Trump II - Washington wakes up to a Republican blowout
Republicans have taken the Presidency, the Senate and possibly the House while Trump is the first Republican to win the popular vote since Bush in 2004.
Donald Trump will ascend to America’s highest office once again after achieving a decisive and shocking victory in both the electoral college and - if results hold - the popular vote.
America’s most divisive man is returning to the Oval Office.
Just before 2:30 EST, Trump appeared onstage to the chorus of Lee Greenwood’s “I’m proud to be an American”. The West Palm Beach crowd was ecstatic. Trump went on to laud his victories across swing states, calling it the “greatest political victory of all time”.
A swing state sweep appears imminent as only Arizona, Nevada, Wisconsin, and Michigan remain undeclared – Trump leads in all four. Georgia, North Carolina and the keystone state of Pennsylvania all broke for Trump.
If current projections hold, Trump is set to attain a blowout 312 victory in the electoral college. Even if Harris can somehow buck the trend in the dying embers of the four unconfirmed contests, she will still fall well short of Trump’s tally.
From the ground in DC, triumphant cheers emanating from election watch parties rapidly faded as Trump charged to victory, state-by-state, throughout the night. The chime of each MSNBC update, welcomed at the party’s outset, quickly morphed into a Pavlovian harbinger of dismay as the hours passed. Visibly distressed, a young man in a trendy Harris-Walz camo hat cursed under his breath as his eyes flicked nervously between the monitors as another state fell to the Donald.
Their mood was shared by those several blocks to the north at the Harris campaign headquarters. Clips from the site depict the mood deflating precipitously as the night ensued. Just before 1 AM EST, a final nail in the coffin was delivered by the Harris camp co-chair upon his announcement that Kamala will not be making a live appearance tonight. Hundreds hurriedly vacated, many with tears in their eyes.
The race wasn’t close. Trump’s victory is poised to eclipse even his unbelievable 2016 run, as he is set to improve his past electoral margin and win the popular vote, the first for a Republican contender since Bush in 2004.
Several key demographics carried Trump to triumph in tonight’s contest. Chief among these were Latino voters who exceeded even the most optimistic Republican projections and propelled the former president to easy victories in Florida and Texas. For the first time in modern history, Trump pulled in a majority of the Mexican American vote in Texas, evidence of a broader Latino realignment beyond Miami’s Little Havana.
Trump also dominated the independent vote as the nation’s vast centre broke for the Republican in historic margins. Additionally, Trump captured 55 per cent of new voters and fared well with the young compared to past races.
Harris’s Hail Mary, the highly-anticipated female wave, did not materialise as envisioned. Remarkably, Harris trailed Biden’s share of women voters in 2020, achieving only 54%. The prospect of a first female President and codified abortion protections ultimately failed to mass-mobilise American women.
While Trump strolled to victory across the nation, I ventured to the White House where crowds of various protestors had gathered. Few were traditional demonstrators as the crowd was mostly comprised of Green party supporters, religious fanatics, the Gaza troupe, and various niche movements.
The lone Trump supporter of the bunch, indentified as “spidey”, stood his ground in front of opposing demonstrators. “Spidey” conferred to me that his top issue was “peace” and that his unwavering allegiance to Trump stems from his fears for his friends in the military, whom he does not want to see in combat in Ukraine. While not a popular figure in DC, spidey’s isolationist sentiments clearly resonated across the country.
The largest contingent was that of the Gaza camp, who donned white keffiyehs and chanted anti-Harris slogans for hours on end. Initially hostile to my prodding, one protestor, identified as “T”, relented that he considered voting for Harris but ultimately threw his vote to Jill Stein in protest over her unwavering support of Palestine. While the mutiny certainly did her Harris’s chances, progressive anger appears to have made little difference in the end as Jill Stein’s vote count paled in comparison to the margins between Trump and Harris.
According to data out of Dearborn, Michigan, most Arab Americans - a key Democratic demographic in 2020 - voted for Trump this time around. Results indicate a Trump lead of 45% of the voting cohort, followed by Jill Stein at 33%. Harris managed a mere 15%.
The Presidential election’s devastating result for Democrats is complemented by defeat in the Senate, as seats in Ohio and West Virginia flipped to the Right.
The Republicans may hold the House of Representatives as well, providing Trump uncontested political power in his second term. However, many races remain too close to call, and Democrats could eek out a majority in the House.
In the end, Harris’ $3.5 bn in campaign spending, endless celebrity endorsements, and late media blitz could not stop the incessant momentum of Donald Trump.
The world has two months to prepare for a second Trump administration.
