Home Consumer Trump Vs. Harris Magnifies America’s Generational And Cultural Divides

Trump Vs. Harris Magnifies America’s Generational And Cultural Divides

Former President Donald Trump (L), and Vice President Kamal Harris (Reuters File)

Donald Trump walks onstage to the 1984 Lee Greenwood song “God Bless the USA,” cheered on by a roaring crowd that skews older and White.

“We will make America great again!” he promises.

Kamala Harris walks out to Beyoncé’s 2016 hit “Freedom” and leans into internet memes — addressing more racially diverse audiences dotted with chartreuse shirts and pins that pay homage to a 2024 pop album called “Brat.”

“We are not going back,” she says.

Faith Based Events

The split screen reflects two presidential campaigns that embody two very different cultural, generational and social identities, setting up a stark contrast for voters. The divide is clearer than ever since President Joe Biden quit the race — upending a campaign that had long featured two White men born in the 1940s and allowing a younger, multiracial woman to take his place.

Now the candidates, their rallies and their movements are showcasing two sides of America split by demographics and cultural touchstones, not just party and policy.

Trump’s grievance-fueled movement is full of nostalgia for past generations and his own term in office — and fear and anger about how undocumented immigration and secularization are changing the country, interviews with many supporters show. At rallies, Trump offers apocalyptic warnings about the southern border, promises to crack down on “transgender insanity,” re-litigates his 2020 election loss, belittles his critics and vows retribution on his perceived enemies, making many false and baseless claims in his lengthy speeches.
Campaign signs depicting former president Donald Trump’s Fulton County, Ga., booking mug shot are seen at his campaign rally in Atlanta on Aug. 3. (Elijah Nouvelage for The Washington Post)
A person wears a Kamala Harris shirt during her campaign event in Ambler, Pa., on July 29. (Joe Lamberti for The Washington Post)

Harris, meanwhile, is drawing new energy from young voters and people of color who say they worry that Trump will take America backward to a place where women, people of color, LGBTQ+ Americans and others face more challenges. She delivers tightly scripted speeches that prompt her crowds to boo at Trump but that also strike sunny tones, such as pointing toward “the future.”

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