WASHINGTON — Britain’s stunning vote to bolt from the European Union sent political tremors across the Atlantic Friday, fueling Donald Trump’s confidence that frustrated US voters will back similarly sweeping change.
The results are rattling Democrats, who are banking on Americans ultimately choosing a more conventional leader in Hillary Clinton.
The British referendum was no exact mirror of the US political landscape. The American electorate is far more diverse and Trump is deeply unpopular with minority voters and women, a serious weakness dogging his Republican candidacy.
The UK referendum also centered on a single issue, while the presidential election can be as much a decision about personality and temperament as candidates’ policies.
Yet the parallels between the forces that drove the British vote and those at the core of Trump’s campaign are striking. Among them: a belief that globalization is hurting the working class, and increased immigration is changing the country’s character.
In both nations, there is strong resentment of political elites who often appear to have little connection to the voters they’re supposed to represent.
‘‘I think there are great similarities between what happened here and my campaign,’’ Trump said from Scotland, where he was attending the opening of one of his golf courses. ‘‘People want to see borders. They don’t necessarily want people pouring into their country — that they don’t know who they are and where they come from.’’
Fifty-two percent of British voters moved to withdraw from the 28-nation European bloc, despite dire warnings from Prime Minister David Cameron and other top officials about calamitous economic consequences.
In the United States, Clinton cast the economic uncertainty as a reason America needs ‘‘calm, steady, experienced leadership’’ in the Oval Office — a knock on her often unpredictable and politically inexperienced Republican rival.
Clinton aides also highlighted Trump’s assertion Friday that a weaker pound would make his Scottish golf course more attractive to visitors.
‘‘Donald Trump actively rooted for this outcome and he’s rooting for the economic turmoil in its wake,’’ said Jake Sullivan, Clinton’s senior policy adviser.
Other Democrats, openly anxious, warned that the party should not underestimate the willingness of angry American voters to choose a more uncertain path in November and side with Trump.
‘‘It’s a timely big splash of cold water the face of Democrats,’’ said Ron Kirk, the former Democratic mayor of Dallas and US trade representative for President Obama.
Democratic operative Lynda Tran said that if US voters are indeed seeking a broad political overhaul in November, Clinton will be ‘‘at a major disadvantage.’’
The British referendum comes as Trump tries to rebound from one of the worst stretches of his campaign. He has struggled to raise money and build a robust organization for the general election, and this week he shook up his operation by firing campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski.
But for some Republicans, the outcome in Britain was a reminder that despite Trump’s shortcomings, he may be the candidate most attuned to voters — an intangible that campaign cash can’t buy.
‘‘Brexit is a wakeup call for the Clinton team,’’ said Scott Reed, chief strategist for the US Chamber of Commerce. ‘‘The status quo won’t work this cycle.’’
Jerry Spaulding, a farmer from Gilmanton, N.H., who plans to vote for Trump in November, said he wouldn’t be surprised if the breadth of Trump’s support is broader that it may look in public opinion polls.
‘‘I do think you’re going to see a lot of people coming out of the woodwork like they did in Britain,’’ Spaulding said.
