Corina Lacatus’ study Populism and the 2016 American Election: Evidence from Official Press Releases and Twitter defines populism as “a type of political rhetoric predicated on the moral vilification of elites, who are perceived as self-serving and undemocratic.” Lacatus identifies Trump as the populist candidate of 2016, with him labeling Democrats as the elites, saying they aren’t helping the white middle class of America. From what I can gather, Trump would actually be considered one of the true “elites,” seeing as he’s a “self-serving and undemocratic” billionaire. Lacatis said no matter the ideological leaning of the candidate, populists promise to upset the status quo with one that centralizes the people, not the elites. Trump’s wide appeal to the white middle class definitely took a populist approach in 2016 and may have secured him the election. In my opinion, the two most interesting findings in Lacatus’ study are the differences in the three candidates’ uses of o...