Speaking about Trump’s big immigration speech Wednesday night, the candidate’s erstwhile campaign manager told CNN, “White males have a high propensity of voting [and] this speech is clearly geared at those individuals right now, to make sure [Trump] has locked them in for the election.”
The question to ask is: What sort of Republican candidate has to work to lock in the white male vote 68 days before an election? As The New York Times recently explained, white men are the “linchpin” of Trump’s campaign, since “self-identified Republicans, white women, the wealthy and well-educated people of all races are turning their backs on him.” In 2012, Mitt Romney won 62 percent of the white male vote and still lost the election. If Trump’s campaign feels like they still have to work to get white men to come out, that’s a sign that they are struggling with deep and likely insurmountable problems.