On 6th of November, we saw the end of one of the most followed elections worldwide. Initially the two candidates running for President were Donald Trump, representing the Republican party, and Joe Biden for the Democrats, but after pressures to resign from the campaign came from the general public, Biden decided to withdraw from the election race, and his Vice-president Kamala Harris stepped in.
By looking at the candidates’ campaigns we observe two very different programmes. Harris’ campaign addressed mainly middle- and working-class issues with a focus on taxes, home ownership and rent, education, healthcare and investments in small businesses. Moreover, as a former attorney, another important point of her campaign was civil rights and freedom.
Trump’s campaign was very similar to his previous one: to stop the “migrant invasion” as its main goal, carry out the largest deportation operation in American history, strengthen the U.S army and end inflation.
What is new and surprising about his bullet points is point number 18, where he addresses supporters of the liberation of Palestine. He states that he wants to lead a massive deportation of the “pro-Hamas radicals” to make American colleges “safe and patriotic” again.
This is evidence of how the genocide happening in Palestine heavily influenced the course of the elections and that the position that the candidates took had an impact on the way the votes were distributed.
Trump has shown multiple times his support for Israel, and he has always sympathized with Israelis, even to the point that in his online shop it’s possible to find merchandise in Hebrew (the only other language used besides English). He also called pro-Palestine activists “terrorists” in different occasions.
On the other side, the Democrats have never mentioned a ceasefire, even if highly requested by their voters, probably because it would critically affect the U.S economy since they are still the first suppliers of weapons to Israel, only followed by Germany and Italy.
Furthermore, we need to acknowledge the importance of the comments made by former President Bill Clinton during a rally for vice-President Harris in Michigan. He suggested that Israel was justified in committing a genocide because of the events of the 7th of October 2023. His speech got the Democrats’ candidate a backlash.
After this statement and the “neutral” position that the Democratic party decided to assume, some people still voted for Harris, even without agreeing completely with her campaign (especially with the lack of a resolution plan or a call for a ceasefire in the Middle East). Others preferred to cast their vote for an independent party, such as the Green Party, represented by Jill Stein, whose proposals included a demand of an immediate ceasefire in Israel and Palestine.
In the end, these elections saw Trump as a winner.
It’s important to remark the gender division displayed during voting. The polls clearly showed a gender polarization: while most women voted for Harris, men were more leaning towards Trump.
The same also happened with education. People who received a college education were more likely to vote for the Democratic Party, while people that didn’t go to college cast their vote for the Republican Party.
A surprising phenomenon that we need to highlight was the “Latinos for Trump” wave, especially considering the comments made by the newly second time president about Latin Americans, specifically about Puerto Ricans.
When asked about it, Latino Trump supporters do agree that their candidate made and still makes racist statements, but they argue that compared to the Democrats (who always had the majority of votes from Latinos in the past), Trump has better policies that are targeted towards the working class.
Although we just entered the presidential transition period and we have to wait for Trump’s assumption of office in January 20th to see how the application of his policies will affect the country, his win is already showing some consequences on a societal level.
Right after the election some people from the black community reported having received extremely racist messages. In these messages they were told that they had been “selected” to pick cotton in the nearest plantations, clearly a reference to the enslavement era.
Another phenomenon was the rising of rape threats received by women. This misogynistic behaviour has been fomented by sexist statements such as “Your body, my choice”. This powerful slogan was invented by Nick Fuentes (right-wing prominent public figure and commentator) and it was soon adopted by Republicans.
Of course, the increase of misogyny did inspire a counter reaction. American women, now fearing the loss of their rights, are becoming more radicalized and have started to adhere to radical feminist movements such as the 4B, a feminist initiative that was created in South Korea, that is based on the 4 principles of not having intercourse with men, not giving birth, not dating men and not marrying them.
As a concluding remark we need to mention the most searched question by voters from red states in the past few days, “How to change my vote”. This leads to people wondering: are all the minorities that voted for Trump and exchanged their rights for a new economic policy starting to regret their choice?
- Gaia Martini
References and Further Information:
“Bill Clinton criticized for saying Israel ‘forced’ to kill Gaza civilians.” Al Jazeera, October 31, 2024.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/10/31/bill-clinton-criticised-for-saying-israel-forced-to-kill-gaza-civilians
Debusmann Jr, Bernd, Madeline Halpert and Mike Wendling, “ ‘It’s simple, really’- why Latinos flocked to Trump’s working-class coalition.” BBC News, November 8, 2024.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cze3yr77j9wo
Jill Stein 2024. “Platform: Social Justice.”
https://www.jillstein2024.com/social_justice
Donald J. Trump. “Agenda 47.”
https://www.donaldjtrump.com/agenda47
Kamala Harris. “A new way forward.”
https://kamalaharris.com/a-new-way-forward/
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