Exploiting white fears worked for Georgia's Lester Maddox within the '60s – and it still works for Donald Trump today

In January 1967, after a gubernatorial election through which neither candidate received enough votes to win, the Georgia legislature faced a crucial decision: electing the state's seventy fifth governor at the peak of the civil rights movement.

Lawmakers selected the candidate who received the fewest votes and was a passionate supporter of racial segregation – the Democrat Lester MaddoxOwner of a chicken restaurant and everlasting candidate.

This transformation from Maddox racist, eccentric business owner to the governor was a historic note against the backdrop of Politics of the South and the region's resentment over black political gains. Southern politics was and is filled with colourful characters, hucksters, showmen and demagogues who succeeded in each shocking their followers and galvanizing fierce loyalty.

Maddox showed that it was politically profitable to play on the fears and anxieties of white individuals who were afraid of them political force of black voters. And what was true in Georgia within the Sixties is true across the South today, as Maddox's racism-based victory holds lessons for the 2024 presidential election.

To understand that Popularity of Donald Trump And the Republican Party In southern states like Georgia, this is significant to know Racial divisions that preceded him.

As a civil rights historianI imagine that Trump will be placed in a protracted line of demagogues who’ve the talents obligatory to take advantage of the fears and anxieties of a gaggle of people that see themselves as marginalized, in danger and uncontrolled.

Maddox was certainly one of the primary to do that Successful gubernatorial election campaign in 1966.

For “the little people”

In his book “The demagogue's playbook,, Law professor Eric Posner defined a demagogue as “a charismatic, amoral person who gains popular support through dishonesty, emotional manipulation, and exploitation of social divisions.”

For Maddox, a Democrat within the era when Southern Democrats were the segregationist party, the social divide he was able to take advantage of was a rapidly changing South where political and cultural conventions were being upended by the successes of the civil rights movement. The white race was not the master of the social order.

During his campaign, Maddox used class warfare in charge his Republican opponent. Millionaire textile heir Bo Callawayas an elite integrationist who was out of touch with white voters – or as Maddox called them: “the little people.”

Maddox used newspaper advertisements for his chicken restaurant Pickrick to rail against political grievances and goal his political enemies.

But his most important weapon The selection fell on the race card. He celebrated his Aggression towards black people by swinging ax handles while standing within the doorway of his downtown Atlanta restaurant.

Maddox, a troublesome businessman, called his ax handles “Pickrick drumsticks,” which he also sold for $2 each.

This brash behavior earned Maddox the admiration of many white Georgians who were concerned concerning the pace of racial integration. His popularity solidified after he refused to just accept blacks to eat at his chicken restaurant as required under the regulation Civil Rights Act of 1964and literally chased them away from his front door.

At some point through the scuffle, Maddox was heard shouting to the black customers: “You are not good dirty devils! You dirty communists! Get out of here or I’ll kill you.”

When a The Georgia court ordered Maddox To comply with the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Maddox decided to shut his business. For him it was concerning the rights of personal property owners.

“This property is mine,” Maddox once said, “and I will throw away a white man, a black man, a redhead or a bald man. It makes no difference to me.”

Maddox denied being a racist and defended his segregationist views by arguing that he believed in separate but equal facilities for whites and blacks.

Maddox was just serving one term as governor because state law barred a governor from serving two consecutive terms. Instead, he ran for lieutenant governor in 1970 and won.

Georgia in Trump's mind

Much like Maddox, Trump has tapped into it white resentment and anger to realize popularity in a state he Won in 2016 but hardly lost within the 2020 presidential election.

In her book “Demagogue for President: The Rhetorical Genius of Donald Trump“American rhetoric historian Jennifer Mercieca explains that Trump is “a leader who exploits popular prejudices and false claims and promises to rise to power.”

That's an efficient strategy, she argued, especially with a frustrated and polarized electorate.

Nowhere is that this more evident than in Georgia. In a state where nearly 5 million voters forged their ballots, Joe Biden beat Trump by just 11,779 votes in 2020.

In a campaign stop When Trump held a rally in Georgia in March 2024, he decided to carry a rally within the small city of Rome, which is within the district of certainly one of his most loyal supporters. Marjorie Taylor Greenethe far-right Republican US representative.

In 2020, voters in metro Atlanta and other major cities voted for Biden. But in additional rural areas like Rome, voters are casting their ballots for Trump — and showing up in surveys to offer Trump a bonus over Biden within the 2024 race.

One of the most important topics is US-Mexico border security and that of Trump Views on immigrationwhich Critics have characterised as racist.

During the rally Trump blamed Biden for the death of the 22-year-old Laken Riley, nursing student from Georgia. An immigrant from Venezuela who entered the United States illegally has been arrested and charged with murder.

“What Joe Biden did at our border is a crime against humanity and the people of this nation for which he will never be forgiven,” Trump said as he vowed to launch the biggest deportation of immigrants in American history.

Such proposed policies — and thinly veiled racist messages — resonate well in a political district that’s represented a right-wing extremist.

Similar to Maddox nearly 60 years ago, Trump is using fear of other racial groups to realize support amongst white voters.

Racial demagoguery within the United States was once largely confined to Southern politicians, who sometimes used their folksy, home-grown charm as champions of the little guy to foment racial and economic grievances. Despite being a wealthy businessman, Trump manages to persuade white working-class voters that he just isn’t just certainly one of them, but in addition a victim of the “liberal elites.”

Donald Trump appears to have successfully transferred this approach to the national stage.