The following article, The Great Trump Resurgence: How Democrats and Independents Swung Right in 2024, was first published on The Black Sphere.
In the annals of American politics, few stories are as jaw-dropping as Donald Trump’s 2024 comeback. After Democrats and their Uniparty pals tried to bury him under a mountain of indictments and a fabricated “insurrection” narrative, they didn’t just fail—they created a political juggernaut.
Leftists, in their zeal to push everything to the breaking point, didn’t break Trump; they forged him into a monster of their own making. By November 2024, the political landscape had shifted so dramatically that even Democrats and Independents—once Trump’s fiercest detractors—were crossing party lines to back him. This is the tale of that seismic shift, a chronicle of how Trump’s policies, post-election realities, and the Democrats’ own missteps turned the tide.
The Setup: Democrats’ Miscalculation
Back in early 2023, Democrats were smug. They’d painted Trump as a pariah after January 6, 2021, and believed their 91 indictments—each more absurd than the last—had sealed his fate. The Uniparty, that cozy alliance of establishment Democrats and RINO Republicans, scoured the land for their Great White Hope to dethrone the orange-haired menace. Names like Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley were floated as saviors of the GOP’s “pre-Trump” soul. But Trump? He wasn’t sweating it. He skipped debates, letting his challengers implode in what historians now call the “Great GOP Debate Dumpster Fire of 2023.” Spoiler: it was the worst-rated debate in recorded history, a masterclass in self-destruction.
Meanwhile, President Joe Biden’s polls were sinking faster than a lead balloon. “Bidenonomics” was a punchline, not a policy. Inflation soared, crime spiked, and the southern border resembled a free-for-all. Internationally, America’s prestige waned as allies questioned Biden’s coherence and adversaries smirked. The public, nostalgic for the pre-COVID prosperity of Trump’s first term, began to murmur: Maybe things weren’t so bad under the guy with the mean tweets.
Democrats, however, doubled down. They orchestrated a narrative around January 6, branding it an “insurrection” to cement Trump’s political obituary. But then, the J6 tapes dropped. Released in late 2023, they revealed what many suspected: the “insurrection” was less a coup and more a chaotic setup, with Democrats pulling strings to distract from 2020 election irregularities. A stunning 65% of Americans, including 56% of Democrats, came to believe the event was orchestrated by the Left, according to a Rasmussen Reports poll from October 2023. The narrative collapsed, and with it, the Democrats’ credibility.
The Donors Return: The Political Dow Jones Speaks
By late 2023, the political marketplace was buzzing. Big donors, those bellwethers of political trends, sensed the shift. As ABC News reported:
Donald Trump and his allies are ramping up high-dollar fundraising efforts with less than two months to go until the Iowa caucus begins the 2024 Republican primary, as several major donors show signs of returning to the former president — including those who once called on him to exit the race.
Some observers say the changing view of big financial backers shows a recognition that because Republican voters are sticking with Trump amid his continued controversy and legal troubles, he remains a very real contender for the White House.
These weren’t small fry. Heavyweights like Home Depot co-founder Bernie Marcus and energy mogul Harold Hamm, who’d flirted with Haley and DeSantis, came crawling back. Marcus, in a November 2023 op-ed for Real Clear Politics, laid it bare:
“I understand the frustration of some of my Republican friends who do not like or are offended by things Donald Trump does and says,” Marcus wrote. “I, too, have been frustrated at times, but we cannot let his brash style be the reason we walk away from his otherwise excellent stewardship of the United States during his first term in office.”
“I endorse him not only because he has the best chance of winning the general election but because he is the best person to take on and dismantle the administrative state that is strangling America,” Marcus argued.
Hamm’s journey was similar. After calling for Trump to step aside in summer 2023, citing January 6 as a dealbreaker, he flipped. By August, he was cutting checks to Trump’s campaign and dining at Mar-a-Lago, per
These defections weren’t just financial; they were symbolic. The GOP’s moneyed elite, once squeamish about Trump’s brashness, saw the writing on the wall: the base was unshakable, and the electorate was souring on Biden.
The Democratic Exodus Begins
By mid-2024, cracks appeared in the Democratic coalition. Biden’s debate performance in June was a disaster, amplifying concerns about his age and health. A February 2024 poll from The New York Times found 86% of voters, including most 2020 Biden supporters, thought he was too old to lead effectively
Biden’s withdrawal in July, replaced by Vice President Kamala Harris, did little to stem the tide. Harris, framing her campaign as “freedom vs. chaos,” struggled to define herself beyond “not Trump.” Her pivot to the center on issues like healthcare and immigration alienated progressives while failing to win moderates.
Meanwhile, Trump’s campaign gained traction with unlikely allies. Hollywood’s Michael Rapaport, a vocal Never Trumper, stunned followers in late 2023 by praising Trump’s first-term economy and border policies. “I’m not saying I’m voting for him,” Rapaport hedged, “but the guy got results.” His shift mirrored a broader trend. Post-election polls in 2024 confirmed this migration.
A Pew Research Center study found that 3% of 2020 Biden voters switched to Trump, while 15% didn’t vote at all, compared to just 11% of 2020 Trump voters who stayed home Among Independents, the split was even: 48% for Harris, 48% for Trump, a stark contrast to Biden’s 9-point lead in 2020
The Policy Payoff: Trump’s Second Term Delivers
Trump’s victory on November 5, 2024, was decisive. He won 49.8% of the popular vote to Harris’s 48.3%, flipping six swing states and securing 312 Electoral College votes.
Analysts attributed his win to economic discontent, Biden’s unpopularity, and Trump’s gains with working-class voters, particularly Hispanics and Black Americans. Pew noted Trump’s support among Black voters doubled from 8% in 2020 to 15% in 2024, while Hispanics nearly split evenly, with Harris leading by just 3 points
Once in office, Trump’s second term policies cemented his appeal. His aggressive tariff strategy, though controversial, resonated with voters frustrated by globalization’s toll on American jobs. By April 2025, 39% of Americans approved of his tariffs, per Pew, despite 59% disapproval.
His push for energy independence through domestic drilling and fracking tapped into nostalgia for low gas prices, a priority for 2024 Trump voters cited in YouGov’s post-election surveys.
Border security measures, including deportations and wall construction, fulfilled campaign promises, winning over voters who felt Biden’s policies had failed.
Democrats and Independents, initially skeptical, began to waver. A PBS News/NPR/Marist poll in April 2025 found 64% of Independents expected grocery prices to rise under Trump’s tariffs, yet many, like Michigan truck driver Mark Knapchuck Jr., who voted for Harris, admitted Trump’s economic focus aligned with their concerns
Democrat Ranger Kling, a 19-year-old who voted for Trump, told The Washington Post he appreciated Trump’s “straightforward” approach, despite disagreements on social issues
The Democratic Implosion: Hypocrisy Exposed
The Democrats’ post-election reckoning was brutal. Their approval rating sank to 27% by April 2025, per NBC News, the lowest since 1990.
The party’s base—young voters, Black Americans, Latinos—fractured. A PRRI survey showed 53% of Independents backed Harris, but 44% chose Trump, driven by distrust of Democratic elites. The Hill reported voters saw Democrats as out of touch,” “woke,” and “weak,” with approval among Hispanics and working-class voters below 35%.
The irony was delicious. Democrats, who’d sanctimoniously lectured about “saving democracy,” were exposed as the architects of their own demise. Their obsession with January 6 blinded them to the electorate’s real concerns—cost of living, crime, borders—while their reliance on identity politics alienated the very minorities they claimed to champion. As Democratic strategist Steve Schale lamented to The Hill, “We missed an opportunity to define a different vision.”
No kidding, Steve—your vision was a 404 error.
Historical Context: Echoes of the Past
Trump’s 2024 resurgence isn’t without historical precedent. Grover Cleveland, the last president to win non-consecutive terms in 1892, rode a wave of economic populism against a flailing incumbent, much like Trump. The 1980s saw Ronald Reagan’s outsider appeal dismantle the Democratic establishment, appealing to blue-collar “Reagan Democrats.” Trump’s ability to peel off Democrats and Independents mirrors these shifts, amplified by a media landscape where X and TikTok outmaneuvered legacy outlets. The collapse of the J6 narrative recalls the 1970s Watergate fallout, where public trust in institutions cratered once the truth emerged.
What’s different is the scale. Trump’s coalition—more racially and economically diverse than in 2016 or 2020—signals a realignment. NPR noted that even if every eligible voter had turned out in 2024, Trump would’ve won by 7 points, upending the myth that higher turnout favors Democrats. His gains among non-voters, who broke for him 44%-40%, reflect a cultural rejection of the Left’s sanctimonious overreach.
Trump’s 2024 victory wasn’t just a win; it was a referendum. Democrats, in their hubris, thought they could crush him with lawfare and lies. Instead, they alienated their base and drove Independents into his arms.
By July 2025, as Trump’s approval hovered at 40% Pew Research Center, his base remained loyal, and even skeptics like Faye Tietz, a Wisconsin retiree, admitted to The Washington Post that she might’ve voted against him—had she not seen Harris’s failures firsthand.
The lesson?
Never underestimate a man who thrives on proving everyone wrong. Democrats created this monster. And in 2024, it roared back to life, carrying Democrats and Independents along for the ride. As for the Left’s dreams of a post-Trump utopia? They’re as dead as a J6 narrative at a MAGA rally.
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