US citizens and by extension the world must brace themselves for dark days ahead following the victory of Donald Trump which will now see him becoming the 45th President of the United States of America.
Trump, 70, this week managed to destroy Hillary Clinton’s hope of creating history by becoming the first woman to occupy the Oval Office. He also managed to destroy the media’s predictions via polls that he would lose the election because of a series of missteps and in other cases his apparent unsuitability for the job, apart from his unforgiveable demeanour and tweet-rants against America’s political establishment and his opponents.
Also by winning Tuesday’s elections, Trump has triumphed against the intellectuals who simply has no respect for him or the policies he campaigned on during the last year-and-a-half since announcing his candidacy. What is more worrisome though is the fact that Trump will have all of the political power, authority and resources to run the world’s only Superpower over the next four-and-a-half years while attempting to implement all he said he would were he to win.
And even as the media and political analysts at home here and abroad continue to do their post-mortems on the US elections, the surprising turn of events and mood of the electors at that time, no one has revealed the real and naked truth about the outcome of the elections and Trump’s victory.
The truth is his victory has revealed the core values, ideals and beliefs of a majority of modern America which has undergone a significant period of transformation with the advent of technology and science since the turn of the millennium. Let us not forget that America is a diverse nation with diverse peoples and diverse beliefs.
Let us also not forget the country’s history which is really not defined by the piecemeal and iconic stories that its leaders chose to tell the world daily. America’s history is defined by its struggle for civil rights, social justice and equity. It is also defined by its uphill and apparently still continuing battle to end an endemic trend of racism and racial disharmony because of the distrust of a vast majority of whites when it comes to the subject of immigrants.
Perhaps, Trump knew this and understood the concerns that a majority of citizens born in the US had about the increase in the number of people from around world who were flocking to the US and undermining their opportunities. Maybe he also understood the fact that Americans love to be entertained by conspiracy theories, juicy reality shows, drama and personalities that were edgy, unpredictable and most times unusual.
He must have also understood too that in order to get elected, all he had to do was ‘good acting’ and he would secure the most prestigious award in the world. And that is exactly what he did because all politicians are really good actors and those who end up in elected office are perhaps even better actors especially when the electorate discovers that the things they do when given power are significantly different from the things they promised to do in the first place.
But in this case, Trump who has been described as a sexist, bigot, foul-mouthed and racist politician is sure to deliver on all he said he would do. In fact, he’s always disregarded the advice of those around him and has done things his way and how he feels they should be done. Just look at his businesses and the filing of constantly appeals for bankruptcy in order to make them viable as well as profitable when things get tough and you’ll understand.
Old habits die hard, and it would be inconceivable to think that a 70-year-old who apparently cares less about morals, climate change, immigrants and women would change now on account of “acting Presidential and right to give the right impression to the world”. He did not do it on the campaign trail and I have no reason to think that he will very soon.
The fact that the US which lectures Third World countries about their governance systems and the style of their leaders could elect Trump with a majority to office is astounding but not unbelievable. In four years’ time, the US will not have the moral authority or political rectitude to speak to Venezuela, Brazil, Guyana or any other country for that matter about governance if Trump remains Trump and does all that he said he intends to do.
The world must be concerned about the stability of power as any little provocation of the US could result in an unprecedented wave of attacks, sanctions, withdrawal of humanitarian aid and support or even war. It was the liberals and conservatives that defeated Hillary Clinton not Donald Trump and she should run again in the next elections. It might be her time then, the circumstances different and the moment even more historic because iconic women are golden having been made out of fire, steel, and difficult circumstances. If not Hillary, then Michelle Obama.
