Latest news with #Whites
Newsweek
3 days ago
- Politics
- Newsweek
New Study Reveals Why Trump Is So Popular Among Minority Voters
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. A new study could shed light on one reason President Donald Trump may have gained ground with minority voters, who previously supported Democrats, in the 2024 presidential race. Why It Matters Trump's 2024 victory was in part due to his relative strength among Latino, Black and Asian and Pacific Islander voters who have drifted away from Democrats. The question about why these voters shifted rightward has perplexed some on the left, who are seeking to win them back in the 2026 midterms and beyond. The new study, published this month in Psychological Science, offers one explanation about this phenomenon. What to Know Ethnic minorities were closer in their attitudes about "strong leaders" to right-leaning white Americans compared to left-leaning white Americans, according to the study. Trump has in the past been compared to a "strong leader," defined by the study as leaders who are "tough, ironfisted, and viewed by supporters as dedicated to the pursuit of their goals." The study focused on minorities both in the U.S. and Europe—not on Trump specifically, though Krishnan Nair, a postdoctoral research associate at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign who is an author of the study, told Newsweek it could have implications on his electoral strength with some voting groups. A woman holds a sign that reads "Latinos for Trump" at the Orange County Fair and Event Center, April 28, 2016, in Costa Mesa, California. A woman holds a sign that reads "Latinos for Trump" at the Orange County Fair and Event Center, April 28, 2016, in Costa Mesa, California. DAVID MCNEW/AFP via Getty Images The study found that levels of "generalized trust," which is the level of trust a person has in others living around them, is a key factor in shaping leadership preferences. It noted that while there have been decades worth of studies on support for strong leaders among the right, those studies have mostly been made up of white participants. "Minorities across ethnic and political backgrounds are generally closer to right-wing Whites than to left-wing Whites in their preference for strong leaders," Nair said. "That's important because Trump being this prototypical strong leader, we also see a minority shift toward Trump even as Trump's rhetoric is viewed by a lot of people as being racially insensitive or offensive." Minorities may have lower levels of generalized trust if they are recent immigrants from countries with lower generalized trust or due to their social standing in the U.S, he said. Nair explained how this could translate to support for strong leadership. "Imagine yourself in a group and you don't trust others in the group, to cooperate, you think others might be likely to exploit you," he said. "In this situation, there's this idea that having a strong leader who punishes those who are rule breakers or don't cooperate or might exploit you, that reduces that kind of behavior and creates more cooperation or harmony." New data analysis released this week from Catalist showed how Democrats last ground among different racial groups in recent years. In 2024, 85 percent of Black voters supported former Vice President Kamala Harris—down from 89 percent who backed former President Joe Biden in 2020 and 93 percent who backed former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in 2016. Meanwhile, 54 percent of Latino voters supported Harris—down from 63 percent who supported Biden in 2020 and 70 percent who backed Clinton in 2016. Sixty-one percent of Asian American and Pacific Islander voters backed Harris, compared to 65 percent who voted for Biden in 2020 and 70 percent who voted for Clinton in 2016, according to Catalist. What People Are Saying Nair told Newsweek: "I think this perception of your leader as being someone who's tough, strong and dominant, that could potentially play role in increasing support among minority voters, potentially. But that's something you need a lot more research on." William Frey of the Brookings Institution wrote in a December 2024 report: "This year's very real shift among Latino or Hispanic voters is only a bit sharper than the one observed in the Bush-Kerry election of 2004, after which more Latino or Hispanic voters returned to the Democratic fold. Indeed, the shift away from 2020 and earlier elections among more vulnerable members of these minority groups could very well be a blip that was part of a nationwide reaction to the high price of groceries, housing, and other necessities that accompanied a once-in-a-century pandemic, which led to similar rightward political shifts in other developed countries." What Happens Next It will be closely watched whether Democrats can win back voters who shifted toward Republicans in upcoming elections, including early tests for the parties in the New Jersey and Virginia gubernatorial races later this year. It's yet to be seen whether this is part of a longer-term trend.
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Trump admin asking federal agencies to cancel remaining Harvard contracts
The Trump administration is asking all federal agencies to find ways to terminate all federal contracts with Havard University amid an ongoing standoff over foreign students' records at the Ivy League school. The General Services Administration is planning to send a letter Tuesday instructing all federal agencies to review the estimated $100 million remaining in federal contracts with Harvard and potentially "find alternative vendors," according to a copy of the letter obtained by Fox News. The remaining federal contracts include a $527,000 agreement for Harvard ManageMentor Licenses, which was awarded in September 2021, a $523,000 contract for Harvard to conduct research on energy drinks and the health outcomes of other dietary intakes overtime, which was awarded in August 2023, and a $39,000 contract for gradate student research services, which was award in April 2025, a source familiar with the matter told Fox News. Trump Accuses Harvard Of Being 'Very Slow' To Turn Over Foreign Student Info The New York Times first reported about a draft of the letter. In the letter, GSA's Federal Acquisition Service Commissioner Josh Gruenbaum said Harvard "continues to engage in race discrimination, including in its admissions process and in other areas of student life." Read On The Fox News App He said Harvard has shown "no indication" of reforming its admissions process, despite the Supreme Court ruling that university's long-standing policy discriminates on the basis of race. For applicants in the top academic decile, admissions rates were 56% for African-Americans, 31% for Hispanics, 15% for Whites and 13% for Asians, according to the lawsuit. Gruenbaum said Harvard "now has to offer a remedial math course, which has been described as 'middle school math' for incoming freshmen." He said that was a direct result "of employing discriminatory factors, instead of merit, in admission decisions." Gruenbaum also cited possible violations of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 regarding Harvard's hiring, promotion, compensation, and other personnel-related actions. He said discriminatory practices "have been exposed at the Harvard Law Review, where internal documents that have been made public detail the pervasive and explicit racial discrimination in the publication's article selection and editor appointment process." "GSA is also aware of recent events at Harvard University involving anti-Semitic action that suggest the institution has a disturbing lack of concern for the safety and wellbeing of Jewish students," Gruenbaum wrote. "Harvard's ongoing inaction in the face of repeated and severe harassment and targeting of its students has at times grounded day-to-day campus operations to a halt, deprived Jewish students of learning and research opportunities to which they are entitled, and profoundly alarmed the general public." Fox News Digital reached out to Harvard University for comment Tuesday. Harvard has already sued in federal court seeking the restoration of about $3.2 billion in federal grant funding already frozen by the administration since last month. In a separate suit, the university was granted a temporary restraining order on Friday that temporarily blocks the government from canceling the school's certification in the Student and Exchange Visitor Program. The program permits the university to host international students with F-1 or J-1 visas to study in the U.S. Harvard said the revocation would impact more than 7,000 visa holders – more than a quarter of its student body. A brief federal court hearing was held Tuesday morning in federal court in Boston on the matter. A judge scheduled another hearing for Thursday to allow both parties more time to present their case. President Donald Trump said in a TRUTH Social post on Monday that he is "considering taking Three Billion Dollars of Grant Money away from a very antisemitic Harvard, and giving it to TRADE SCHOOLS all across our land." "What a great investment that would be for the USA, and so badly needed!!!" he wrote. Judge Temporarily Pauses Trump Move To Cancel Harvard Student Visa Policy After Lawsuit The president also accused Harvard of being "very slow" in handing over documents about foreign students and of having "shopped around and found the absolute best judge (for them)." Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem said last week that she revoked Harvard's certification after the university refused to comply with multiple requests for information on foreign students while "perpetuating an unsafe campus environment that is hostile to Jewish students, promotes pro-Hamas sympathies, and employs racist 'diversity, equity and inclusion' policies." The requested records include any and all audio or video footage in Harvard's possession regarding threats to other students or university personnel, "deprivation of rights" of other classmates or university personnel, and "dangerous or violent activity, whether on or off campus" by a nonimmigrant student enrolled at Harvard in the last five years. Noem is also asking for any and all disciplinary records and audio or video footage of any protest activity involving nonimmigrant students. DHS said that Harvard's responses so far have been insufficient. Fox News' Sarah Tobianski contributed to this article source: Trump admin asking federal agencies to cancel remaining Harvard contracts
Int'l Business Times
24-05-2025
- Politics
- Int'l Business Times
Sexually Assaulted And Smeared In Excrement: Uganda Activist Details Torture In Tanzania
Stripped naked, beaten until she could no longer walk, sexually assaulted and covered in excrement: award-winning Ugandan activist Agather Atuhaire told AFP of the torture she suffered at the hands of security forces in Tanzania this week. Atuhaire, who won an International Women of Courage Award from the United States last year, was arrested on Monday in Tanzania's business hub Dar es Salaam. She had travelled there to support opposition leader Tundu Lissu, who is on trial for treason, facing a potential death penalty, ahead of elections in October. Atuhaire was abandoned early Friday by Tanzanian agents near the Ugandan border after a brutal ordeal, she said. "What happened in Tanzania stays in Tanzania," she said she was told. "We have videos of you." Atuhaire was arrested along with Boniface Mwangi, a well-known rights activist from Kenya who also wanted to attend the trial. Police told her: "Whites are sending you to destabilise our country," she told AFP in an interview in the Ugandan capital Kampala on Friday. After being interrogated, Atuhaire and Mwangi were blindfolded and driven to an unknown location. There, they took Mwangi out of the car and began beating him. "He was screaming," said Atuhaire, adding that the agents had played gospel songs on the car radio, apparently trying to muffle the sound. She says she was stripped naked, her hands cuffed to her ankles. She has injuries on her forearms and legs. One of the Tanzanian officers then hit the soles of her feet "with all his might", while another inserted an object into her anus, she said. "I had never known pain like that existed," she said. "I don't remember which pain was worse," she added. "After that beating, I scream, I scream." Then they smeared her body with excrement, she said. The whole scene was filmed -- "to humiliate, instil fear but also silence you", she said. "They are used to sexual abuse being something a victim is ashamed of. (But) I am not that victim... I am not the one who should be ashamed. You are the one who is committing a heinous crime, so you are the one who should be ashamed," Atuhaire said. The US State Department said Saturday it was "deeply concerned" about the reports of mistreatment of Atuhaire and Mwangi, calling for "an immediate and full investigation". Amnesty International also said the "torture and forcible deportation" of Mwangi and Atuhaire must be "urgently investigated". AFP attempted to reach the Tanzanian government for comment, but there was no immediate response. Atuhaire, a lawyer and journalist, is a fierce critic of the government of Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, who has ruled the country for almost 40 years. Her work in exposing corruption as head of the Agora Centre for Research has earned her international recognition. Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan said Monday foreign activists were attempting to "intrude and interfere" in the country's affairs. She urged the security services "not to allow ill-mannered individuals from other countries to cross the line here". Rights groups accuse Hassan of a brutal crackdown on the opposition ahead of the October elections. Lissu's Chadema party has been banned from taking part after refusing to sign an electoral "code of conduct" without significant reforms. The day after Hassan warned foreign activists, Atuhaire was still in detention and "couldn't step on the floor" due to the beatings on her feet, she said. "The pain was unimaginable," she said, but her captors forced her to "get up and exercise". In the following days, until her release, she says she was kept blindfolded, living in fear of what might happen next. "We were both treated worse than dogs, chained, blindfolded and underwent a very gruesome torture," said Mwangi, struggling to walk, after he was released and had returned to the Kenyan capital Nairobi on Thursday. "The situation in Tanzania is very bad. I think what happened to us is what happens to all Tanzanian activists," he said. Atuhaire says she will file a complaint against Tanzania for the torture she suffered. "For me, the need for justice supersedes anything, any feeling of shame, which I don't even feel," she told AFP. "Of course it is difficult. I have physical pain. I am sure after that I'll deal with mental psychological pain. But I will not give anyone, any of these murderers, criminal organisations that we have as governments, the pleasure" of seeing her broken, she said. Atuhaire says she was beaten on the feet and sexually assaulted AFP Kenyan activist Boniface Mwangi says he was detained and tortured alongside Atuhaire AFP
France 24
24-05-2025
- Politics
- France 24
Sexually assaulted and smeared in excrement: Uganda activist details torture in Tanzania
Atuhaire, who won an International Women of Courage Award from the United States last year, was arrested on Monday in Tanzania's business hub Dar es Salaam. She had travelled there to support opposition leader Tundu Lissu, who is on trial for treason, facing a potential death penalty, ahead of elections in October. Atuhaire was abandoned early Friday by Tanzanian agents near the Ugandan border after a brutal ordeal, she said. "What happened in Tanzania stays in Tanzania," she said she was told. "We have videos of you." Atuhaire was arrested along with Boniface Mwangi, a well-known rights activist from Kenya who also wanted to attend the trial. Police told her: "Whites are sending you to destabilise our country," she told AFP in an interview in the Ugandan capital Kampala on Friday. After being interrogated, Atuhaire and Mwangi were blindfolded and driven to an unknown location. There, they took Mwangi out of the car and began beating him. "He was screaming," said Atuhaire, adding that the agents had played gospel songs on the car radio, apparently trying to muffle the sound. She says she was stripped naked, her hands cuffed to her ankles. She has injuries on her forearms and legs. One of the Tanzanian officers then hit the soles of her feet "with all his might", while another inserted an object into her anus, she said. "I had never known pain like that existed," she said. "I don't remember which pain was worse," she added. "After that beating, I scream, I scream." Then they smeared her body with excrement, she said. The whole scene was filmed -- "to humiliate, instil fear but also silence you", she said. "They are used to sexual abuse being something a victim is ashamed of. (But) I am not that victim... I am not the one who should be ashamed. You are the one who is committing a heinous crime, so you are the one who should be ashamed," Atuhaire said. The US State Department said Saturday it was "deeply concerned" about the reports of mistreatment of Atuhaire and Mwangi, calling for "an immediate and full investigation". Amnesty International also said the "torture and forcible deportation" of Mwangi and Atuhaire must be "urgently investigated". AFP attempted to reach the Tanzanian government for comment, but there was no immediate response. 'Pain was unimaginable' Atuhaire, a lawyer and journalist, is a fierce critic of the government of Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, who has ruled the country for almost 40 years. Her work in exposing corruption as head of the Agora Centre for Research has earned her international recognition. Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan said Monday foreign activists were attempting to "intrude and interfere" in the country's affairs. She urged the security services "not to allow ill-mannered individuals from other countries to cross the line here". Rights groups accuse Hassan of a brutal crackdown on the opposition ahead of the October elections. Lissu's Chadema party has been banned from taking part after refusing to sign an electoral "code of conduct" without significant reforms. The day after Hassan warned foreign activists, Atuhaire was still in detention and "couldn't step on the floor" due to the beatings on her feet, she said. "The pain was unimaginable," she said, but her captors forced her to "get up and exercise". In the following days, until her release, she says she was kept blindfolded, living in fear of what might happen next. "We were both treated worse than dogs, chained, blindfolded and underwent a very gruesome torture," said Mwangi, struggling to walk, after he was released and had returned to the Kenyan capital Nairobi on Thursday. "The situation in Tanzania is very bad. I think what happened to us is what happens to all Tanzanian activists," he said. Atuhaire says she will file a complaint against Tanzania for the torture she suffered. "For me, the need for justice supersedes anything, any feeling of shame, which I don't even feel," she told AFP. "Of course it is difficult. I have physical pain. I am sure after that I'll deal with mental psychological pain. But I will not give anyone, any of these murderers, criminal organisations that we have as governments, the pleasure" of seeing her broken, she said. burs-jf/er/rbu/jhb © 2025 AFP
Arab Times
24-05-2025
- Politics
- Arab Times
Trump ‘twisted' facts to push baseless genocide claims: S.Africa police minister
JOHANNESBURG, May 24, (AP): South Africa's top law enforcement official said Friday that U.S. President Donald Trump wrongly claimed that a video he showed in the Oval Office was of burial sites for more than 1,000 white farmers and he "twisted' the facts to push a false narrative about mass killings of white people in his country. Police Minister Senzo Mchunu was talking about a video clip that was played during the meeting between Trump and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa at the White House on Wednesday that showed an aerial view of a rural road with lines of white crosses erected on either side. "Now this is very bad,' Trump said as he referred to the clip that was part of a longer video that was played in the meeting. "These are burial sites, right here. Burial sites, over a thousand, of white farmers, and those cars are lined up to pay love on a Sunday morning." Mchunu said the crosses did not mark graves or burial sites, but were a temporary memorial put up in 2020 to protest the killings of all farmers across South Africa. They were put up during a funeral procession for a white couple who were killed in a robbery on their farm, Mchunu said. A son of the couple who were killed and a local community member who took part in the procession also said the crosses do not represent burial sites and were taken down after the protest. South Africa struggles with extremely high levels of violent crime, although farm killings make up a small percentage of the country's overall homicides. Both white and Black farmers are attacked, and sometimes killed, and the government has condemned the violence against both groups. Whites make up around 7% of South Africa's 62 million people but generally still have a much better standard of living than the Black majority more than 30 years after the end of the apartheid system of racial segregation. Whites make up the majority of the country's wealthier commercial farmers. Mchunu said Trump's false claims that the crosses represented more than 1,000 burial sites was part of his "genocide story' - referring to the US president's baseless allegations in recent weeks that there is a widespread campaign in South Africa to kill white farmers and take their land that he has said amounts to a genocide. "They are not graves. They don't represent graves,' Mchunu said regarding the video that has become prominent on social media since it was shown in the White House. "And it was unfortunate that those facts got twisted to fit a false narrative about crime in South Africa.'
