One New York journalist told me (in what became a heated discussion) that coal miners had not mentioned race once when he interviewed them. When he brought up race, they did not seem overly exercised by it. What was missing from his absolving of his subjects was the fact that they were not bothered or disturbed by the fact that nominee Trump had already made racist statements about Muslims, Mexicans and immigrants. This ambivalence towards his racism was interpreted as neutrality, rather than endorsement. This element was heavily discounted during the electoral race.
