Yesterday, we elected Donald Trump as the next President of the United States. Not only did Americans watch eagerly as votes poured in, the whole world watched.
This excites many but disturbs others. Personally, I am terrified for the country, the world, and our government. Our options this year were extremes. There were downsides to both candidates. Unfortunately, Trump did have less qualifications than Clinton as he is not even educated in legal and political systems. He is a businessman whose only experience with politics is secondhand. Numerous exit polls, including those from CNN, show that Clinton was more favored by educated people, blacks, Hispanics and LGBT+ voters. Trump was more favored by uneducated white people.
Trump managed to win the presidency despite predictions from fivethirtyeight.com that showed Clinton with a 71 percent chance of winning. As the night progressed her odds dropped to 20-25 percent range.
So why is a Trump presidency dangerous? For starters he has shown numerous times that he is insensitive to minorities and women. His comments about sexually assaulting women sets forth a bad model for young boys and men to look up to. He was also insensitive to a disabled reporter; mocking the reporter on stage in front of hundreds of people.
Donald Trump is a bully. He is a horrible person for our children to look up to. America has worked hard to overcome biases and stereotypes towards women, blacks, Hispanics and LGBT+ people, and we have a long way to go still. A leader that will be Islamophobic, homophobic, and racist threatens the progress our country has made in the last few decades. Trump says he wants to “make America great again,” but there is nothing “great” about intolerance.
Today I am afraid not only for my own safety, but also for my fellow Americans, friends overseas and innocent refugees seeking freedom from war zones and repressive governments. I fear for our economy, for our education systems and for our political systems. In my eyes, there is no way that America will be made great again under President Trump.
None of this is to say that Clinton would have been an amazing president, because I believe that she would have created new problems as well. However, a Clinton presidency would not have been threatening to millions of people like a Trump presidency is.
I only hope the next four years pass quickly and our next president will be able to heal the wounds America already has and inevitably will gain.
One Response
You should be afraid. Not for the reasons you list, but why you list them. Until you can set aside your preconceived notions of the president elect and his supporters (that’s called bigotry in your PC handbook) and actually see who they are behind your carefully crafted caricatures, you will remain perplexed and unable to comprehend the cause and effect of the reality outside of your bubble. I’ll leave you with just one example: More “educated” (college graduate), white women voted for Trump than for Clinton. Why is that? Safe spaces and free speech zones aren’t necessarily good things…