(AFP) – The United States and the world faced a radically transformed political landscape Wednesday after Donald Trump won a crushing election victory, defeating Kamala Harris in an astonishing comeback to the White House. Harris, who had described Trump as a threat to democracy, rang to congratulate him before she was due to deliver a concession speech at 4:00 pm (2100 GMT).
Trump, who never conceded defeat four years ago when his supporters ransacked the US Capitol, won wider margins than before despite a criminal conviction, two impeachments while in office, and warnings from his former chief of staff that he is a “fascist.” But exit polls showed that voters’ top concern remained the economy and inflation that spiked under outgoing President Joe Biden. Both Wall Street and the dollar soared on Trump’s victory and his clear mandate, with expectations that he will move aggressively to ramp up growth.
Trump, who at 78 will be the oldest man to take the presidential oath when inaugurated on January 20, vowed to fulfill his slogan to “make America great again” in a speech in Florida before supporters chanting “USA!” “It’s a political victory that our country has never seen before,” Trump said.
In Phoenix, Arizona, Jimmy Archuleta, a 47-year-old auto worker, hailed Trump as “a genius businessman.” “So I’m hoping that he’ll improve the economy,” Archuleta told AFP. “I just hope he’ll make the price of groceries and gas more reasonable.” Global leaders swiftly pledged to work with Trump, despite concerns in much of the world about his nationalist-minded “America First” approach. Among the most worried countries will be Ukraine, which Russia invaded in 2022.
Trump and Vice President-elect J.D. Vance have scoffed at the billions of dollars in US assistance to Kyiv under Biden, with their aides musing about forcing Kyiv to make concessions to end the war. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky congratulated Trump and said he hoped the new US leader would help Ukraine find a “just peace.” One leader certain to be pleased was Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, to whom Trump has promised freer rein to execute his war against Hamas in Gaza.
Harris, who only entered the race in July after the visibly aging President Joe Biden dropped out, ran a centrist campaign that highlighted Trump’s inflammatory messaging and use of racist and sexist tropes. But his apocalyptic warnings about immigration found their mark with voters battered by the post-Covid economy and eager for change after the Biden years. Hispanic and Black Americans, seen as crucial voting blocs for Harris, moved in greater numbers toward Trump, who won a majority of Latino men, exit polls showed.
Opinion polls had predicted a nail-bitingly close contest—yet the results came fast, including Trump’s flipping of the swing states Georgia, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Michigan that Biden won four years ago. Trump appeared on track to win the popular vote for the first time, and the Republican Party also won the Senate from the Democrats, boosting his ability to enact his agenda.
Trump is the first president in more than a century to win a non-consecutive second term, and the only person to be elected president as a convicted felon—he is scheduled to face sentencing in a New York court for fraud on November 26. His campaign pledges, if carried out, could cause turmoil, especially his vow to deport millions of undocumented immigrants. Trump is also a longtime skeptic of climate change who is expected again to reduce US global commitments, although one of his top campaign surrogates was fellow brash billionaire Elon Musk, owner of electric vehicle maker Tesla.
For all his dark promises of revenge against enemies, Trump remains famously unpredictable. His campaign rallies, filled with grievance, insults, and misinformation, featured extreme rhetoric. But he earned viral online moments that played on his everyman appeal and showman’s instinct—like his appearance at a McDonald’s drive-thru and impromptu news conference from a garbage truck.
Trump campaigned on tax cuts, less regulation, and sky-high import tariffs to promote growth and boost manufacturing, despite warnings of trade wars and higher prices for consumers. His victory was spurred by post-pandemic inflation that pushed up consumer prices by more than 20 percent, and he now stands to reap the benefits of an economy in good shape.
Trump often lurched into foul language and violent imagery. But that hard-charging style attracted many voters who still see him as a Washington outsider. Harris’s message of unity, focus on abortion rights, and warnings of Trump’s threat to democracy left her short of what would have been a historic win as America’s first woman president.
“I’m very disappointed,” said Emmett Lombard, 53, in Erie, Pennsylvania. “I think that people voted according to fear and hate.”
– Shaun TANDON
© 2024 AFP
