Trump fans in Pittsburgh: Even though they know he's lying, they still follow him.Image: trapezoid
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Americans re-elected Donald Trump as president. The consequences for the United States and the world are incalculable. This is a stress test for freedom and democracy.
Donald Trump achieved the “impossible.” Four years after Americans sent him into the desert, he returned to the White House. His strategy of fomenting American (male) discontent worked. He was completely unfit to be president, but that didn't matter. One could endlessly list reasons to prove this.
Even the respected former general’s outspoken warnings describing Trump as a fascist failed to resonate with the vast majority of voters. It's a familiar scene from 2016, including him once again “blocking” the first female president of the United States. As was the case at the time, observers were shocked.
The best photos from the US election
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The best photos from the US election
Donald Trump declares himself the winner. He was three electoral votes short, but Harris had no chance.
Theme: keystone / lynne sweets
How could this happen? Is it because Joe Biden is unpopular? His long-standing refusal to admit that he is too weak to be re-elected? Kamala Harris was named a candidate, but she was late and without a primary? The jubilation it sparked among Democrats did not spread. To too many people, she remains an incomprehensible and great figure.
The women's strategy failed
Their positive message doesn't resonate with most people, who believe America is heading in the wrong direction. Harris also failed to distance herself from Biden, whose policies she shared responsibility for as vice president. Their strategy of relying on women failed. In 2020, she got fewer votes from them than Joe Biden did.
Still, Kamala Harris deserves a chance. But a large portion of Americans live in a world of their own in every way. They miss the first three years of the Trump administration, when their economy did well. They suppressed the chaos of COVID and George Floyd last year, which is why they voted him out.
“Education Gap”
In the end, it is not the “gender gap” that plays a decisive role, but the “education gap.” The Democratic Party has become the party of the educated and high-income. They no longer have access to the “little people,” the working class. This also includes many blacks and Latinos. On the other hand, they feel that Donald Trump is listening to them.
They admired him because he promised them a future in which they had dignity and a fair share of finances—“even if they knew those promises were unlikely to be fulfilled,” The Economist wrote. Here’s the thing: They know Donald Trump is a liar, but they don’t care.
Will it fuel inflation again?
In such a world, Democrats can't score points with Joe Biden's good economic data. What matters to the average American is the price at the grocery store and at the gas station. Joe Sixpack finds six-packs are getting more expensive. That's why he voted for Donald Trump, even though he suspects not everything will be better with him.
If he imposes punitive tariffs on all imports, as announced, he will exacerbate inflation that has just been brought under control. If he deports “illegal” immigrants as announced, it will cause huge damage to the economy. Because most of them work in construction, hospitality, agriculture or food industry.
A vengeful president
Some wish the soup wasn't as hot as Trump's during the campaign. His first term provided evidence of this, but he entered the White House completely unprepared. Everything is different this time. A vengeful President Trump will set about reshaping the country in his own way.
Failure is imminent
Video: Watson/Michael Shepherd
He is certain to have a Republican majority in the Senate. This will open up a lot of opportunities for him. He wants to bring the Justice Department and FBI under his command. He even suggested that deploying the military against “internal enemies” was unconstitutional. The Supreme Court's immunity ruling gives him more or less freedom.
Europe needs to end warmly
It seems naive to hope that these institutions will work. You should prepare for the worst. Trump's return will be a huge stress test for freedom and democracy in this deeply divided country. The rest of the world will have to deal with a lot as well, especially Europeans who will have to dress warmly.
Figures like Viktor Orban and Benjamin Netanyahu have reason to celebrate their already uneasy relationship with democracy. However, the outlook for Ukraine is bleak. Trump will try to force them to make a “shameful peace” with Russia. It is unclear whether he will leave NATO, but people should prepare for it.
A lighthouse went out
The worst unrest is expected in the United States. There is no need to expect a civil war. But what about California, the most populous state with the strongest economy and a state whose politics run completely differently from those of the old and new presidents? Centrifugal forces will be strong in the coming years.
The United States still has a chance to return to rationality. But in a real sense, the immediate outlook is bleak. For the foreseeable future, the United States will no longer serve as a beacon of democracy and freedom. One could put it in argumentative terms: Joe Sixpack sold American democracy for the price of a six-pack.
Pennsylvania is probably the most important state in the U.S. election. As a result, the 19 electoral votes up for grabs in swing states are extremely competitive — and those responsible for the safe implementation of the electoral process are correspondingly nervous.
