Commentary: Was Trump elected due to sexism, misogyny and racism?

As should be expected, the Democratic Party and its supporters are casting blame for the results of the 2024 presidential election. Many are looking inside the party and its ideology, policies, candidates and messaging, as they should. But some are trying to blame sexism (even misogyny) and racism for the failure of a woman of color to win the election.

As Americans, we should all disavow sexism, misogyny and racism, while acknowledging that these views still exist in some human hearts. But blaming the content of American hearts broadly is wrong, further divides us and is counterproductive to the goal of building a majority in the future.

I personally did not vote for Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton or Kamala Harris (nor Joe Biden) and it had nothing to do with race or gender. It had everything to do with ideology and policy. I have also never voted for Donald Trump, originally due to a lack of understanding of his ideology and likely policy prescriptions, but also because I was concerned about his behavior.

Let me also say that I do not believe Trump will be a dictator, that he is a modern-day Hitler in disguise, nor that he will destroy democracy. I hope that he finds success in addressing immigration problems, improving the economy and in other areas. If he did so in a calm and conciliatory manner and avoided retribution for whatever perceived slights and attacks he has suffered over the past nine years, he would burnish his legacy and likely ensure a continuation of his agenda for years beyond his four-year term. Democratic Party leaders no doubt recognize this and understandably are crafting their resistance.

The underlying reasons for the failure of the Harris campaign are beyond the scope of my essay. I am here to argue against the tropes of sexism, misogyny and racism. To do so, I invite you to participate in a double-sided thought experiment.

Let’s assume that in 2022, for whatever reason, Trump decided not to run again and also chose to allow the Republican Party to select a nominee without his input (and yes, I realize that last bit is a stretch). Let’s also assume that after a long, hard-fought and drawn-out primary season, the Republican Party picked Nikki Haley as its nominee. To keep the 2024 general election a contest between a white man and a woman of color, let’s also assume that Biden did not participate in an early debate that called into question his abilities and remained the Democratic nominee.

Are sexism, misogyny and racism so prevalent in the Republican Party and other Americans that it would have prevented Haley from winning against Biden? And on the other side of this thought experiment, would a significant portion of Harris voters instead have voted for Haley in our hypothetical contest, simply because she is a woman of color? I believe the answer in both cases is a resounding “no.”

We all know that America has a tainted history on the issues of race and gender, especially when that history is evaluated in modern terms. We also know that we still have work to do in both of these areas and there are still small numbers in our society who are sexist, misogynist and racist. But there are more women and non-whites in positions of power and influence in this country than ever before and that trend will continue.

We elected a Black man as president 16 years ago and re-elected him four years later. In the near future, I believe we will elect a woman (and a woman of color) to be president. This will happen when such candidates have the ideology and policy proposals that resonate with the American people at that time. And the ability to communicate. Like Vice President Harris, that candidate’s vote totals will likely benefit from attributes such as gender and race far more than they will be held back by these attributes.

In my opinion, gender and race did not have a material negative impact on the election results. I also believe those who suggest otherwise are supporting division in the American populace. Hopefully, most of us ignore their diatribes and someday soon gender and race will be irrelevant in our political considerations.

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Butler is a husband, father, grandfather, business executive, entrepreneur and political observer.