Opinion: Trump did not win this election. Harris was defeated by a Gaza-inspired boycott

When former President Donald Trump snatched victory from the jaws of defeat in the 2016 elections, I wrote an article in Middle East Eye to explain the roots of his mystifying phenomenon.

I argued that white racism alone could not explain his victory, and that there were deeper social, economic and political causes behind his rise.

Even though the number of white voters has been consistently declining in the US - with the most recent US census revealing the number of white Americans had reached a historical low of 62 percent of the general population - they still comprise a majority and represent the bulk of the Republican Party. 

But the presence of racism among certain segments of society cannot explain the changes in voting behaviour since former President Barack Obama was elected twice, and four years later, the American electorate had determinedly ousted Trump.

Even though Hillary Clinton beat Trump in 2016 in the popular vote with 66 million votes to 63 million, she still lost the Electoral College vote 306 to 232.

Read more:  Trump did not win this election. Harris was defeated by a Gaza-inspired boycott