I doubt there’s a single answer there but I have some thoughts. Take them as you will.
Religion. Evangelical christianity pushing for Trump. Religion is important to women because it provides a moral foundation for children. I watched my mom’s cousin really struggle with this (as told through my mom). She deeply dislikes Trump, his behavior, his policies, pretty much every thing about him. She still voted for him. The mental gymnastics of him being 'chosen' and 'ordained to purpose' like Moses were both impressive and spectacular. She was literally sick for months about it but couldn’t get around to the idea that the church could be wrong or that those speaking for the church could be charlatans. So she placed that vote in tears. Black churches are not so caught up in prosperity gospel nonsense like white evangelical churches (broad strokes). So these claims that Trump was annointed by God were properly laughable to them.
The pandemic. This seems counterintuitive here, so follow the logic from white woman perspective. The pandemic has hit all mothers particularly hard. The uncertainty and chaos has been an absolute nightmare. Whatever support you had, you likely lost. Right or wrong, there is a widespread belief amongst white women that it’s harder for them to get state or federal aid than WOC. We all know what the deficit is and that social safety nets are flirting with insolvency. We also all know that Congressional aid has been insufficient and slow coming. So if you believe that you will be turned away from SNAP, etc., because of its inability to meet need, preference toward families already receiving it, or preference to those perceived less likely to get work, securing an income is your only choice to stave off disaster. Republicans have done a good job pushing the narrative that the lockdown is the fault of Democrats and Biden will do another one. You’re not going to vote for another lock down if doing so will put you out on the street. Doesn’t mean you don’t hate his guts. It means that doesn’t matter when your kids are hungry. Congress (both parties) holding aid hostage pushed this vote to a lifeboat scenario for a lot of voters on both sides depending on beliefs and prior experience with aid programs, either yours or family and friends.
Devout Conservatives/Republicans. These folks are going to vote for their party’s candidate no matter who it is. You could quite literally plop a turd in front of a microphone and ask it questions and these people would vote for that turd. So long as it’s not a secret communist or libtard. 💩 Vote for me!
Demonization of progressives, fear of socialism and the accompanying cognitive dissonance. Both parties have a small more radical and vocal element that is part of their party. They’re very loud and annoying and tend to make the whole party look foolish (We are the company we keep). Both parties tend to think that unsavory element is the whole of the opposite party but only a few weirdos in their own party. Media and party leaders play this up because it sells newspapers and gets people riled up enough to go vote. So women who don’t want socialism or fear it will vote Trump. Throw into this ones who have heard about the child eating cannibals in the Democratic party traffickers enough to think there might be something there.
Habit. Politics is incredibly distasteful for a lot of people. They don’t follow it at all. So when they vote they vote out of habit. These people voted Republican more so than specifically for Trump, but Trump was the GOP pick, so…
There are some who just like Trump, are racist, or agree with isolationist and immigration policies.
I’m a white woman who would never have voted for Trump, even if you held a gun to my head and wanted to play Russian roulette while I filled out my ballot. About 30% of the white women I know that have disclosed voted for Trump. A very small number of them were happy with the vote they made. The others did so with varying degrees of resentment and distaste. That cousin with tears and spiritual upheaval.
Sorry to be so long winded.
