A Flood of Voters for Them”

Replacement Fantasies and Democratic Distortion in the 2024 Election

Bibliographic Data

ID12376665
AuthorsMichael Feola (0000-0003-1275-6326, Lafayette College, corresponding author)
Year2026
Volume59
Issue2
Pages277-282
Publication date2026-02-12
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenuePS Political Science & Politics (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1049-0965 • E-ISSN: 1537-5935
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s1049096525101832
OpenAlexW7128684681
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited18

This article explores how the 2024 Trump campaign persistently invoked the so-called “great replacement” narrative to promote a politics of racial fear. As the article details, this messaging relied upon the mutability of the replacement narrative – highlighting a supposed plot by the Democratic Party to “import voters” from Latin America in order to corrupt the democratic process. This strategy yielded a variety of civic costs. By foregrounding the language of democracy, the campaign laundered xenophobic fears for widespread consumption. More broadly, the article details how this episode illustrates a core strategy of far right media politics: to capture and repurpose the civic language of liberal democracies to serve illiberal aims

Democracy · Foregrounding · Latin Americans · Narrative · Politics · Variety (cybernetics · Crime, Deviance, and Social Control · Populism, Right-Wing Movements · Rhetoric and Communication Studies

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