So, Donald Trump was re-elected United States president. The twice-indicted, several-times bankrupt, 34-charge criminal’s return to power has sent shockwaves throughout the world. The initial reaction was one of surprise from his detractors. But the question we should all be asking is not, “How?”, but… “Why?”
Her Democratic challenger, current vice-president Kamala Harris, has failed spectacularly. Not only did Trump manage to help the Republicans grab control of the Senate, they will also get an increased majority in the House of Representatives. He was also able to win both the electoral college, he is also set to win the popular vote, the first time a Republican has done so since George W Bush in 2004. In spite of all the legal issues that he has faced, the persistent lying, promoting and spreading of conspiracy theories, scare stories over issues such as immigration, crime and the economy, a signficant numbers of voters, particularly in the battleground states, decided to give him…and the Republican party… almost total power.
Almost everybody got it wrong: the pollsters got it wrong, the mainstream news media got it wrong, most political commentators got it wrong, even Republicans opposed to Trump got it wrong. But it was both Harris and the Democratic party had got it so terribly wrong. They underestimated the strength of the MAGA base, and Trump was helped by the mistakes Harris and her campaign team made. Any hopes that the checks and balances will restrain him once he gets to office are now effectively gone, as he will be able to pick any member of the cabinet he chooses… and it’s not going to be pretty looking in from the outside.
With the US set to become isolationist in the near future, support for the likes of Ukraine and Taiwan will soon be withdrawn, as will any back-up plans to support European nations hoping to deter the likes of Russia, North Korea and China. Some had already drawn up such plans to ramp up defence spending, but it won’t be enough for an already divided continent to sustain such a war footing against formidable military powers.
How on earth did Kamala Harris manage to lose a winnable election? Some commentators have repeatedly criticised her role as vice-president. Many in the Democrat establishment never wanted her in the first place. When Joe Biden withdrew from the race for president, they wanted to pick somebody else, but they got Harris instead of having an proper open primary for a more suitable candidate, and that infighting helped Trump. Many long-time Democrat voters were critical of the Biden’s adminstration’s support for the Israeli government’s actions in the Middle East, which led to many of them either switching to the Republicans or simply staying at home. They also felt that issues like the economy and immigration weren’t being tackled effectively. No doubt there will be major public bloodletting in the Harris campaign over how and why they lost.
With Trump triumphant against all the odds, all of the charges and scheduled court cases against him will certainly be dismissed; and now most of the mainstream media outlets who openly backed Harris at the election will be forced to toe the line or face the consequences.
Internationally, this result has turned the planet darker today. This is the day that many of us hoped wouldn’t come… but unfortunately, it has.