Dear Editor,

It’s been a week since Donald Trump defied the odds and emerged as president-elect of the United States.

Many were shocked, even though polls indicated it was a tight race which could go either way. I’ve seen late-night TV hosts and commentators choke up amid their disappointment. In the end Trump won decisively, winning the required number of electoral college votes and the popular vote, and Republicans gained control of the Senate and the House, which will help to advance his agenda. He also won all seven key battleground states.

The post-election analysis has been swift. Some in Jamaica knew all along, after the fact, although they were silent up to the day of the election. But once they heard the results, they knew all along. Perhaps some were closet Trump supporters who were afraid to admit it publicly, fearing backlash.

Voters obviously chose to ignore Trump’s character and personal flaws and his legal issues didn’t matter.

Some say America isn’t ready for a woman president, especially a woman of colour, that Joe Biden had a ‘sleepy’ tenure and Democrats should’ve chosen a better candidate.

Others say that Biden should’ve stepped down earlier and allow Vice-President Kamala Harris to become the first woman president, get that out of the way and allow her to chart her own course and prove her potential to the electorate. Others say voters don’t care about macroeconomics and statistics which mean nothing to them. What matters most is the reality of people’s lives, their bread and butter. An American female friend of mine who is an avid Trump supporter says that people are just jealous of Trump’s success, his wealth, his life, and his ‘hot foreign model’ wife, and despite his personal flaws, he is the right choice for America, and ‘the greatest’ president ever. How does one argue against that?

Despite strong celebrity endorsements of Harris, this meant nothing to the electorate from Oprah Winfrey to Michelle and Barack Obama, Beyoncé , and Taylor Swift star power had no major impact.

The media criticised Trump frequently and panellists and late night talk show hosts mocked him relentlessly. None of this mattered in the end, although it is possible that their support helped Harris to hold her head high and avoid humiliation at the polls.

Trump had fewer endorsements, but one stood out by far, Elon Musk, the world’s wealthiest man. He was a critical component of Trump’s success. Musk used his wealth, influence, and expertise (especially in technology) to strategise and boost Trump’s appeal, even if it meant using conspiracy theories and hate speech. It is believed that Musk persuaded Trump to chose JD Vance as his vice-president, and Musk was behind the bizarre rumour about Haitian migrants eating cats and dogs which spread after Trump repeated it during the presidential TV debate. Musk reportedly invested US$75 million to elect Trump.

I heard a Latino woman supporter in an interview admit she has illegals in her family who are now at risk of being deported. She couldn’t care less, however, such was the Trump effect.

Trump’s priorities resonated with voters. Reportedly, over 11 million illegals are in the USA, and Trump’s plan to proceed with mass deportation and close the southern border was not a hard sell. He plans to end American birthright, and end wars which are costly and have no end. Other priorities include imposing tariffs on imports to boost local production (America first); improve the economy to help people ‘to afford bacon again’; tax cuts; slash government spending by trillions; reverse regulations aimed at climate change; health care reform with less emphasis on vaccines; restore a two gender system; and ban minors from getting any type of gender surgeries. When these plans were amplified in the digital space, his support grew exponentially.

Elections are a wake-up call, they force us to pause and listen to each other. Interestingly, this time around we have not heard Trump tweeting as much, boasting, and hurling random insults. In what might appear to be chaos and unpredictability, we cannot give up hope.

P Chin

chin_p@yahoo.com