Weaponizing Woke: Black and White Voter Responses, Intentions, and Perceived Support to a Politician’s Commentary on X

Denetra Walker and Joshua Cloudy (Accepted for presentation). “Weaponizing Woke: Black and White Voter Responses, Intentions, and Perceived Support to a Politician’s Commentary on X,” accepted for Presentation at the 76thAnnual Conference of the International Communication Association, June 2026 in Cape Town, South Africa.  Abstract: When Republican lawmakers rallied the “war on woke,” they reimagined the term, thrusting it into public discourse on race relations. In this mixed-methods study, we used a between-subjects experimental design (N = 330) with White and Black participants to understand their perceptions of a politician’s X post on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) and wokeness. Using metaperceptions and moral outrage, this study found that anti-woke rhetoric from the politician led to more negative attitudes and behavioral intentions toward the politician, specifically by those who were Black. In the qualitative data, we then examined participants’ open-ended responses to understand the reasons for their support (non-support.) Themes emerged that include Anti-DEI is Anti-support, Positive Vibes= Potential Votes, and Politicians’ Right vs. Responsibility. The discussion includes a closer examination of attitudes toward a politician’s actions and perceived prejudice, based on participants’ race. Future and theoretical implications are also discussed.