaged, mobilized, and felt more solidarity with other POC, than those who felt less threatened.

 

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