Is Trump's populism turning against him?

Following the US midterm elections on 4 November, Dr Lorenz Meister, Postdoctoral Researcher in Inequality, Social Policy and Social Mobility at DSPI, argues that President Trump's coalition was built on growing disillusionment with the American Dream. The results reveal the power of pocketbook voting and, by aligning himself with the AI industry, the president has turned voters' frustrations against his own party. 

In his Expert Comment for the University of Oxford, Dr Meister draws from his research exploring the relationship between the belief in the American Dream - the idea that hard work and education lead to upward mobility - and anger towards the elites. He argues that voters do not follow official statistics but are led by their lived experiences.  As AI threatens economic opportunity, 'populist voters are starting to turn against the most powerful populist.'