It has been said and written that Donald Trump was elected president by “forgotten” voters tired of Americans being pushed around by leaders of other countries. I don’t think that gets to the heart of the matter.

Tens of millions of Americans voted for Trump and others would have if his foes, both Democrat and Republican, hadn’t been so successful in scaring people about him.

They are not “forgotten” voters. They are people who have been ignored by government at best — and actively hurt or belittled at worst.

Yes, they’re upset our nation has been humiliated regularly by foreign countries. But their real anger about being pushed around is aimed at Washington, D.C.

They are frustrated their needs and desires are ignored in Washington. They are upset that they are looked down upon by political, financial, social and entertainment elitists. By the way, the latter category includes many calling themselves the news media.

And Trump loyalists are angry that they are told what they want makes them bad people. They do not always agree with each other. But they share a feeling government has betrayed them.

They are fed up with a system that:

* allows abuses by financial institutions because they are “too big to fail.”

* curries favor with special interests that deliver votes and campaign contributions.

* embraces a foreign policy that coddles nations that are not our friends.

* excuses regimes that treat women virtually as slaves  — but accuses Americans of being evil when they question whether people biologically of one gender should be permitted to use restrooms once earmarked for the other.

* insists that symbolic but practically meaningless U.S. action to limit climate change is worth tens of thousands of jobs now and millions later, while forcing electric bills up for tens of millions of hard-working Americans.

* shuts down national parks and turns veterans away from monuments to them solely to make political points.

* doubles the national debt in eight years, without skipping a beat.

* mistreats veterans without punishing bureaucrats who were responsible.

* informs farmers how they and their parents and grandparents worked the land for generations is now a crime.

* accuses those who genuinely believe abortion is killing children of hating women.

* assures Americans who play by the rules that worrying about illegal immigration means they are bigots.

* uses pens and phones to make the elected representatives of the people irrelevant as often as possible.

* promotes the idea that those who “cling” to fidelity to the Second Amendment and religious faith are somehow backward and ignorant.

* rewards cities and states that encourage disobedience of laws the executive branch is supposed to uphold, but with which those in power disagree.

* takes our money to Washington and refuses to hand it back to our schools unless they toe the federal line.

There is more. Obamacare, anyone?

Trump’s supporters, and there are at least 60 million of them who felt strongly enough to vote for him, focus their anger on the president — for now, at least. But they understand many of their foes cannot be touched by ballots.

Those members of the power elite control the vast government bureaucracy. There are about 1.4 million civilian federal employees — 10 percent more than when President Barack Obama took office. Before you condemn Democrats for that, consider that the federal workforce expanded by 17 percent during George W. Bush’s tenure.

Overwhelmingly, most government employees just try to do their jobs. But a few with policy-setting and enforcement authority have become the fourth branch of government, subject to virtually no checks and balances.

They — not Democrats in Congress or foreign leaders — will be Trump’s most formidable enemies,

They even boast of their power. You may have heard what some allegedly tell elected officials they view as threats to the bureaucracy: “We were here when you came to Washington, and we’ll be here when you’re gone.”

Mike Myer can be reached at mmyer@theintelligencer.net.