Stateside Stories

On the 5th November, the Presidential election was held. Today, it has been announced that Trump has won. He received 277 electoral college votes, whilst Harris received 224 votes. For some, this result should be shocking. For others, it comes as no surprise. This victory is horrifying for several reasons, and will dramatically alter the United States as we know it. It feels like only yesterday that we were watching news coverage of the Capitol Riots. Trump supporters hoped to overturn a democratic election because they hated the results. This was endorsed by Trump, who told his followers to “stand back and stand by”. Trump has already expressed an authoritarian streak. He frequently stated that the results of the 2020 election were incorrect, his “STOP THE COUNT!” tweet clearly showed that he wanted to halt the democratic process. Why would anybody want someone who has such little regard for democracy back in charge?

Trump has lied and broken the law so many times that I’ve lost count. From hiding away classified documents at his home to openly endorsing an insurrection, what Trump has done makes Nixon’s crimes look tame. Yet, Richard Nixon’s career was destroyed. He paid for what he did. Trump hasn’t. If anything, he’s been rewarded. It makes me sick. He could go to prison and still be the President. Many claim that Trump’s win has been a ‘historic first’. The first time a convicted criminal has entered the White House. Historic indeed.

Trump has been known for voicing racist conspiracy theories. During the summer, he claimed that migrants from Haiti were eating household pets. This was quickly disproven, but many people did believe him. He has frequently voiced his racist opinions about people from Mexico, portraying them as rapists and drug dealers. Now that he is back in power, progress will probably resume on his precious wall. He frequently added fuel to Q’Anon’s fire, passing off wild theories as if they were fact. He contributed to yet another ‘Yellow Scare’ in America by calling COVID-19 the ‘China Virus’. He has also claimed that Nigel Farage is a”good guy”, which says everything you need to know about the kind of man that Trump is.

He also has an abhorrent view of women. In the post ‘Me Too’ era, the fact that a man who openly spoke of grabbing women “by the pussy” can lead a country is mind-blowing. Trump has numerous rape and sexual assault cases against him. His creepy behaviour towards women has been well documented. He also paid off Stormy Daniels, an adult film actress who he slept with. Women in the United States already faced a serious blow when Roe V Wade was overturned without warning in 2022. Now, a disgusting misogynist is back in the White House. It must be truly terrifying to be a woman in the United States.

History could have been made in the United States this week. They could have elected their first female President. Kamala Harris is more than qualified for the job. She actually has political experience and is incredibly level-headed, not falling for Trump’s bait. Instead, America chose to re-elect a corrupt reality TV star who has no regard for the law and who believes that he is God. Trump is the definition of a narcissist, and yet many Americans believe that he has their best interests at heart. His re-election proves that Americans have been indoctrinated by extremism. Cults used to be shocking fringe movements that were on the very edge of society. Now, a cult has successfully gotten its leader into the White House for a second time. The next four years will be very agonising for all.