Donald Trump's victory on Tuesday was a complete surprise to not just Americans, but the entire world. How could a man who had so much opposition and media bias against him win the electoral vote (and merely lose the popular vote)? It's shocking to see that Trump could miraculously win in a country that is progressively getting more liberal by the day - moreover, turn some historically blue states red. Nearly every poll, study, and expert across the country projected Clinton as the winner of the 2016 election, days, weeks, and even months in advanced. She was believed to have a landslide victory, carrying nearly every swing state. But, as we saw by the early hours of Wednesday morning, we were all wrong - Donald J. Trump is going to be the 45th president of the United States of America.
Some theories on the Trump electoral win:
1. A silent majority coalition of fed-up working class Americans saw this election as a do-or-die opportunity for change and were compelled to vote, many of them for the first, and probably the last time.
2. The DNC dug its own grave by taking out the highly favorable Bernie and shoving an unpopular, dishonest, establishment candidate down the throats of so many underrepresented demographics.
3. The media is just absurdly biased and wanted to project their ideal president, leading many anti-Trump people to believe that their vote was not needed since Hillary had the election in the bag.
4. So many average Americans were afraid to voice their support for Trump, aware that they'd be ridiculed for doing so, which perhaps gave him a slight edge the entire time.
5. This election just might have been rigged - in Trump's favor. While he appeared to be a rogue candidate with no strong establishment backing, who's to say that his money could have had some influence along the lines? It still doesn't seen plausible that he could win in so many traditionally blue areas.
No matter how he paved his path to victory, the truth is that nothing could be done about it now. The rioting, fighting, arguing, and anger will not solve anything. To be quite honest, all those people who think his presidency can be prevented at this point need to re-take their high school civics class.
1. A petition or GoFundMe page to remove Trump from office is possibly the most ineffective means of protest possible. What is all the money going to do? And so what if you get 2 million signatures? That won't change the entire federal government over night. If you want change, do it the right way. Express your concerns to your congressmen - they're called representatives for a reason.
2. All the talk of assassinating Trump is ridiculous. So many people are hoping for a Trump assassination, yet do they not understand that means Mike Pence would succeed Trump in the presidency? I would think that a Pence presidency would be far more harmful to social progress, but I guess most people don't realize that.
3. The electoral college is not going to suddenly change their minds and put Clinton in office just because a lot of people in predominately liberal states do not like Trump. Moreover, the United States is not just going to scrap the 200+ year old electoral college because she won the popular vote.
4. Lastly, if you think Clinton will become president if Trump is impeached, you should not be voting in the first place. Once again, a Trump impeachment would lead to a Pence presidency, not a Clinton one, so that just might make matters worst off for progressives.
Of course, there are constructive and deconstruction means of opposition. Peaceful protesting is one thing but violence will just make matters worse. It's a shame to see so many anti-American feelings emerge upon the results of this election. A leader does not define a country, its people do. Some of you may hate Trump and his voters but don't fight hate with hate. Let's see what happens in January and all we can do is accept it, give the guy a chance, and if he does not live up to our expectations, 2020 will come faster than you know it.
And remember, for all of you complaining about the outcome, you have no right to do so unless you had actively participated in this election cycle since day one and voted in the primaries.
Regardless of who is our president, I am, and always will be proud to be an American - and I hope you are too.
