@Matt! It is unique in America that a major portion of poor and middle class white Americans, particularly from blue state rural areas and red states will vote for the republican party/right wing policies that make them more poor and have less benefits. By the standards of europe and the rest of the world the Democrats are a far-right or right wing party as well. The rest of the world typically think this as being insane, such as people who live in apartments/trailers will vote for the Republican party. It starts from here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_strategy It is also connected with these forces: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Dream https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_exceptionalism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protestant_work_ethic https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evangelicalism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megachurch https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prosperity_theology https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-help Also what is always missed is the pseudo religious component to it (people who are secular always forget this) , it is basically not logical at all but ideological/religious, also it is ingrained among protestant whites since the founding of this country. Trump merely is an evolution/degeneration of this fraud. The entrepreneur spirit as politics served Americans well until the 20th century before the era of corporations and big government. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supply-side_economics This fraudulent economics help get Reagan elected and it is the basis of Trump's economics. It is basically developed from political necessity. Trump stated he wanted to make America the "Crypto Capital" in the world, that is the same as saying that he wants the US to have the most financial crime in the world, which it already does. (legal corruption) The reality is that what happens for decades is that the super rich/corporations/financiers do not invest in the 'real' economy with their tax breaks/gains but in financial speculation and alterative assets, and buying off real estate/investing in real estate finance (shooting up housing prices etc) and the predatory healthcare system. The truth is finance/healthcare is more profitable than real economy than real production/real work so that's why both combined is 40% + of the US economy. Finance is 20%, Healthcare 20% more or less.