Heres the data that shows Americans who rage against political correctness are the most xenophobic and most likely to vote Trump – AlterNet

Though Trump has previously raged against political correctness explicitly, and indeed, campaigned on it in 2016, when it comes to this recent COVID-19 labeling campaign, other far-Right thought-leaders have been doing this for him. For example, in a March 14th interview on Fox News, Arkansas Republican SenatorTom Cottonstated, Anyone who complains that its racist or xenophobic to call this virus the Chinese coronavirus or the Wuhan virus is a politically correct fool, and they ought not to be listened to about anything.

And March 20th, Former Fox News hostBill OReillytold Glenn Beck: The worst thing in this pandemic virus outside of the actual illness itself of course is the political [sic] correct media still, still peddling garbage that hurts the American people. Quoting an ABC News reporter, OReilly said in a whiny, mocking voice, A lot of people think its racist if you call it the Chinese Virus.Its sickening.

But survey data confirm that white Americanslike President Trump, Senator Tom Cotton, Bill OReilly, or their followerswho attack politically correct language as the enemy are in fact the most likely to hold racist or xenophobic views.In a nationally representative survey fielded in February 2020, we asked Americans to indicate how much they agreed with statements about using politically correct language. We also asked Americans for their views on refugees from the Middle East and Americas control over its Southern border.

In the first figure [left], we see that, as Americans agreement with the statement Too many people are easily offended these days over language increases, the more likely they are to believe that the federal government should do more to secure the Southern border and that Middle Eastern refugees pose a terrorist threat.

In the second figure [below, right], we see a similar trend, but in the opposite direction. The more strongly Americansdisagreewith the statement People need to be more careful with language to avoid offending people, the more likely they are to hold xenophobic views about refugees from the Middle East and to want stricter border control.

In sum: both figures show that white Americans who voice the strongest opinions against politically correct language also hold the strongest anti-immigrant attitudes.

Just as important, they are also the group most likely to plan on voting Trump in 2020.

The last figure [left] shows the percentage of white Americans who indicate they plan on voting Trump in 2020 by their level of agreement with our two statements regarding politically correct language. Nearly 80% of white Americans who strongly disagree that People need to be more careful with language to avoid offending people, or who strongly agree that Too many people are easily offended these days over language, intend to vote for Trump in November.

Seen in light of these data, Trumps dual strategy is clear. By unapologetically referring to COVID-19 as the Chinese Virus, Trump is first able to signal to his white base that he too is disdainful of scheming, disease-ridden outsiders. But he can also intentionally provoke a backlash against his hurtful and xenophobic language, which he and his followers can dismiss as leftist political correctness. Trump shores up support against both a perceived external threat (immigrants) and an internal threat (liberals) with a single dangerous and offensive swipe.

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Heres the data that shows Americans who rage against political correctness are the most xenophobic and most likely to vote Trump - AlterNet