Over the last two decades, there has been a slow but sure transition of the working class securing better representation from the GOP than from the Democratic Party.
It has gotten so bad that numerous high-profile Democrats have called out their own party for losing its way.
Now, however, the shift is showing up at the voting booth, as large droves of Democrat voters are embracing Republicans and President Donald Trump.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) has ulterior motives for calling out the Democratic Party (he wants the party to move to socialism), but nevertheless, his voice is a loud one, and it has been hitting the Democratic Party, with which he caucuses, very hard.
After the 2024 presidential election, Sanders grew even louder, stating, “It should come as no great surprise that a Democratic Party which has abandoned working class people would find that the working class has abandoned them."
He continued, “While the Democratic leadership defends the status quo, the American people are angry and want change. And they’re right.”
If you look at Kamala Harris’ failed campaign, it was dominated by celebrities and billionaires, and she talked at voters instead of to voters, so Sanders was dead on in terms of everything he said.
For as much as Democrats and the media accuse Trump of being a racist, there is no denying the fact that he made huge gains with minority voters in this country.
Tony Fabrizio, who was the lead pollster for the 2024 Trump campaign, explained, “We talked about getting Blacks and getting Hispanics and low-propensity voters. Everyone looked at us like we had three heads and we were crazy.”
He then confirmed the recent report, “This Pew report basically says, ‘Yeah, we did it.’”
Now, the GOP is still significantly trailing the Democratic Party overall in this demographic, but the days of the Democrats dominating this voting block are clearly gone. The GOP does not need to win these demographics outright because, as Trump showed in 2024, just taking a bite is enough to win the election. The key, however, is to deliver on promises made so you don’t lose them again.
Man-on-the-street interviews can be tainted, but if done correctly, they offer real insight into how everyday people feel about politics, and from what I have seen -- and the research backs this -- Trump is making huge gains among working-class voters, whom Democrats have dominated in the past.
Desmond Smith, a Black voter who went for Joe Biden in 2020, stated, “I think I’m done with the Democrats.” When asked why, he said he was sick and tired of Democrats fighting for everyone except Americans.
Kendall Wood, a truck driver from Virginia, added, “It seemed like they [Democrats] were more concerned with [diversity, equity and inclusion] DEI and LGBTQ issues and really just things that didn’t pertain to me or concern me at all.” He later added, “They weren’t concerned with, really, kitchen-table issues.”
That, to me, was the difference in 2024, as Trump specifically addressed those “kitchen table” issues and talked about them with voters, not from a lectern or during a press conference, but in their neighborhoods, at their barbershops, and on their podcasts. But again, you only get one shot at this, so Trump needs to make sure he delivers, and if he does, Dems are going to be in a world of pain in 2026 as the GOP tries to defy history by holding the House.
