Elite theory is descriptive. It merely means the people who have important positions and are in charge of institutions.
It doesn’t mean they are competent, talented or good at their jobs.
In fact, America’s elites are some of the most decadent, cowardly, decayed and incompetent in the entire world. They just have a huge social, economic, and financial capital stock to squander.
Elites also have conflicts of interest, identify of interest, self-dealing and other elements of corruption to keep and grow their power.
The current “elites” are of mediocre intelligence, who dimly understand that they are only “elite” because of the wealth and connections they inherited from their parents.
They understand that there are lots of non-elites out there who are younger, smarter, and more energetic than them.
This frightens them.