Trump’s billionaire-blue collar coalition has been smashed by class politics | Aditya Chakrabortty

As tech moguls grow wealthier while everyday Americans battle financial struggles, Democrats highlighted the US's extreme inequalities – and voters responded. Just last year, pundits and corporate boardrooms hailed the return of Donald Trump, proclaiming that the old rules of politics and civility were dead. "I feel liberated," remarked a prominent banker, now free to use derogatory terms without fear of backlash.

With Trump in the White House, tech executives believed they had a powerful ally who could unite them with blue-collar workers, Latinos, black voters, and those embracing a little racism. Yet, Trumpism's core lay in blending class antagonism into culture wars, disregarding tangible pay raises in favor of tackling issues like immigration.

However, Tuesday night's midterms marked a crushing defeat for the former president, as record-high petrol prices, skyrocketing grocery and meat costs, and mounting rent burdens hit the working and middle classes hard. While Democrats acknowledged these economic issues, critics pointed out that these concerns were more about the unfair distribution of wealth, not just high prices.

Since the 1960s, Republicans and Democrats shifted the tax system to favor ownership over wages, leaving the richest 400 households paying lower taxes than the bottom 50% of Americans. Over time, the share of national income going to ordinary workers has dropped from 30% to 20%. This divide has fueled Trump's rise, as he appealed to both blue-collar workers and the ultra-wealthy.

However, his administration's focus on AI-driven growth concentrated wealth and resources in the West Coast, leaving the rest of the nation struggling. As the data shows, tech giants like Sam Altman, Dario Amodei, and Jensen Huang amassed billions, while the remaining 493 companies saw stagnant revenues and profits. The Economist noted that Trump supporters living near datacenters shifted their vote due to the environmental and economic toll of these facilities.

In Texas, a state crucial to Elon Musk's AI empire, the anti-datacenter candidate James Talarico won, echoing the voters' message: the top must not exploit the bottom. Democratic candidates who emphasized fighting the US's unfairness and championing a better politics resonated with the electorate.