I’m not one to get political on social media, at least not too seriously. But my Twitter on Election Night was an out-pouring of my 18 months of confusion and fear as I watched Donald Trump win the 270 votes he needed to be elected President of the United States of America. I am in utter shock, I am confused, I am angry, but above all else, I am afraid.
I have grown up in privilege. I am a white, Christian, straight, cis-gender female. The only discrimination or marginalization I have ever faced is because of my gender. I don’t want to belittle the fact that I’ve been catcalled or pursued at parties by drunk guys who don’t understand the word “no,” but right now, I want to focus on my friends who are not like me-- my friends who are LGBTQ+, my sorority sisters who are women of color, my future colleagues who practice other religions. I want to be able to stand by them, to stand with them. But I don’t know how I can do that right now because I can’t explain to myself what happened on Tuesday night.
So, I would like an explanation from you, America.
To the 46% of women who voted for Trump, I would like to understand how you can support a man like him-- who brags about sexual assault; who would date his daughter if they weren’t related; who, with his Vice President, wants to take away all of the reproductive rights and freedoms that we have spent decades fighting for.
To those of you who voted third-party, I respect your right to exercise your vote as you choose. I understand disliking both major candidates, for many different reasons. But did you realize exactly how much your vote would count? In many swing states, Trump was leading by only tens of thousands of votes, while third-party candidates received several hundred thousand. Even if half of those votes went to Hillary, we would have an entirely different result.
To those of you who voted for a man who was not “part of the system,” what do you see as his qualifications to run a country? Trump is the first President of the United States who has no political or military experience. He has filed for bankruptcy several times, his businesses have failed and he has many allegations of rape and discrimination against him. Yes, he “tells it like it is,” but he also has no experience in any field related to running a country. He wasn’t allowed to use his Twitter for the days leading up to the election, but we’re allowing him to run our country?
To those of you who wrote in “candidates” as a joke, particularly Harambe, who received an estimated 11,000 votes... I’m just angry with you. I don’t want to hear anything from you. #sorrynotsorry
To those of you who fear the next four years, in any capacity, I am here for you, in any and all ways that you need it. I wish I knew something more helpful to say, but I have no words.
