‘Inflation is radioactive’: Trump’s victory is part of a global populist wave of voters throwing out incumbents

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James D. Long, University of Washington and Victor Menaldo, University of Washington

(THE CONVERSATION) Was the U.S. election the latest eruption of populism across the globe? The Conversation U.S. senior politics editor Naomi Schalit brought this question to James D. Long and Victor Menaldo, two political scientists at the University of Washington who are specialists in comparative politics. They discussed how Donald Trump’s victory mirrors a movement in advanced industrialized countries that are liberal democracies to throw incumbents out of office after a prolonged period of post-pandemic inflation.

Naomi Schalit: It looks like the price of groceries played a big part in the rejection of Kamala Harris.

James Long: The person running against the unpopular incumbent party won this election, just like the person running against the unpopular incumbent won the 2020 election. Trump was the unpopular incumbent then, and although Harris was not technically the incumbent...