Even the leaders of the red team openly admit that they have lost the culture war. Still, Trump is doubling down in favor of the losing side. How can that make sense?
There are two things at play here. First, GOP voters are typically more motivated by culture war issues than the blue team, which tends to take its successes for granted. Think about guns, for example; every national poll shows strong support for gun control measures, and it doesn’t make the slightest bit of difference, because the politicians know that only the red team comes out to vote on that issue. Second, the raw number of votes on a national basis is meaningless in a presidential election; what matters is the distribution of those votes. If Trump can win over a few thousand swing voters in Florida, Pennsylvania, and Michigan by putting himself on the wrong side of history, that could be enough to prevail in the election, regardless of his margin of defeat in New York and California.
I’m not saying this approach is destined to work; the electorate is likely to be swayed by the economy and the state of the pandemic, not the Confederate flag. One can’t completely dismiss the possibility, however.