Billionaire real estate mogul Donald J. Trump began his campaign just over a year and a half ago and in that short expanse of time, he managed to pull in voters from across the nation against Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, leading to one of the biggest upsets in modern political history. The unseen rebuttal of voters was a surprise, with Clinton leading in almost every poll since the start of the election season. Trump, however, has uprooted the Republican establishment by enticing a coalition led by non-college educated white citizens to vote against ‘a corrupt system.’ By and large, the election results shocked the Townsend Harris community, as many students were almost certain of a Hillary Clinton triumph that would shatter traditional gender roles.
Prior to the election, nearly all of the student body incorrectly predicted that Secretary Clinton would become the 45th President of the United States. On Monday morning, junior David Betancur thought that Hillary would win “by a small difference since the email scandal resurfaced.”
Senior Louis Nicolosi, a Trump supporter, agreed, “Hillary Clinton will probably win the election.” He pointed out that the election would be rigged if she did indeed win, stating, “I think this election was the furthest thing from fair. The election was rigged for Hillary Clinton from the beginning, from the private emails, to ruling out Senator Sanders, and finally to the FBI determining that they would not move forward. Donald Trump never broke the law, at least to the extent that Secretary Clinton did, but has rather made harsh and lewd comments. Hillary had a road paved for her to win this year’s election and that’s why this election was certainly rigged and unfair.”
Reality took a sharp turn backwards as the disparity between polls and actual voter turnout increased. Trump won important states collecting more electoral votes than expected and continued performing well in swing states that would prove to decide the outcome of the election. Though Clinton won the popular vote, Trump managed to break down the Democrats’ ‘Blue Wall’ and succeeded in converting several traditional blue states to red states. Republicans have also managed to secure a majority in the Senate and the House of Representatives, making it more of a possibility to undo many of the Obama Administration’s actions.
The majority of students, however, were visibly shaken and stunned at the surprise win and took to social media to express their outrage.
Sophomore Asiya Koli commented, “As a Muslim-American, I am scared for minorities. Trump has offended each and every one of us, and this was definitely a dark day for Americans.”
Junior Nalini Ramdeo stated, “I think a lot of white people across the country didn’t have any other way to express themselves and they unfortunately chose the only way out: through a man who has no respect for anyone.”
Senior Hemma Kilawan expressed her disbelief over the results, adding, “This was supposed to be a win for Hillary. I can’t believe there was a silent majority who stood for everything Trump says he will do.”
Some members of the student body are exultant, though they declined to comment, fearing that the atmosphere in THHS is less than welcoming at the moment.
Louis exclaimed, “I am obviously thrilled and for a good reason. As a conservative, I was overjoyed that Clinton was not permitted the presidency…just because he [Trump] made a few lewd comments shouldn’t mean that he won’t be able to succeed as President. My thoughts are that Donald Trump will make a great president. We will no longer lose in trade deals, and I’m overjoyed that I was proven wrong.”
Louis concluded, “The next four years should be exciting.”
