The 2016 election was very controversial and took many people by surprise. In Victor Hansons book The Case for Trump he analyzes the cause behind Trump’s victory and some of the reasons why having Trump as a president may not be as negative as it has been made out to be by the “elite culture” and “ancien regime” he describes. This cultural elite is supposedly the top portion of Americans who are well off financially and typically part of a privileged group. Hanson explains that this cultural elite are the ones who are mainly opposed to Trump and are responsible for much of the negative views that people have developed towards him. Trump won the 2016 presidentail race in part due to his rhetoric which was appealing to many people who are racist and xenophobic, but he also won due to his promise for radical change and his ability to appeal and resonate with the working class in America.
Hanson start off by talking about the split in America that he characterizes as “The two Americas”. When speaking about the divide in the country that he has noticed he focuses heavily on the divide between big cities and, essentially, the rest of the country. This is when he starts to describe and hint at the cultural elite and ancien regime in American society. By focusing on the divide in America he starts to suggest that perhaps the reason Trump won the election was due to the fact the the half of America that voted for Trump was feeling ignored and neglected by the other half. Thus, Trump’s rhetoric about bringing real radical change and “Draining the Swamp” resonated with many of the people that felt as if they were being ignored by the current political leaders. Hanson utilizes the divide in America to help shed light as to why Trump’s campaign was successful and shows how there was more than racism, xenophobia, and sexism involved in the election of Trump. Trump reflected what many Americans wanted but where not seeing in the politicians they were previously electing. Nonetheless, the negative rhetoric that Trump had on various groups of people, especially minorities, did help him gain support from people who are racist, xenophibic and sexist but as Hanson explains many of his voters came from a place in which they simply felt they were being ignored by mainstream politicians and having an outside man would bring them the change they wanted.
Along with Hansons argument as to why Trump won the election he also brings up something which he describes as the ancien regime or cultural elite in American society. Hanson argues that there is a regime in place that actively sought to oppose Trump and find ways to make sure his decisions are not carried through in the government. The evidence that Hanson presents for this ancien regime shows some actions that may have been taken against Trump in order to ensure that his decisions do not have an impact on the government. The presence of the Ancien regime is debatable and the manner in which Hanson presents it makes it appear as a very concrete and organized group that is actively going against Trump through covert methods. There is no doubting that actions are being taken against Trump in order to prevent him from achieving certain things, but that is simply the nature of politics in America. Perhaps Trump has experienced opposition more, than in comparison to other presidents but I believe the idea of the Ancien regime is not as serious as Hanson is making it out to be and that Trump has simply faced more opposition politically because of his status as an outsider to politics.
Clearly racism, xenophobia, and sexism played a role in Trump’s election but I think that Trump’s rhetoric for radical change and him being a political outsider also heavily influenced the 2016 election in his favor and to the idea of an Ancien regime actively opposing Trump I believe that it could better be explained as a higher level of opposition in the government to his actions and ideas due to how removed he was and is to the mainstream political world.