The men got what they wanted.

The 2024 election, perhaps more than any other in history, was an election of identity politics. But contrary to what that term usually suggests—that it involves women and/or ethnic minorities—this race was about a particular kind of male identity that increasingly crosses racial boundaries and endangers women and men alike.

Donald Trump’s strategy of wooing dissatisfied men was risky: after all, men vote less often than women, and dissatisfied people tend not to be the most civic-minded citizens. This election is the first since the election of the Supreme Court Dobbs While the decision allowed Republican-led states across the country to criminalize abortion, liberals and feminists understandably believed it would be a referendum on misogyny. And that was it. The problem is that it turns out that the United States is sexist as hell — and a lot of men wanted this election to be about them. Their votes for Trump weren’t just about the economy, crime or immigration; Their votes were about reasserting their dominance.

Of course, sexism doesn’t explain everything about this election. Many voters are genuinely frustrated with the high cost of housing and food and remember lower interest rates and cheaper gas under Trump; Many feel that undocumented immigration has spiraled out of control, overwhelming the fragile support systems in their cities and contributing to the kind of low-level disorder and dysfunction that they find increasingly intolerable. Many women voted for Donald Trump, including, if the polls are to be believed (and I’m looking at CNN’s), almost half of white women. Compared to 2020 and 2016, more Latinas appear to have voted for Trump this year, although over 60 percent voted for Harris.

But like 2016, Trump’s victory in 2024 was largely a male and largely white victory. This time, however, he eliminated more men of color. For the first time, a majority of Latino men voted Republican. Trump’s support among white men and his overwhelming support among white men without a college degree remained stable. And as in 2020, about 20 percent of black men voted for him (in 2016, it was less than 15 percent). The only group that has moved significantly away from Trump is white college graduates: This demographic never supported Trump en masse, but nearly 60 percent of them voted for Kamala Harris, compared to 51 percent who supported Hillary Clinton.

Gender was a major factor in Trump’s victory in 2016. Eight years later, experts and analysts will be looking for a newer, fresher explanation. But sometimes the truth just confirms itself with repetition.

In 2016, Trump introduced himself to the disaffected working-class white man. He ran a campaign with explicit gender and racial grievances. His rallies were marked by crude and almost cartoonish misogyny. He won, and political science researchers confirmed that while a sense of economic displacement was real, racism and sexism were the fuel that fueled Trump’s fire. It wasn’t just that white working-class men were frustrated with their lot; They were frustrated because they were no longer slightly ahead of women and ethnic minorities, and because they no longer lived in a country dominated by people who looked and believed like them.

In 2024 the pitch has changed slightly. Racial injustices persisted – undocumented immigrants were still described as criminals and even as people who were “poisoning the blood of our country”; Puerto Rico has been described as a floating island of trash – but it would be better expressed in issue-specific terms. The misogyny also remained, but it also received attention. Instead of falling into the vulgarity of “Trump the Bitch” slogans, Trump and his vice presidential candidate JD Vance promised men a government that sees them, that works for them, that tries to put them back in power, and that is liked and they are respected. And they compared it to a Democratic Party that not only forgot about men but was completely hostile to their nature. (When liberals criticize toxic masculinity in this statement, they’re just talking about men in general.) Yes, Kamala Harris has been blamed for more than just Trump-supporting sexism and racism – by portraying her as a prostitute and an inferior person. IQs were popular insults – but the ultimate argument Trump and Vance made for themselves was less “don’t vote for that bitch” and more “vote for someone who…” receives You in the White House.”

To that end, Trump surrounded himself with tech brothers, podcast brothers and battle brothers. The men of the Christian right and the architects of Project 2025 were there too, but they faded somewhat into the background as Trump courted the kind of men who may not go to church much anymore but who still want the respect that Men are traditionally given to men simply because of their power. Vance has addressed this directly in previous podcast clips and fundraising appeals, which may have hurt his ticket’s female support, but may also have piqued the interest of disgruntled male listeners: He mocked single cat ladies and, by extension, the entire category of women who believe that Your life is just as good (if not better) without men than with them. The men who courted Trump and Vance probably don’t think they hate women at all, even though they voted against women’s most basic rights. Many of them seem to desperately desire female affection, recognition, and perhaps most of all, respect – but since they haven’t truly earned it, they long for a time when female deference was essentially mandatory.

This is the America that Trump and Vance wanted to bring back to these men. Yes, it’s an America where a working-class (white) man could make a living – but the fantasy is less about the number on a paycheck and more about the ability to have a financially dependent and loving wife or to be able to be as violent, crass and uninhibited as you wish without social consequences. While pundits and voters may cite the economy, immigration or crime as reasons voters support Trump, the truth is that Trump has offered virtually no concrete policy on any of these issues. Instead, he promised male strength and male dominance that men would reassume their rightful positions of authority in the White House and in homes across America. He spoke to men who are frustrated and men who are on the wrong track, many who, despite all the evidence, feel mistreated and even discriminated against. And he promised them a return to power.

This – the special treatment of men and especially white men – is the original American identity politics. And in 2024, it has put another man in the White House, the latest in an unbroken male chain spanning more than two centuries long.

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