A Pyrrhic Victory: How Trump Won
- Yazad Bhacka
- Nov 15, 2024
- 3 min read
Updated: Dec 6, 2024
Overcoming the vulnerabilities from the previous election in 2020, Donald J. Trump has absurdly received another 4 years of office. The return of the populist has undoubtedly come with more demerits than merits, as he has already established a new ‘Department of Government Efficiency’ headed by the most daft people of all: Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy. The President-elect has boasted of the Republicans gaining a majority in the House of Representatives, giving them total control over the Congress, spinning ominous signs towards marginalised groups in the United States. Other appointments to Trump’s cabinet include Florida representative Matt Gaetz as the Attorney General, Fox News host Pete Hegseth as Secretary of Defense, and his campaign co-chair Susie Wilis as the White House Chief of Staff. The new Vice President, JD Vance, will also be sworn in with the President on Inauguration Day, which is set for January 20th. But how exactly did Trump manage to win in all seven swing states with the ridiculously meaningless promises and lies? What exactly went wrong with the Democratic Party’s campaign strategy?
While Trump lost to Harris in the cities and suburbs of most swing states, he did so with a smaller margin than he did in 2020. The rural-urban divide immensely helped Trump in reaching the counties of most states. There were massive shifts to the right from African-American, Hispanic, and Native American and, surprisingly, Arab voters. These shifts come mainly due to an uncertain economic environment with soaring inflation and concerns about global businesses. Israel’s incursion into Gaza and Lebanon also played a significant role in this shift as groups such as the American-Israel Public Affairs Committee influenced the stances of both Democrats and Republicans on the volatile situation in West Asia. This led many Arab and Asian voters to swing towards the Republicans. Strategic decisions towards the end of October were made by the Republicans, such as finding ways to save its cash for a rapid advertisement campaign that targeted Kamala Harris and the rest of the DNC through the spread of misinformation. For the American people, especially young white voters, a crisis was developed where it did not exist, and a lot of attention was drawn towards Trump’s radical policies on immigration, tariffs, and job creation. Trump’s extensive use of gestural conduct and ‘bad manners’ helped him attain the popular vote from most voters in the Midwest. With Harris’ campaign, many voters felt that she had abandoned the working class as a majority from this category voted red. Trump’s dismissive tone before and after the debate with Harris also showed where the Democrats failed to gather a thoroughly utilised smear campaign against the Republican candidate. Although the race was pretty close in most states, even Texas, other than a few in the North, the loss of states such as Arizona, Nevada, and Pennsylvania helped Trump cross the 270 mark with ease.
While talking about the capture of Washington by the elite of the DNC, Trump has exercised his form of state capture, encircling the formal institutions through popular support. What lies ahead is, undoubtedly, a term no one can predict. Does this result also represent a setback for minorities and women in the United States? The unpredictability of the Trump administration will be something to look out for, as is the case for any populist leader in power. As Trump rolls out his hardline policies on issues such as immigration and taxation, the only support one can hope for is from the moderates to make use of checks and balances. This election is a thunder that marks the beginning of highly incoherent policies on climate, immigration, China, and taxation that could spiral the market out of the state’s control, leaving behind a country with complete chaos and possibly a civil war.
