Leftist pundits have spent the weeks since November’s election claiming that “whiteness” and racial grievance explain why Donald Trump is headed back to the White House—a hard sell when the president-elect assembled the most multiracial coalition in Republican history, but it doesn’t stop committed partisans from trying.

Trump’s victory does offer valuable lessons about the role race played in the election.

But neither party is asking the central question: Why is there such a disconnect between the ideological beliefs of black voters and their behavior on Election Day?

Across the electorate, 9 in 10 self-identified liberals voted for Kamala Harris, exit polls found, while the same share of conservatives voted for Trump. Moderates were split, with roughly 60% voting Democratic and 40% voting Republican.

Nearly 80% of African American voters identify as either conservative or moderate, and if the connection between ideology and voting was the same for them as for other groups, Trump should have won roughly 40% of the black vote—but he came nowhere close.

He did just as well (13%) among black voters as in 2020 but lost........

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