Do they like him because he’ll “make America great again” – or make America white again?

Granted, some South Carolinians may have voted for Trump because they want a strong leader.

But you know more than a few voted for him because – like Strom Thurmond, Jesse Helms and George Wallace before him – he knows how to use the code words and dog whistles for race.

Why else would he win evangelicals, despite his sybaritic lifestyle, and ideological conservatives, despite his political promiscuity?

Trump started years ago, claiming Obama was born in Kenya. Then he attacked the Mexicans. Then the Muslims.

Of course, his supporters rarely admit that’s why they like him. Instead, they say “he’s not politically correct” or “he’s not afraid to say what he thinks.”

It’s just like when Thurmond, Helms and Wallace stopped using the N-word and started talking about states’ rights and a too-powerful federal government.

Wink, wink. Nod, nod.

Now the Republican Party Establishment is in a panic over Trump.

Contemplate the irony here. For decades, the GOP Establishment has been happy to play ball with the Stroms, the Jesses and all their ilk.

Now the chickens have come home to roost. Big time.