When primarily White Evangelical Christian voters elected former Republican President Donald Trump in 2016, defenders claimed his support was all disenfranchised poor or working class White people. His well-documented history of racism, misogyny, homophobia, Islamaphobia and various other bigotries as well as allegations of criminal conduct were dismissed as being irrelevant as opposed to central to why many of his biggest fans supported him.
The same excuse is being given for those who stormed the U.S. Capitol on January 6.
Those who defend the violent rioters describe them not as the White nationalists, White supremacists or QAnon conspiracy theorists they are, but rather as disaffected, downtrodden souls angry about their impoverished lots in life.
Scores of data have proven this excuse to be untrue. Socioeconomic status is not the most common factor among his MAGA supporters.
White nationalism, bigotry and belief in conspiracy theories, regardless of socioeconomic status, has proven to be the biggest common denominator among ardent Trump supporters. Now there's a new example to counter the disenfranchised poor people misconception.
24-year-old Christian Kulas stormed the U.S. Capitol January 6 in a thousand-dollar Burberry coat. He will await trial for his participation in the deadly attack at his parents' multi-million-dollar mansion.
Kulas was arrested Tuesday for his participation in the deadly January 6 coup attempt after he was identified from Instagram videos Kulas posted showing him following crowds to the Capitol, climbing a wall, entering the Capitol building and walking around inside.
Ultimately, according to the FBI's report, it was Kulas' mother who positively identified him after seeing her son in screenshots posted by the FBI in an attempt to identify suspects from the insurrection.
He has been charged with unlawful entry and disorderly conduct and faces a prison sentence if convicted.
Kulas was released after posting $4,500 bond on the condition he surrender his passport, stay away from Washington, D.C., and live at his parents' sprawling mansion, perched atop a bluff overlooking Lake Michigan in the Chicago suburb of Kenilworth on the city's ritzy North Shore.
Local CBS affiliate WBBM spoke to Mary Bowman, a neighbor of the Kulas family, who expressed disbelief at someone like Kulas being duped by the conspiracy theories that motivated many of the insurrectionists.
"It shocks me that someone that seemingly affluent—and let's go out on a limb and say educated—would believe all this craziness."
Kulas is a graduate of Lake Forest High School in the elite suburb of Lake Forest, which is ranked among the top 10 public high schools in the state of Illinois.
On Twitter, people greeted Kulas' situation with a collective eyeroll.
Many scoffing at right-wingers' overused "economic anxiety" excuse.
Others cited White privilege as a greater factor in Kulas' situation.
Kulas is one of more than 500 people who have been arrested so far for their involvement in the Capitol coup attempt.
@mehcadbrooks/Threads