Donald Trump’s stunning presidential victory became evident around midnight Tuesday for the Hillary Clinton supporters assembled at the Jacob Javits Center in Manhattan. The occasional cheers after she won Virginia soon gave way to a foreboding silence, turning the cavernous facility into a huge mausoleum of disbelief.
Once again Clinton had failed to shatter the proverbial glass ceiling after pundits and polls had given her a decisive edge in the final push toward the finish line. Around 3 a.m. the business mogul had sealed the deal with 289 electoral votes to Clinton’s 218; there were still a couple of states too close to call.
On the other hand, Clinton appears to have won the popular vote. The count Wednesday morning had her at 59,299,381 votes to Trump’s 59,135,740 votes, with a margin of 163,641 votes. She becomes the fifth presidential candidate to win the popular vote but lose the election. Neither candidate acquired more than 50 percent of the vote. (These numbers are sure to change as the results come in.)
In her concession speech late Wednesday morning from the New Yorker Hotel’s Grand Ballroom, Clinton didn’t mention the numbers in little more than 10 minutes of painful reflection. “Being your candidate has been one of the greatest honors of life,” she said, after being introduced by her running mate Sen. Tim Kaine. “I know how disappointed you feel because I feel it too … it was painful and it will be for a long time. But I want you to remember this—our campaign was never about one person or even one election. It was about the country we love and building an America that’s hopeful, inclusive and bighearted … I still believe in America and I always will.”
It was a devastating blow to Clinton and her hopefuls, and her sentiments and regret were shared later by President Obama. “Everybody is sad when their team loses an election,” Obama began, “but the day after they have to remember we’re actually on one team. This is an intramural scrimmage. We are not Democrats first, we are not Republicans first—we are Americans first.” He went to on to say that after speaking with Trump he was glad to hear of his desire for unity. “That’s what our country needs,” he concluded.
Earlier Clinton and Obama had called Trump to congratulate him, with Obama promising to meet with him Thursday. Trump praised Clinton, noting her accomplishments as a public servant.
So what happened? It’s hard to single out any one factor for the upset, but the exit polls provide some indication about the outcome, particularly in the race category. Trump received 58 percent of white voters to Clinton’s 37 percent. Even though Clinton dominated Trump on the minority vote with Black Americans (88 percent), Hispanics (65 percent) and Asians (65 percent), those combined numbers could not offset the large white turnout for Trump, most of them blue collar or working class whites in the Rust Belt and in the rural sections of the country.
In effect, America went red with blue at the edges and only a speck of the color in the middle of the nation. Trump’s insults and humiliations obviously found traction and created a critical mass of voters disenchanted with the multiculturalism, in tune with Trump’s nativist and racist coded “Make America Great Again” rhetoric.
With Trump now the commander in chief, the GOP has control over all the facets of the government—executive, legislative and judicial, and the elected president promises to ensure this power.
A polarized America brimming with racial hostility has taken a turn even deeper into what many believe is an old and dangerous reactionary impulse, one that agrees with Trump’s comments about building a wall to ward off the advance of Mexicans and other immigrants, and generally approves his unpredictable foreign policy. The Brexit phenomenon, Trump’s coziness with Russia and the presumed declaration of a trade war against China are harbingers of disaster, politically, economically and diplomatically.
Another terrible signal for minorities were rumors that Rudolph Giuliani and Gov. Chris Christie may be on shortlists for governmental posts in Trump’s administration, possibly as attorney general and secretary of state, respectively. That is an ominous sign and potentially promotes more division and concern among minority populations.
While Trump, in his acceptance speech, said he will move toward unifying the nation, none of that posture was present during his campaign, and it’s hard to believe any element of it will surface as he moves into the White House.
To some degree, Dr. Cornel West got it right, though his support of Jill Stein and the Green Party was never in contention. “The neo-fascist catastrophe called Donald Trump and the neo-liberal disaster named Hillary Clinton are predictable symbols of our spiritual blackout,” he wrote in early November. Now we wait to see if the wishes will come true of those on the extreme left who believed that a vote for Trump will intensify the contradictions in our society and bring about some aspects of the political revolution Sen. Bernie Sanders proposed.
What now?
Well, so much depends on the extent to which Trumps puts into play his ideas about eradicating all of the gains from the Obama administration, including “Obamacare,” the normalization with Cuba, immigration reform, climate change, gun violence and policing. In the same way he has the executive pen in his hand, his finger is on the nuclear button and we all tremble at that prospect.
Political commentator Van Jones perhaps said it best. “This was many things,” he said on CNN, “This was a rebellion against the elites, true. It was a complete reinvention of politics and polls. It’s true. But it was something else. We have talked about everything but race tonight. We have talked about income, class, region. We haven’t talked about race. This was a white lash. This was a white lash against a Black president in part, and that’s the part where the pain comes.”
Jones could have said more explicitly white backlash and also added sexism to his conclusions, despite the fact that a number of white women voted for Trump. We know full well that many Americans have voted against their own self-interests. That Trump could receive 8 percent of the Black vote is disconcerting.
Meanwhile, New York State Assemblymember Charles Barron declared, “This was a race between the fox and the wolf. The wolf won! Black People better get ready for his bite! Trump’s victory exposes America for what it is—racist, classist, sexist and xenophobic to the core. It also expresses an anti-establishment sentiment of the American people. America needs a revolution! Clinton is a neo-conservative Democrat who hurt us and Trump is a neo-racist fascist Republican who plans to hurt us. This is not the time for fear and depression. This is the time for fearless fighting with conviction and determination. Black people better wake up! It is imperative that we unite, mobilize and organize like we never have done before! Marcus Garvey said, ‘When all else fails to organize us conditions will.’ The time and conditions are ripe for Black radical politics in America! We must move from ‘Plantation Politics’ to ‘Liberation Politics’ and take control of the local politics in our communities. Radical change must come from the bottom up, not the top down. America is shocked and stunned by Trump’s victory. We must be intelligent and vigilant as we organize for power, self-determination and liberation. Remember, the struggle may be long, but our victory is certain! Reparations Now!”
Whither America? Will it be “winter in America” as the poet and singer Gil Scott Heron once lamented? Is it possible to have any glimmer of hope and optimism from a Trump administration that delivered such a rancorous, undemocratic campaign?
Stay tuned, if you stay in America.
