In American politics, “elite” is a four-letter word.
For years, Democrats have been derided as the “liberal elite.” That caricature began to look more like reality as the party lost working-class voters and gained wealthier and better-educated ones. And strategists struggled to turn the insult back on President Donald Trump, who has maintained a cultural connection to the working class despite his status as a wealthy owner of golf courses and gilded clubs.
The dynamic might be shifting.
Deep in the data from The New York Times’ and Siena University’s national poll this week is a figure that I found quite striking: Voters are now more likely to see Republicans than Democrats as “elitist.”
We’re going to zoom in on that finding, which comes as shifting voter perceptions — and unease about the economy — force Republicans to confront the possibility of broader problems with the coalition that carried Trump to victory.
The Numbers
When our pollsters asked likely voters which party they think the word “elitist” describes, 43% of them said Republicans, and 33% said Democrats.
The Times’ polling editor, Ruth Igielnik, said that we asked the same question in 2022. Back then, Republicans and Democrats were about tied — 35% for Democrats, 36% for Republicans — so the new figures, Ruth said, represent a notable shift.
— The bump was driven in part by independent voters. In 2022, 36% of independents described Republicans as the more elitist party. This year, that figure was 45%.
— In the latest poll, men were about evenly split on the party they viewed as most elitist, but women chose Republicans by a 20-point margin.
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— Every age group was more likely to identify Republicans as “elitist,” although it was 18- to 29-year-olds who did so most decisively: 59% to 27%.
The Voters
My colleague Sophia June and I called up some of these voters. We wanted to talk with independents — and we were especially interested to speak with those who had supported Trump in 2024 but now viewed Republicans as the more elitist party.
Interestingly, none of the voters we spoke with brought up the projects Democrats have seized on to paint Trump as out of touch, like his White House ballroom or his penchant for gilding the Oval Office. They described something broader: a Republican Party that, they felt, had stopped looking out for everybody.
“That’s what Trump’s doing to America now: The people that are ‘in with him,’ who look or act a certain way, are the ones that are gonna be given an opportunity,” said Lauren Wilson, 40, of Cranford, New Jersey. Wilson, a stay-at-home parent who backed Trump in 2024, said she’s planning to vote for Democrats in November.
Rebecca Schneider-Kaplan, an educator who lives in Staten Island, New York, said she voted for Trump in the last election but soured on him because he viewed himself as “untouchable,” insulated from consequences the rest of us might face if we posted impulsively on social media or, you know, suddenly tried to rename a lake.
“He thinks he’s above everything,” Schneider-Kaplan said.
Jesus Estrada, 21, who lives in Pasadena, Texas, and works in a fabrication plant, brought up Trump’s taxes. “Donald Trump basically had to pay almost nothing,” said Estrada, who did not vote in 2024. He added, “Elitist is the word I use for the 1% because they’re doing loopholes for taxes.”
And Jerry Jacob, 37, said that these days, Republicans seem to be “in their own world.” He recalled their vaunted tax cut bill, which showered benefits on the highest earners, as evidence of a fundamental disconnect.
“When they’re asked questions about how the American public is doing, they give these answers like, ‘Everything is fine,’ when people are struggling,” Jacob said.
Jacob said he voted for Trump in 2024, Joe Biden in 2020 and Trump in 2016. I told him I might have to call him back in 2028.