Did sexism drive Latino support for Trump? Latinx, sexism, and presidential vote choice

Abstract

Background: While the “machismo” media narrative explaining Donald Trump's electoral support among Latinxs has some intuitive appeal, the relative dearth of scholarship on the influence of sexism on Latinx political attitudes precludes critical evaluation of this claim. Objective: This study aims to determine whether Latinxs exhibit more sexist attitudes, compared to other racial/ethnic groups and whether sexism has a differential impact on Latinx electoral support for Trump, compared to non-Latinx counterparts. Methods: We use the correlational analysis of 2016 and 2020 American National Election Study (ANES). The Online Appendix replicates these analyses with the 2012 ANES and 2018, 2019, and 2020 CCES. Results: While Latinxs do express higher levels of sexism than other Americans, Latinx sexists are no more likely to vote for Donald Trump, compared to sexists of other racial/ethnic backgrounds, after controlling for a host of relevant covariates. Conclusion: The machismo media narrative is at best sloppy journalism and at worst a misleading reproduction of harmful stereotypes against Latinxs.