The connection is that the whole culture war is a big part of what got these clowns their votes. I know people who are pretty centrist, wavering on whether to vote for Trump because he'd deal with the "SJW stuff". People who agreed that police brutality against black people was an issue, but were mortified by many of the talking points and activities of BLM protesters (remember when people were taking hostages on college campuses? That was pretty recent).

It was really not long ago when "defund the police" was a contentious issue, and apologists were talking about how "no, they don't mean it literally, it's just to start a conversation", much like how Trump's handlers constantly have to twist his horrible words into something more palatable.

It's not disconnected, it's populism.