You make a good point.
TV’s Archie Bunker was a factory worker, and a strong anti-communist. That was a realistic portrayal (although the racism part was not).
The middle class has been hollowed out. The factories are gone. Both the D’s and the R’s are responsible. As you noted, Trump is trying to change that. And they’ve fought him every step of the way.
Bunker was just a Jewish leftist caricature of what a working class White guy was like. Outrageously overdone.
What shocked them is the fact that Carroll O’Connor played it so well that people liked him; even O’Connor didn’t see that coming.
Reiner’s kid managed to parody his own tribe - phony hipster college dropout loser - so well that Bunker’s sneering at him became almost understandable.
The Hard Hat riot of ‘69 was the predecessor for the show. Hollyweird couldn’t understand why working class Irish and Italians in NYC weren’t down with the NVA and the protests.