Many of Donald Trump’s supporters are intolerant — racist, sexist and xenophobic. Indeed, some high-profile work has highlighted Trump’s populism and his appeal to less-educated authoritarians — a potent witch’s brew challenging democratic norms. And other analyses have focused on the specific targets of Trump supporters’ anti-democratic attitudes – especially, but not solely, Muslims, immigrants and black Americans.
Attention to the treatment of these minority groups is certainly warranted and important, but focusing only on Trump overlooks a crucial point: These are not the only groups that many people dislike, and intolerance is not concentrated among Trump supporters.
In the wake of the terrorist attacks in France, Trump called for a (temporary) ban on Muslims’ entering the United States. Republican exit polls asked about this proposal and found that support for Trump’s position was widespread (over 60 percent) among participants in Republican nomination contests so far.
