I don't think that's right... Without considering equally the white-hot anger against him too. Doesn't matter how many votes he gained if he also caused many to be hardened against him.
Considering the low turnout on both sides in '16... If he also galvanized the left to turn out. and maybe more so against him... That would have to be part of the consideration.
The white hot anger was manufactured by the MSM over years of lies and bullshit. Even opposing viewpoints were derided, and in my experience was held by only a couple of types of people: Youngsters who got their news from social media where it was every bit as fashionable to bash Trump as it was to spew vitriol about Nixon back in the day (in fact, the whole 5 years of hate week reminded me of the jihad against RMH, only without any basis in law or fact). The rest were Hillary fans who are a lost cause anyway.
But what I did see were blacks and Latinos/Hispanics who seriously supported Trump,because they Came out here during an oil boom, made good money in good jobs and proved it could be done. Now, I know this is just one small corner of flyover country, but Trump got 82% of the votes in this county. Unheard of, but real, and this wasn't the highest percentage in the state. The liberal areas in the East we are saddled with, the same people who demand "their share" of oil impact grants for towns which are 350 or more miles from any oil wells over those in the thick of things trying to keep infrastructure together and hire enough sheriff's deputies to take care of things, well those areas went more for Biden than the West (which is typical, we produce, they put their hand out over there), but even then, Trump got 65% of the vote overall in the State and only failed to carry two counties with Indian Reservations, which, for some reason$ I don't under$stand, $eem to vote for Democrat$ pretty con$i$tently.
In other words, in a State with a Republican Legislature and Governor, where people generally work for a living and hold their work ethic dear, even in all but the most Liberal two Counties (out of 53), Trump won handily.
But the white hot hatred you see was an artifact, a product of an Orwellian Hate Week that didn't stop in the media, and the BIG LIE applied over and over to an age group that knows no better.
Fashion follows folly, almost essentially, and is a poor reason for making choices, as I suspect another generation is waking up to as they realize they've been had.
