What Will Trump Do for ‘Vice Voters’?

Opinion|What Will Trump Do for ‘Vice Voters’?

President-elect Donald Trump’s cabinet selections are a mix of conventional (Senator Marco Rubio and Gov. Doug Burgum) and oddball (Tulsi Gabbard and Robert F. Kennedy Jr.) — reflecting the heterodox coalition that brought him back to power.

While never a traditional Republican, Mr. Trump, in a second term, looks likely to go further than in his first in dumping many traditional Republican policies. In particular, Mr. Trump seems willing, even eager, to embrace vice.

In his recent campaign, Mr. Trump embraced a strategy of social moderation. Not only did he loudly signal his opposition to hard-line anti-abortion policies, but he also endorsed marijuana legalization in Florida and was aligned with the Biden administration’s move to give pot a less restrictive legal status. And he embraced the crypto craze, launching his own cryptocurrency company.

Mr. Trump’s moderation on pot, crypto — which some social conservatives see as closer to gambling than a serious investment — and other vices appears to have been part of a calculated effort to turn out young men who, surveys suggest, helped propel him to victory.

Pushing forward with liberalization in these areas could help establish “vice voters” as part of the new, post-Trump Republican coalition.

But it would also have dangerous social consequences — consequences that could help fuel an already growing backlash against both Mr. Trump and addictive, harmful goods of all kinds.