Measurable in Trump supporters, psycho-social phenomenon can have consequences for democracy, authors say
But according to a recently published study, “racial resentment” – not just partisanship – explains the violence that broke out after the 2020 election.
Angered over the claim, promoted by Trump and his closest allies, that heavily Black cities had rigged the 2020 election in favor of Democrats, white voters – some affiliated with white-nationalist groups and militias, and others acting alone – stormed the US capitol in an attempt to halt the certification of the 2020 election.
“What Trump and Republicans did was they tried to make the point that something nefarious was going on in areas that were primarily African American,” said David Wilson, dean of the Goldman School of Public Policy at the University of California, Berkeley, who published the study with Darren Davis, a professor of political science at Notre Dame.
The paper, Stop the Steal: Racial Resentment, Affective Partisanship, and Investigating the January 6th Insurrection, relied on a national survey of adults in the US conducted in 2021.
The research revealed a correlation between respondents’ feelings of racialized resentment and opposition to the House committee on January 6.
“Many of President Trump’s supporters believed they were being victimized by election fraud in the 2020 election, but they also believed that whites were being victimized more generally – the American way of life for them was changing and they were being disadvantaged by African Americans and other minorities,” Wilson and Davis wrote.
The study comes as the former president and his allies are stoking unfounded fears of non-citizens voting and tainting political outcomes.