It's more nuanced than that.  Trump certainly appealed to racist elements in the US.  This doesn't necessarily make him a racist, but it most certainly makes him an opportunist politician.  I personally don't see a whole lot of difference between Real Estate businessman and most politicians.  Most are trying to sell themselves to particular audiences in order to 'win'.  Trump also sold himself to Evangelicals, Mormons, and conservative white Catholics. I doubt many people really think his personal moral worldview is compatible with any of those constituenies.  The question is, why did those constituencies buy his line of bs?  The answer is abortion and Supreme Court justice appointees and that is really quite sad.  It says we don't care what a piece of moral work you are as long as you give us control of women's bodies just like you think you control women's bodies....only differently.