People always want to stay the bad times started in 2016, but the 2 key events that lead to Trump getting elected were 9/11-war on terror and the 2008 financial crash. People forget but Occupy Wall Street started in 2012 and that was the real wake up call for the entire American political establishment that the status quo was not working for most people. Instead the DNC rigged the 2016 democratic primary and Trump ended up winning the election.
Things have been shit for a while for most people, but 2016 was the first time we had the opportunity to acknowledge it.