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White Power! How White Status Threat Undercuts Backlash Against Anti-democratic Politicians

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 March 2025

Kiara A. Hernandez Open the ORCID record for Kiara A. Hernandez [Opens in a new window] ,
Taeku Lee  and
Marcel F. Roman
Kiara A. Hernandez*
Affiliation:
Department of Government, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
Taeku Lee
Affiliation:
Department of Government, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
Marcel F. Roman
Affiliation:
Department of Government, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
*
Corresponding author: Kiara A. Hernandez; Email: khernandez@g.harvard.edu
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Abstract

Prior research shows that the pro-Trump, anti-democratic January 6th insurrection (J6) led to a short-term reduction in Republican support for President Trump. However, it remains unclear why the anti-Trump backlash occurred among his electoral base. We theorize that white Republicans concerned about the declining status of Anglo whites in the American ethno-racial hierarchy were the least likely to backlash against Trump after J6. Leveraging an unexpected-event-during-survey design (UESD) and a large survey fielded shortly before and after J6, we find no difference in support for Trump due to J6 among white Republicans who strongly perceived anti-white discrimination (Study 1). We replicate this result with another UESD with a separate survey fielded during J6 (Study 2) and a difference-in-differences approach with additional panel surveys fielded around J6 (Study 3). Moreover, across four cross-sectional surveys, we find the negative relationship between J6 disapproval and Trump support post-J6 between 2021 and 2024 is attenuated among status-threatened white Republicans (Studies 4–7). Our evidence suggests racial status threat undercuts the ability of the white Republican mass public to hold co-partisan anti-democratic elites accountable for norm violations.

Keywords

Anti-democratic attitudeswhite racial politicspolitical violencegrievance politicsstatus threat
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Race, Ethnicity, and Politics , Volume 10 , Special Issue 1: Race and the Capitol Riot , March 2025 , pp. 86 - 110
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2025. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of The Race, Ethnicity, and Politics Section of the American Political Science Association

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