Racists became more racist during the Trump years -- according to science

According to 13 studies published this week by the journal Nature Human Behavior, the presidency of Donald Trump ushered in a wave of overt racism with the researchers also bluntly stating a person claiming to be a supporter of the former president is likely to express racist views.

As Courthouse News is reporting, "Racial and religious prejudice increased significantly among Donald Trump supporters during his presidency" based on the studies' interviews with more than 10,000 participants.

According to the report in the journal, "These results suggest that Trump's presidency coincided with a substantial change in the topography of prejudice in the United States."

"Regardless of what we controlled for, Trump support remained a robust predictor of increases in prejudice," the report stated.

Asked for comment, Tim Hagle, of the University of Iowa, said attacks on Trump supporters by opponents of the former president likely contributed to their coming out of the closet and spouting racist rhetoric.

“The left didn’t want to just demonize Trump, they wanted to demonize the people who supported Trump," Tim Hagle, an associate professor of political science explained. "If you keep calling people racist, pretty soon they are going to say, 'This is what I believe. You can say anything about me that you want.'”

Author Stephen Farnsworth chimed in, "Trump was able to be a vehicle to express ones' frustration with political correctness and tolerance. He didn’t create it. These hostilities existed before him but he was a vehicle to channel that grievance."

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