This is what I think President-Elect Donald Trump’s victory means:
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It means the repudiation of Barack Obama, the nation throughout the years of his presidency, and everything he symbolizes. He revived the country’s economy after the recession, but it wasn’t enough. He implemented the Affordable Care Act, giving millions of Americans access to health care, but it was battered back and is at risk of being repealed. During his Presidency, the Supreme Court declared that same-sex marriage was a constitutional right, but homophobia still lingers. He made climate change a priority and helped bring forth the Paris Agreement, and now it is at risk of being scrapped.
It shows that a Black American, who has managed to be one of the most consequential US Presidents in recent memory despite intransigent opposition, can still be delegitimized by racial untruths like, “He wasn’t born in America,” or “He’s a Muslim,” and be blamed for all of American society’s woes.
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It means that the US still refuses to allow a woman, the most qualified individual, to become President of the United States and break the most important glass ceiling yet. That there are double standards when it comes to women in public life. That young women still have to wait longer to see a woman break that glass ceiling once and for all.
Hillary Clinton has gone through everything, been through every scandal and grinded through all obstacles and has once again been dragged down by the patriarchy that refuses to see a woman become President.
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Most importantly, it signals the demise of America’s democratic institutions: the nation’s belief in them, their actual functioning, and the fundamental principles behind a liberal democracy.
The election is an indictment of the current American political democratic system. The Republicans, the Democratics, the establishment, Congress, Senate, voting – democracy as a whole. It is the feeling that none of the institutions are working to actually benefit the least fortunate and work towards the better good. It’s the same spirit that Senator Bernie Senators tapped into in his Democratic Primary campaign, and it seems to be the exact reason why Donald Trump was elected as President of the United States.
The strain of conservative ideology of Ronald Reagan embraced globalization, free trade and other policies that ruined economic chances for lower-income families. The Tea Party then provoked the angry masses created by their own party’s disastrous economic policies, paving the way for a demagogue like Donald Trump to stoke the flames even stronger.
This man threatened to jail his political opponent, should he win. He has said he would refuse to concede if he lost. He stoked the prospect of violence by protestors. He has fundamentally undermined the norms behind our democracy.
Most importantly, he legitimized xenophobia and made it acceptable to publicly showcase your xenophobic, anti-immigrant, racist, misogynistic, homophobic, transphobic and ableist views. Trump gave those people a voice and participated in this rhetoric. This is a man that bragged about sexual assault and still won the Presidency of the United States. He was endorsed by the newspaper of the KKK and still won the Presidency of the United States.
This isn’t the result of democracy. Trump is the symbol of the demise of liberal democracy in America.