He opted for the “male vote”. And it worked. Donald Trump returns to the White House and does so supported, especially by men. The well-known idea, in these elections and many others, that women’s votes can change everything, forgets the other part of the equation: men’s votes can also change everything. Or keep everything the same. We already knew that Trump encouraged and relied on anger and the need for male validation, but this election managed to go further: not only did white men bet on him, but Latinos did too .
The “brothers’ strategy” has worked, some analysts already say. It’s a strategy that Trump and his team have deliberately encouraged. Journalist Jon Sopel recounted a few hours ago on an ITV talk show how Steve Bannon, the “intellectual creator” of Trumpism, shamelessly assumed that the Republican Party would lose the majority of female votes, notably because of the way Trump and their ilk have attempted to restrict sexual and reproductive rights. But Bannon wasn’t too worried: “We’re going to vote male man“, he said. And yes.
