UC Berkeley scholars blame Donald Trump’s re-election victory on a wide variety of identity politics issues, from sexism and racism to conspiracy theories and anti-trans hate.
Berkeley’s official news outlet published on Wednesday a series of interview vignettes with nearly a dozen professors, and they all suggested Trump’s “decisive” victory exposes sinister parts of America’s underbelly.
None cited the porous U.S.-Mexico border and the Biden-Harris administrations hyper-lax border policies dealing with illegal immigration as having played a role. While two of the scholars did cite the sluggish economy as part of Trump’s path to victory, they did not stop there.
It’s not just “the economy, stupid,” said Professor Raka Ray, dean of Social Sciences.
“I would never discount the racist and misogynist rejection of a Black and South Asian woman; the deliberately circulated fears and lies that fed the wounded racial and masculine identity of particular demographic groups; the willingness of some immigrants to shut the door behind them; and the bogey figure of ‘trans’ that came to stand in for historic changes that were hard to grapple with,” Ray said.
Although Trump faced punitive “lawfare” campaigns from both the federal and state level over the last four years, political science Professor Jacob Grumbach, leader of Berkeley’s “Democracy Policy Lab,” said the “election has made clear that a majority of Americans are willing to vote for a candidate who threatens the rule of law, a serious concern of the Founders.”
Michael Mark Cohen, associate teaching professor of American studies and African American studies, said “once again we will have a conspiracy theorist-in-chief.”
“…This new administration will be staffed with conspiracy theorists like Stephen Miller and RFK Jr., who promise to deliver Trump’s vengeance,” Cohen said. “…But now, instead of this being a fringe fantasy, Trump’s authoritarian, if not openly fascist, conspiracy theories will be backed by the might of the American Empire.”
David Wilson, dean of the Goldman School of Public Policy, said Kamala Harris was comprehensive and bridge-building in her campaign, while Trump was vague and “dark,” an effective tactic.
“While Harris provided policy details and offered bipartisan appeals, Trump cast a dark picture of criminal immigration, demonization and a country in decline,” Wilson said. “To the amazement of many, this appeal worked. One can only conclude that, for a majority of Americans, democracy is less about people and more about power — and who ought to hold it.”
UC Berkeley’s news outlet asked Eric Stanley, whose title is Haas Distinguished Chair in LGBT Equity, why “did the GOP choose to capitalize on anti-trans hate in this election?”
“Throughout their presidential campaign, the Republican Party used — which is to say produced — an atmosphere of anti-trans hate to move people to the polls, and it seems to have worked,” Stanley said. “For years, a coalition which includes many self-identified conservatives, along with their liberal co-conspirators, have seeded a trans panic on the local level, whether at school boards, libraries, sports fields and medical facilities.”
Laura Kray, director of the Center for Equity, Gender, and Leadership at Berkeley’s School of Business, said the results show America is not ready for a female president.
“The results appear to confirm that most American voters still implicitly endorse traditional gender hierarchies in political leadership, maintaining a system where men hold predominant power and authority,” Kray said.
MORE: Prominent law professor blames Harris loss on ‘toxic masculinity’ and ‘white supremacy’
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