Donald trump Quote by Seth Stephens-Davidowitz
““Silver noticed that the areas where Trump performed best made for an odd map. Trump performed well in parts of the Northeast and industrial Midwest, as well as the South. He performed notably worse out West. Silver looked for variables to try to explain this map. Was it unemployment? Was it religion? Was it gun ownership? Was it rates of immigration? Was it opposition to Obama? Silver found that the single factor that best correlated with Donald Trump’s support in the Republican primaries was that measure I had discovered four years earlier. Areas that supported Trump in the largest numbers were those that made the most Google searches for “nigger.””
About This Quote
Source Book: Everybody Lies: Big Data, New Data, and What the Internet Tells Us About O, by Seth Stephens-Davidowitz, 2017
The strongest predictor of Trump support in primaries was the frequency of racist search terms online, highlighting deep-seated prejudice as a political driver.
In simple terms: Racist online searches predicted Trump support.
Recognize hidden biases in data.
Themes
Mood
Type
When to use this quote
- election strategy
- public opinion research
- media analysis
Key Concepts
Questions to Reflect On
- How do online behaviors reflect deeper social attitudes?
- What ethical concerns arise from using such data?
Understanding bias in data is essential for accurate interpretation.