On a liberal somber Sunday evening, following Donald Trump’s sweeping victory on November 5, CBS’s 60 Minutes featured a post-election analysis with former CBS Evening News anchor Scott Pelley. It was clear from the start that Pelley was struggling to comprehend how Trump could have won a second term, and his disappointment was palpable.
Pelley’s interviews with everyday Americans gave insight into why many middle-class voters had abandoned the Democratic party for Trump. But, as Pelley’s shocked reaction revealed, it seemed like he was only just realizing this now.
In his first interview with Roz Werkheiser, a restaurant owner who had voted for Trump, Pelley was astounded to discover that she had grown up in a Democratic household. Werkheiser explained that she had voted for Trump for economic reasons, even though statistics showed that inflation was down, interest rates were falling, and wages were going up.
But Werkheiser’s response was telling – no one she knew had seen an increase in their wages. It was a reality that Pelley, and many journalists like him, had failed to see for the past eight years. Instead of acknowledging the realignment among working class voters, the media had been too quick to blame Trump’s appeal on racism.
And speaking of racism, Pelley was shocked to learn that working-class Hispanic voters had turned out for Trump in significant numbers. In his interview with Ronald, who identified as a working-class Latino, Pelley couldn’t help but mention Trump’s stance on immigration. But to Pelley’s surprise, Ronald agreed with the idea of border security, despite not being white.
Even the recently-ousted Congresswoman Susan Wild (D-PA) admitted that Democrats had focused too much on unpopular, niche social issues instead of addressing the struggles of everyday Americans. In her words, “If you are struggling to pay your rent or feed your kids, you don’t have the privilege of thinking about things like LGBTQ rights.”
The tone of the segment was one of disbelief and confusion. The media, including Pelley and his colleagues at CNN, had been so consumed by their own bias and narratives that they failed to understand the real reasons behind Trump’s victory. As Trump’s popularity grew among the working class, they were too quick to dismiss it as racism and bigotry.
But 60 Minutes’s post-election analysis finally sheds light on the truth. Trump’s appeal was not just among white, uneducated voters as the media would have you believe. It was a realignment of the working class, who finally found a candidate who spoke to their struggles and concerns.