47such as the National Rie Association
and prominent evangelical organiza-
tions, promote social conservatism,
the main focus is economic policies
that remove constraints on business
and reduce taxes on corporations and
the wealthy.
The second dierence follows from
the rst. Mostly due to the power o
these organized groups, the Republican
Party has embraced the rich and dis-
missed worries about inequality to an
extent unmatched by right-wing parties
abroad. Typically, right-wing populists
are welfare-state chauvinists, advocating
greater benets for native-born work-
ers. Republicans, not so much. Beneath
the labels o “repeal Obamacare” and
“cut taxes,” their economic priorities
are radically inegalitarian and wildly
unpopular. Even voters don’t want
to slash Medicaid or eliminate health
insurance protections for patients with
preexisting conditions, and they have
scarcely a greater appetite for budget-
busting tax cuts for corporations and
the wealthy. Indeed, Trump won the
nomination in part by hinting at a
more moderate stance on economic
issues. In oce, however, he has popu-
lated his administration with veterans
o the Koch network and business
lobbyists, joining hands with Republi-
can elites. Together, they have doubled
down on the ’s plutocratic economic
agenda, undercutting the capacity
o the government to address national
concerns. To maintain the support
o the Republican base, meanwhile, they
have intensied partisan conict over
noneconomic issues, especially racial ones.
The conversion o a populist back-
lash into plutocratic governance is
further enabled by the presence o ae
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