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“Those most enthralled with Donald Trump were not at the very bottom
— the illiterate, the hungry,” sociologist Arlie Russell Hochschild writes in her forthcoming book "Stolen Pride"

Rather, Trump’s biggest fans could be found among
️“the elite of the left-behind,”
meaning people “who were doing well within a region that was not.”

It’s an observation that cuts against the prevailing theory of Trumpism: that he is the tribune of the left-behind and impoverished white people suffering due to globalization.
It is also one that is backed by hard data.

In 2020, three political scientists studied how location and income affected white voters’ voting decisions.

They found that, on a national level, poorer white people were indeed more likely to vote for Trump than richer ones.

But when you factored in local conditions
— the fact that your dollar can buy more in Biloxi than Boston
— the relationship reverses.

“#Locally #rich” white people, those who had higher incomes than others in their zip codes,
were much more likely to support Trump than those who were locally poor.

These people might make less money than a wealthy person in a big city, but were doing relatively well when compared to their neighbors.
https://www.vox.com/politics/369797/trump-support-class-local-rich-arlie-hochschild