> Was there any serious group claiming otherwise? The powerful are usually fairly obviously moving to keep wages low, and the poor are usually complaining that the powerful are moving to keep their wages low.

The poor aren't complaining that the powerful are keeping their wages low; the poor are complaining that the rich pay too much in taxes and the "undeserving" (some ethnic outgroup or other) get handouts from the government.

> “For decades, Americans have experienced a populist uprising that only benefits the people it is supposed to be targeting.... The angry workers, mighty in their numbers, are marching irresistibly against the arrogant. They are shaking their fists at the sons of privilege. They are laughing at the dainty affectations of the Leawoof toffs. They are massing at the gates of Mission Hills, hoisting the black flag, and while the millionaires tremble in their mansions, they are bellowing out their terrifying demands. 'We are here,' they scream, 'to cut your taxes.”

― Thomas Frank, What's the Matter with Kansas? How Conservatives Won the Heart of America

> “If you can convince the lowest white man he's better than the best colored man, he won't notice you're picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he'll empty his pockets for you.”

― Lyndon B. Johnson