David Smith quoted in ā€˜Quartz’ article on the psychology of Trump supporters

David Livingstone Smith
David Livingstone Smith

David Livingstone Smith, Ph.D., professor of philosophy, was quoted in an article for Quartz, a digital news outlet. The article, titled ā€œInside the Trump machine: the bizarre psychology of America’s newest political movement,ā€ investigates how Trump has gained great popularity despite defying the rules of electoral politics and civil discourse.

As Smith notes, ā€œThe interesting thing about Trump is although he is very rich, people feel a kind of class kinship with him—in other words, he’s not an elite. He speaks in a way that resonates with a certain sort of person.ā€

Smith continues, stating ā€œThere are certain things he can say that everyone really believes that the other politicians can’t say—for instance ā€˜I played the game, I gave money to these politicians to get them to do what I want.ā€™ā€ He explains that ā€œNone of the other politicians can say that. I think that really resonates. They feel something profoundly authentic about Trump.ā€