How Trump REALLY won the US Election and what Populism means for the UK

So the ballots are closed and the results have shown that it wasn't even close Between the Trump-Vance campaign and Kamala Harris' Democrat outfit. Donald Trump's use of unconventional media sources, sweeping statements about international politics, and his ability to reach US citizens in all societal facts and convincing swing-states led to a landslide victory for the Republican leader.

However, Trump’s 2024 election win reflects his mastery of populism, leveraging broad generalisations and fear-based rhetoric to tap into public concerns by using authoritarian language. He framed himself as the champion of the “common people”, and used an 'us vs them' rhetoric in relation to migrants, instead of using an evidence based approach, to force a mass shift in the political landscape that embraces a polarization of democracy to uphold his mission.

How can Populist Politics be Characterised?

Populism- "The perception that the establishment doesn't represent the 'people', or their beliefs." This is a very broad term, and populists play into this as 'the people' is an umbrella term, often designed to try align them with the masses.

3 Main Traits of Populists

1) An 'Us vs Them' mentality- Populists tend to align themselves with the broader public, despite their obvious backgrounds that lead them to being a populist, and descend into marginalising cultures, governing bodies and other demographics to perpetuate this divide. (Immigration is a big motivator)

2) Charisma- These individuals often use their image to portray themselves as an average and relatable person, whether this be being pictured with a pint and a fag or to do a publicity stunt such as zipline across London or to do a shift in a McDonalds or appearing in I'm a Celebrity Get me Out of Here.

3) Simplifying Complex issues- These individuals often use slogans to appeal to those who are unresearched and easy to manipulate into believing what you say without any facts. Examples: 'Stop the Boats' or 'Make America Great Again'.

Social Media

Despite the controversy surrounding felonies, women's rights, the fact that his running mate, JD Vance, once said that Trump had the potential to become the next Hitler, his obvious tendency to support the few richest men in North America secured him the endorsement of Elon Musk and Joe Rogan. Not only this, he used their platforms to project his run. Rogan's audience, around 75% of which are males and a high concentration being within the age ranges of 18-32 (according to statista, YouGov, and Spotify data) saw Trump 'weave' for nearly 3 hours unchallenged. [1] Needless to say, not many statistics or extensive topical depth passed through the exchange between Trump and Rogan when it came to talking about important subjects that could have been essential to voters.

It is clear that the agenda was to create 'clippable' material in a time where Tiktok and misinformation sway voters rather than the mainstream media. This, accompanied with Musk's X (formally twitter), captivated his audience to generate a majority male vote in the electorate. [2] Farage has also used X multiple times in his 2024 campaign to galvinise support for Reform UK, who received 14.3% of the electorate, making net migration and videos of small boat crossings central to his manifesto. Since he was elected as an MP for Clacton-On-Sea, he has spent his time using X to stir up hatred in the darkest of times, such as the awful Southport attack which resulted in race riots and violence against those seeking asylum in the UK. His source for this? Andrew Tate, living in Romania, making false claims about the perpetrator being "imported on a small boat".

How do we combat this?

In short, we need education. While Farage, Trump and Joe Rogan cheerlead free speech, while spreading misinformation about migration towards people who don't consult the essential data, don't read case studies, don't read up on International Relations, and buy into which ever candidate can make them laugh the most, the UK must prepare for this by providing essential information to generations of people to come. In Trump's interview with Rogan, they both sat up in arms about 'Fact Checking' and how it infringed on fluid debates, rather than doing the honourable thing by not telling lies about Immigrants eating pets in the first place.

Pursue Knowledge instead of Easy Answers.

With Trump proving that it is possible that populism can win an election, we must be careful that the same doesn't happen in the UK, with figureheads like Tommy Robinson, Lee Anderson, Paul Goulding and most of all, Nigel Farage consistently grifting support by playing on people's societal fears of poverty and linking it with immigration, especially those of Muslim background.

BUT... Instead of censoring the press or, "the far-right" we need a society where we are taught where and how to search for essential information from an early age; we need to understand that Podcasters, business owners, elite politicians, and most of all, the popular press, all have narratives to spin. I have another post on misinformation where it provides some decent search engines for you to begin your academic journey without necessarily paying for tuition.