There's an interesting article, Trump Didn't Win in Spite of the Access Hollywood Tape. He Won Because of It, by Robyn Pennacchia up at Wonkette. Pennacchia says that when the Access Hollywood Tape , in which Trump brags about grabbing women "by the pussy", was released, she knew as soon as she heard him say "And they [the women] just let you" that he had won the election.
She believed these words allowed his base to identify with his power -- in this case, the power to put women (and therefore other groups) "in their place". This assertion of hierarchy gave his angry, frightened supporters some belief that they could retain their position on the totem pole, above women, minorities, trans people, and all the other groups that were gaining in relevance and acceptance and which they feared would somehow ascend at their expense.
Pennacchia attributes some of this resentment to burgeoning social media apps that have exposed conservatives to new views that scare them. She feels they had more social power when they were living in little bubbles in rural areas, insulated from new developments, and having the complexities of the outside world interpreted for them by Rush Limbaugh. It was enormously disturbing to them to be bombarded with alternative viewpoints on Facebook and Twitter.
I don't know how much of a role social media played in energizing this demographic. Perhaps the world changed so fast with same sex marriage, Black Lives Matter, the #metoo movement, immigration, and universal healthcare (even for "those people") that they panicked about being left behind, forgotten and stripped of their former unearned privileges. Identifying with a narcissistic bully and strongman gave them hope they could regain their former dominance.
This has resulted in a tremendous backlash against "identity groups", which are really people who do not wish to be identified as "groups" but as individual human beings. Thanks to Trump's election, authoritarians have the power to game the system. Institutions that threaten their power are under attack.
Some hope for the future ... Over half of the nation disapproves of Trump.
