‘Wokeism’ is the Republican Party’s favourite buzzword – but what does it actually mean?

Party hopefuls in the US are allowing their base to do the work of defining what the word means to them, and then capitalising on whatever feelings are stirred up, report Ashley Parker and Liz Goodwin

Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley wrote a tweet attacking ‘weak and woke’ ideology the day she declared her candidacy (Photo for The Washington Post by Sean Rayford)

Governor Ron DeSantis (Republican, Florida), a likely 2024 presidential candidate, used his January inaugural address to warn of “the woke mob” and its “woke ideology”.

US representative Jim Banks (Republican, Indiana), chair of the House armed services subcommittee on military personnel, recently released a statement blaming the military’s recruitment challenges on “the left’s culture wars” and a “woke agenda”.