While the 2024 presidential election is in full swing, it seems like the only thing running smoothly for Vice President Kamala Harris is her fundraising. Reports suggest her campaign is awash in cash, raising a curious question: why are billionaires, the very class often demonized by the Democratic Party, so enthusiastically backing Harris?
The answer, according to Fox News contributor Steve Hilton, lies not in policy or economics, but in the cultural and psychological landscape of American politics. He argues that Harris’s appeal to the ultra-wealthy stems from their aversion to Donald Trump, an aversion that transcends policy differences and delves into personal taste and perceived cultural threats.
Hilton paints a vivid picture of the wealthy elite recoiling from Trump, finding his personality and lifestyle distasteful. He highlights their penchant for portraying Trump as a “threat to democracy” despite the Democratic Party’s own actions that undermine democratic principles. The author further suggests that this support for Harris is a form of guilt-assuaging philanthropy, a way for billionaires to symbolically atone for their wealth and privilege.
However, the article goes beyond mere observation, delving into the broader political landscape and highlighting a significant shift in American politics. Hilton argues that the Republican Party, under Trump’s leadership, has become the party of the working class, while the Democrats have become the party of the wealthy and the woke. This transformation is not driven by ideology but by tangible economic results. Trump’s policies, Hilton asserts, led to increased earnings for those at the lowest income levels, a phenomenon unprecedented in half a century.
In essence, the article positions the billionaire support for Kamala Harris as a symptom of this broader political upheaval. It suggests that the Democratic Party, in its pursuit of a specific cultural and political agenda, has alienated a significant portion of the working class, leaving the GOP to fill the void. The billionaire support for Harris, while seemingly contradictory, is a testament to the Democrats’ embrace of a progressive agenda that prioritizes identity politics and social justice over economic concerns for the working class. Hilton argues that this shift has created a stark political divide, with the GOP representing the working class and the Democrats representing the wealthy elite, ironically spearheaded by a billionaire himself.
The article concludes with a sense of historical significance, highlighting the Trump-led Republican Party’s emergence as a “multiracial working class coalition.” It argues that this transformation has left the Democrats and their billionaire backers stranded on the side of the rich, the white, and the woke, creating a new political landscape where the traditional lines of power and identity are being redefined.
