The belief that whites face discrimination was “a potent predictor of support for Trump in the 2016 primaries,” noted Michael Tesler UC Irvine professor of political science, who wrote a book on that campaign with political scientists Lynn Vavreck of UCLA and John Sides of Vanderbilt University. That viewpoint “also predicted general election votes in 2016 and 2020.” “With the party’s base increasingly animated by racial grievances,” he added, “these explicit appeals to white identity politics are increasingly characterizing GOP messaging in the post-Trump era.” 

For the full story, please visit https://www.latimes.com/politics/newsletter/2022-02-11/republicans-and-race-a-politically-fraught-mix-essential-politics.