Take for example Fishtown, a white, blue-collar neighborhood in Philadelphia where I spent some time in my twenties, and which Charles Murray used as an archetype in his book about class in America, “Coming Apart.” People from Fishtown speak in a way that could be described as inner city meets West Virginia. They have notable accents and particular slang vocabulary, like using the word “john” as a substitute for “thing,” pronouncing it, “jaawn.”

While the middle and upper class would say that variety of English is in no way prestigious, for the people of Fishtown, it is. It’s the code, if you will, of their society. It bonds them together. If one of them started speaking with a standard accent, that person would be viewed with distrust and seen as disloyal. He’d be accused of talking “fancy,” and thinking he’s better than you.

Trump’s speech style and accent has covert prestige for working-class people throughout America. So when it comes to fielding tough criticism in the debates, his fans don’t really care that he’s unable to answer basic policy questions, because his accent resonates more deeply than his content. It evokes a sense of camaraderie and loyalty.