Red states, on the whole, tend to be poorer than average, and receive more federal government funds per capita than blue states. The Trump budget will have a disproportionately negative impact on them. How can that be? Why would Trump cut benefits for his own supporters?
There are three explanations for this phenomenon. First of all, plenty of the red state benefits go to poor minorities who are loathed by the GOP; to that extent, there is no contradiction. Second, as I have noted previously, the welfare state in the US typically only enjoys strong support even among its beneficiaries when the wealth redistributions appear to be “earned.” Third, the sense of tribalism, based on issues of culture, is frequently stronger than economic self-interest. And so, it would not surprise me to see large numbers of poor white working people in red states decrying cuts to government programs that help them, but insisting they will continue to vote for the GOP.