I don’t shy away from sober-eyed political analysis. Even with the chance of a Harris win, I have always noted the chance of a Trump win. But boy was I wrong on how large that win is.
At the time of writing, Trump has already won North Carolina and Georgia. The remaining key swing states: Michigan, Pennsylvania, Nevada, and Arizona all lean toward Trump. The New York Times has predicted it is very likely a Trump victory, and he might even win the popular vote.
I knew more people were going to vote for Trump, but never in my wildest dreams did I think that Trump (A twice popular vote loser), would win the popular vote this time despite literally everything from the insurrection to the 34 felony counts.
Maybe Harris could perform a miracle and win back the blue wall, but it nonetheless shows the world a damning indictment of what the US is like.
There is a majority of Americans who are okay with his bigotry.
There is a majority of Americans who are okay with his racism.
There is a majority of Americans who are okay with his anti-semitism.
There is a majority of Americans who are okay with his Islamophobia.
There is a majority of Americans who are okay with his homophobia.
There is a majority of Americans who are okay with his transphobia.
There is a majority of Americans who are okay with his record of sexual abuse and assault.
There is a majority of Americans who are okay with his 4 indictments and the felony counts.
There is a majority of Americans who are okay with his stupidity.
There is a majority of Americans who are okay with his entire attempt to overthrow the government.
There is a majority of Americans who are okay with his rhetoric on political opponents and journalists.
There is a majority of Americans who are okay with his isolationist message.
There is a majority of Americans who are okay with his plans of mass deportation.
There is a majority of Americans who are okay with his plan to be a dictator on day one.
There is a majority of Americans who are okay with his plan to terminate the constitution.
There is a majority of Americans who are okay with his far-right confidants and allies.
There is a majority of Americans who are okay with his relations with dictators.
There is a majority of Americans who are okay with his messages on Ukraine and Gaza.
There is a majority of Americans who are okay with his character.
There is a majority of Americans who either don’t care or don’t mind electing Donald Trump into office.
Populism and anti-incumbent sentiment have won as we have seen in so many other elections, the US is not an exception as it likes to proclaim in so many other circumstances.
Charlie Sykes, a conservative never-Trump writer revealed a segment of what he had written in preparation for a Donald Trump victory days before the election, it is sobering to read it right now.
There will be the inevitable attempts to downplay the threat of a second Trump presidency, but this time we need to take Trump both seriously and literally. We can expect Trump to begin a massive purge of the federal workforce, and begin the process of mass deportations. The reign of Stephen Miller, Elon Musk and RFK, Jr. will begin. Trump will pardon the January 6 rioters, and summarily fire the prosecutors who tried to hold him accountable. Having been immunized by the Supreme Court, he will instruct the DOJ to go after his political opponents. He will abandon Ukraine and begin the process of weakening our alliances. A newly empowered Trump will gut or kill Obamacare outright, while imposing massive new tariffs on the economy.
We also know that the guardrails will not hold, because they did not hold before. If they had, none of this would have happened. Neither the impeachment process nor the justice system blocked his return to power. And now the ultimate guardrail has failed.
Whatever the final outcome, the American people (or enough of them) have returned him to power. In the end, nothing mattered. Not the sexual assaults, the lies, the sedition, or the felonies. Not the raw bigotry of his campaign, not insults, nor the threats. In the most graphic terms imaginable, the American people were warned of the danger. His loyal vice president refused to endorse him; his top general called him a “total fascist”; some of his closest aides and cabinet members described his erratic character and his indifference to the Constitution.
But in the end, Trump was right. He could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot someone and not lose any votes. But, we know now that it was worse. He stood at the center of our politics and incited a violent mob to attack the Capitol. It didn’t matter. And it didn’t matter that he tried to overturn a free and fair election. It didn’t matter that he he was found liable of raping a woman; and it didn’t matter that he had called for terminating the Constitution to restore him to power. And it didn’t matter when he called for the execution of Liz Cheney, threatened to use the military against his fellow Americans, or lied about migrants eatings cats and dogs; or called the United States a “garbage country.”
This is the hardest part about today: realizing that our fellow Americans saw all of that; watched all of that; listened to all of that, and said, “Yes, that’s what we want.” That’s who we are.
Many have said this election is about America or Trump, and Trump needs to be at the center of it all for him to lose. However, it seemed voters were more angry about the incumbent government and his record, then expressing their dissatisfaction through the vote.
Records aside, the Democrats have tried for 4 years to pretend it’s business as usual, working with the Republicans and trying to promote bipartisanship. Look where we are now. Likely, they would never run a female as president ever again, and you would not be surprised if they seek a MAGA populist version of Trump but from the left.
There is a lot to be frustrated about. There is a lot to be worried about. There is a lot to be sentimental about.
However, I hope you take this into mind. This is not the end of the world. We will process more on what went wrong for the Democrats, and how much extra support propelled a Trump victory. As the dust settles, we will dust ourselves off, and try to deal with all the mess coming our way.
I’ll leave you with what Jon Stewart said as the election results come in: "We're all going to have to wake up tomorrow morning and work like hell to move the world to the place that we prefer it to be."