The “Trump effect” on hate crime reporting: media coverage before and after the 2016 presidential election

Abstract

Hate crimes have a broad impact not just on the victim, but also on people in the community. Since the 2016 presidential election there has been an uptick in hate crimes against people of color, immigrants, non-Christians, LGBTQ+, and other minority populations, possibly due to the “the Trump effect.” By analyzing the newspaper coverage of hate crimes over a seven year period, we assess if the Trump effect impacted newspaper coverage of hate crimes after Trump’s rallies and speeches. Findings suggest that there was an increase in assault and harassment hate crimes after Trump rallies. Implications of these findings are also discussed.