How Trump won the White House (again): These key issues propelled election win

WASHINGTON ? Donald Trump, a defeated president in 2020 and a convicted felon in 2024, reclaimed the White House with a one-of-a-kind campaign that relied on a new kind of turnout operation that hinged on a familiar issue: the economy.

An oft-maligned turnout operation produced enough young men, Black men and Hispanic voters to prevail over Vice President Kamala Harris in key battleground states, including Georgia, North Carolina and Pennsylvania.

In an election similar to Trump's 2016 victory over former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the outcome in 2024 also turned on immigration and the economy, particularly the high inflation rates of recent years under the Biden administration.

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"We were still too close to when inflation peaked," said anti-Trump Republican strategist Liz Mair.

"And as we’ve seen in developed country after developed country around the world over the past year, voters will vote for literally anyone who is not the incumbent when they’re still ticked off about spikes in the cost of groceries."

Though immigration was also an important issue, Republican strategist Rick Gorka said the election featured a trend in state after state. "The economy trumps everything," he said. "No pun intended."

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The job of getting new Trump voters to actually vote belonged to a turnout setup that drew questions throughout the Republican's presidential campaign.

The Trump team outsourced much of its canvassing and door-knocking to private organizations. It also targeted what officials called "low-propensity voters" ? people who don't often get to the polls ? as opposed to "swing" voters who could have gone for either major party candidate.

Still: It worked. Exit polls indicated that Trump increased his totals with a number of groups, particularly young men, Black men and Hispanics.

The campaign adopted strategies designed to attract different kinds of voters. Trump and his aides said the effort to appeal to young men ? the "bros" ? is the reason he did Joe Rogan's popular podcast. Trump also campaigned in a number of urban areas with people of color.

Trump found success with Hispanics despite a tumultuous last phase of the campaign that included insults to Latinos and Puerto Rico by a speaker at his rally in New York, awkward comments about female voters, and violent rhetoric toward political opponents.

Before a heavily publicized Oct. 27 rally in Madison Square Garden, an insult comic mocked Puerto Rico as an "island of garbage."

Later that week, during a Q&A session with conservative commentator Tucker Carlson, Trump said a prominent opponent ? former House Republican Liz Cheney ? should be dropped into a war zone.

Throughout the closing days of the campaign, Trump proclaimed himself the nation's champion and protector, even though aides told him the statements sounded patronizing.

“Well, I’m going to do it, whether the women like it or not," Trump said in a rally in Green Bay, Wisconsin. "I’m going to protect them."

In the complex world of presidential politics, these Trump voters had many motives and came from many parts of the electorate. They also turned out despite their candidate's many other problems, including four felony criminal indictments and a conviction.

Claiming that the many allegations against him are politically motivated, Trump told a group of Hispanic voters on Oct. 22: "I hope the public is understanding it. I hope, because I found the public to be amazingly smart. They get it."

Trump, who was found guilty in May in a New York hush money case, is the first convicted felon to win a presidential election. He is also the first president-elect since Grover Cleveland in 1892 to win an election four years after losing one.

Trump's other challenges included: his loss in the 2020 election to President Joe Biden; his alleged involvement in the insurrection of Jan. 6, 2021; his two impeachments while in office; his adverse civil judgments in bank fraud and sexual abuse cases totaling more than $500 million; his conviction and potential prison sentence in a New York hush money case; and intense opposition that included many members of his first administration, including former Vice President Mike Pence.

Trump's constant threats to prosecute political enemies ? and perhaps use the military to quell demonstrations ? led opponents to accuse him of authoritarianism and fascism.

During a campaign that essentially began the day he left office on Jan. 20, 2021, Trump fired up his base with hot-button issues that included inflation and the rising cost of living, transgender rights, tax cuts and reduced business regulations, and ? particularly in the last days of the campaign ? illegal border crossings and crimes committed by migrants.

Political scientist Lara Brown, author of "Jockeying for the American Presidency: The Political Opportunism of Aspirants," said Trump fed on deep divisions within the electorate by demonizing migrants and political opponents.

Brown also said Trump convinced just enough voters that he actually won the 2020 election and was deprived because of voter fraud. Those claims led to the Capitol riot and unprecedented indictments of the former president in Washington, D.C., and the state of Georgia on charges that he conspired to steal the election from Joe Biden.

In addition to focusing on voters' "economic concerns by playing up their fears around crime and immigration" and ignoring more recent good economic news, Brown said Trump "has won in the way that all authoritarians do ? on fear, hatred, and division."

Trump and aides had predicted victory because voters believed that the Biden administration has been a failure and that the legal cases against the Republican candidate were politically motivated.

In putting together its winning coalition, the Trump campaign sought to cut into Harris' huge advantage with female voters, many of whom backed the vice president because of her support for abortion rights. They tried to shore up his support among longtime supporters, including non-college-educated whites and middle-of-the-road Republicans.

Some of the latter group appeared to be swayed by endorsements of Harris from prominent Republicans, including former Vice President Dick Cheney and his daughter, once a member of House GOP leadership.

Early in the campaign, Trump played up the economy and inflation. When economic statistics improved during the fall campaign ? lower inflation rates, a booming stock market ? he shifted to more talk about immigration, especially crimes committed by migrants.

Mair said Trump won mainly because of economic issues, as well as immigration. Another accomplishment, she said: Trump succeeded in "getting people to forget about January 6."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: How Trump won: New focus on these key issues propels election victory