Why do politicians hate ‘the elite’ – when they are the elite? | Arwa Mahdawi

The term has become a useful way for Trump and his fellow Republicans to rearrange the goalposts of debate. So why is the US president now sinking to that level?

A quick quiz for you: define the elite". Perhaps you answered with something along the lines of people with superior abilities"? Or maybe you defined it as: the wealthiest and most powerful people in the world"? Neither of those is correct. Nope, the elite" is now a derogatory term used by politicians to mean anyone who disagrees with them. It's the defining political insult of our time.

Donald Trump kicked off this trend. The former president owns a multimillion-dollar Manhattan penthouse dripping with gold, but, starting around 2015, he has carefully distanced himself from evil media and political elites. The idea that he's not included in the elite" is so laughable that sometimes he's even confused himself. At one point in 2018 he told a crowd in Minnesota: You ever notice they always call the other side the elite'? The elite! Why are they elite? I have a much better apartment than they do ... I'm richer than they are."

Arwa Mahdawi is a Guardian columnist

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