Author and MIT professor Noam Chomsky broke down how Donald Trump has used white supporters’ “generalized anger” over becoming a minority to boost his presidential bid in an interview with Art is Power.

“So every time Trump makes a nasty comment about whoever, his popularity goes up. Because it’s based on hate, you know, hate and fear” Chomsky argued. “And it’s unfortunately kind of reminiscent of something unpleasant: Germany, not many years ago.”

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This year’s presidential primaries, he said, were interesting — but not for any substantive reasons, pointing to Trump as a prime example.

“He’s a clown — literally, he could be in the circus,” Chomsky said. “He’s getting huge support from people who are angry at everything. Mostly white males. Working-class, middle-class, poor white males. And their wives and traditional families. They are furious about everything.”

What Trump has done, he explained, was tap into a longstanding nativism within the US. Whereas past generations feared being “replaced” by Germans or Irish, the current political climate has placed Muslims and Mexican immigrants in the scapegoat role.

Watch Chomsky’s commentary, as posted by Art is Power, below.