On Nov. 5, I got up around noon and immediately went downstairs to watch the presidential election. I spent the whole last day of my fall break on the couch, eyes plastered to the TV, optimistic and with high hopes for my future. But instead, I got the biggest slap in the face and disappointment of my lifetime. It suddenly became crystal clear to me that America only cares about the almighty dollar and could care less about me.
This was confirmed by many sources like the Pew Research Center, Gallup News, NBC, CBS, and PBS because they have all listed the economy as one of, if not the most important issue for voters when selecting their choice for president. And that’s after democracy, which is the very structure of government that controls our entire lives. This is deeply saddening because we are also putting money over the fundamental rights of women and LGBTQIA+ people, racial and ethnic discrimination, climate change, gun control, and the healthcare of our fellow Americans.
However, Chris Nelson, a Republican Kirkwood police officer, had some different thoughts on the most important issue for voters in the 2024 election.
“I work three jobs because the economy is not great so I am not surprised at all,” Nelson said.
When I think of America, now I think of division, hate, fear, and prejudice and that honestly makes me ashamed to call myself American. We are being made a mockery of and it is devastating to live in a country that is the laughing stock of the world.
Yet, Nelson had some very contrasting opinions on what defines America.
“Always great. America is the greatest country in the world because we are a superpower. We also have the most armies and money,” Nelson said.
But greed was not the only reason Americans voted for Trump. There were also some underlying reasons that were, of course, not put on ballots.
Just simple things like racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, xenophobia, insurrectionism, religious prejudice, anti-vaccination, climate change denial, excessive gun use, disrespect for veterans, and the list just goes on. But it was silently understood between all Americans that this is truely why Harris lost.
It’s so frustrating because as someone who can’t vote, I’m putting trust in America to make the right choice, and sadly we have failed as a country because we let someone who cares about all people and not just rich, white, straight men, slip right through our fingertips.
At any rate, let’s go back to analyzing some of the issues that were on ballots such as democracy, Supreme Court appointments, abortion, health care, education, immigration, and taxes.
According to Gallup News, 58% of Democratic voters indicated that democracy was an extremely important issue to them when deciding who they would vote for, for president. So, it seems like this was the most important issue for Democratic voters which makes sense because our very system of government that manages our lives and keeps order, is now on the line that Trump is in office. He is truly a threat to our democracy with his tyranny and dictatorship-like mentality.
Lacy Simmons, a Democratic 80 year-old veteran, who served 10 years in the Army, defined what democracy meant to him.
“My definition of democracy is freedom. I want to live in a country where you can be what you want to be and be able to get a good education,” Simmons said.
Supreme Court appointments were also a very important issue which is valid because they are the people who get to decide which laws are constitutional or not which could have a substantial impact on your life. So, I could see why this can be very concerning for some people.
The next topic is arguably more controversial and heavy, and it’s about abortion.
First of all, let me make it very clear that no man and certainly not Trump, should have any say on this issue because they could never truly understand. It is a fundamental and out right basic right of women because it is health care.
It is very understandable that if a woman was raped and had her rights completely stripped away from her that she would not want to have that child or have anything to do with that person. For instance, she could end up having animosity towards the child and that’s not a life anyone should have to live. If she was a victim of incest then she should also have the right to choose if she wants to keep the child because of the increased likelihood of the child ending up with genetic disorders and physical abnormalities. If keeping the child could be dangerous for the mother, that should be considered too because no woman should have to die because the doctors are too scared they’ll get sued and possibly go to jail if they give her the life-saving care that she needs and is entitled to.
If this pregnancy was simply unplanned and the woman is just not at a state in her life where she can raise a child then that is fine because at the end of the day, if your are not able to put the time and effort into a child and give them the life that they deserve, then you should not be having one period. Furthermore, it is her body and no one but she herself can tell her what to do with it. The notion that the Republican campaign was putting out that women are having abortions at 9 months pregnant to make it sound immoral, is ridiculously untrue.
This could be your sister, your wife, or even your daughter.
Everyone deserves health care, even the most basic, and the fact that Trump would try to overturn the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare), and have the gall to call it a “disaster”, is appalling because that would mean taking away affordable and available health care from millions of Americans.
“It would be very bad for the average American because over 50 million people have that insurance. Overall, it would just have very terrible effects,” Simmons said.
Everyone deserves the right to education and there is no reason why we should be banning books from schools and making good education so expensive that the average person wouldn’t be able to afford it and end up paying off debt for the rest of their lives.
This leads to another reason why people voted for Trump as well; they were simply uninformed. According to Gallup News, only 29% of Republican voters knew about the Republican National Convention before it happened and only 58% compared to the 72% of Democratic voters knew about the presidential debate.
Many women who were college educated also voted for Harris. I mean Trump has done so many horrific things that it’s hard to keep track of all of them so maybe people simply just forgot about some of them? I truly do not know. But then again, is America really just that stupid?
On a side note, children should not have to feel scared to go to school because they think that their school might get shot up. And it is distressing to hear that kids have to go to school with bullet-proof backpacks in order to feel safe in their environment. I know that we have the right to bear arms but we need more restrictions, it is way too easy for people nowadays to buy a gun. But at one of Trump’s rallies there was a cult leader who praised and worshiped guns, and wore a crown like Christ. But instead of thorns, it was made out of bullets.
Another popular issue is immigration and it’s honestly an issue that could have already been resolved at this point. The Republican party demonizes people from foreign countries and frankly anyone else different from them, and accuses many Americans of being here illegally. Because of this, Trump wants to deport millions of Americans which would completely cause the economy to collapse by the way, if we didn’t have all of these immigrants working the jobs we think we are too good for and deliberately separate parents from their children.
Now, we can all agree that border control has become a bit of a mess and it does need order. However, Congress already proposed a very conservative bill to put more people at the border and help regulate some of the chaos. But this did not fly for Trump because then he would not have an issue to run on so he called up some Republican members and threatened them not to pass the bill; to kill it, and that is why the issue still remains unsolved today.
America voted not for someone who would work to solve issues like Harris, but instead someone like Trump, who would drag them on for his own political gain and at the expense and hurt of others.
But Nelson had some extremely different thoughts on how mass deportation would affect the economy.
“This economy is going to grow because when he has tax cuts for businesses, they will make more money. So, deportation won’t have any effect on this,” Nelson said.
Taxes were an important issue in the 2024 election as well. According to Gallup News, voters trust Trump (54%) more than Harris (45%) to better handle the economy which is absolutely absurd considering Trump is only going to cut taxes for the rich, while the middle class will get little benefit from his plans.
As stated by CNN, the highest income households will get more than 45% of the benefits from his 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. I mean, I can even attest to this myself because in the eyes of the government my household is seen as high income and our money was good during his last election and so far it looks like it is going to turn out the same way this time.
Now, circling back to the thoughts I had earlier on why Harris truly lost, I just wanted to say that some voters might not have particularly liked Trump but they just didn’t want a black woman who stood up for LGBTQIA+ rights in the White House.
That is sadly just the reality and the state that our country is in right now. I mean, we say we want change and progress but we put a racist, sexist, rapist, insurrectionist, homophobic and transphobic felon, and coward, into the highest position of power and it’s completely idiotic and incredibly unjust.
Firstly, Trump is just racist for so many reasons like calling Harris “mentally impaired”, promiscuous, and evil. He has suggested that low income and less desirable jobs were “black jobs”. One of his supporters, a white man, dressed up like him for Halloween while dragging a grown black woman, in chains dressed up like Harris. And one of the comedians at his rallies literally called Puerto Rico a “floating island of garbage.”
He is also sexist and overtly misogynistic, many of his campaigns imply that a woman’s only job is to have children and without that she would have no worth or no point in life. I mean, it’s already widely known that Trump does not respect women, when he said to grab them by the private parts. Not to mention he sexually assaulted multiple women.
Let’s also not forget that he literally led a coup and rallied his crazed followers to break into Congress and try to overthrow the government, while chanting “hang Mike Pence” and injuring law enforcement officers. And this was all because he claimed the election was fraudulent even when there was no evidence just because he couldn’t cope with the fact that he had lost the election.
To try to take away some of the protections and fundamental rights away from the LGBTQIA+ community is completely unacceptable and inhumane. You have to be so hateful of a person to attack people who have to fight just simply to love and to be who they are.
To say that you are going to eliminate “trans-ideology” is so completely beyond me because how cruel can you be if you want to erase someone’s entire gender identity and sense of self just because you can’t understand, personally relate to it, or just simply think that it’s wrong.
Something that particularly irked me as well was this Republican slogan “Harris is for they/them, not you” which suggests that nonbinary people are not American and should be excluded which is wrong on so many levels because America is full of so many diverse people. While people like Trump try to exclude as many people as possible to “make America great again”, Harris is trying to invite and bring together as many people as she can, even those who don’t agree with her.
Trump also took and hid classified documents from the White House and was accused of 34 counts of criminal charges. If he was anyone else, he would be in prison but since he is a rich, white man, he gets off scott free with a slap on the wrist, and a nice, sweet pardon.
If you can somehow get past all of that and just peel back Trump’s ugly layers, you will find a coward, and that is not someone I would want to lead my country. He called veterans who fought and died courageously for our country “suckers and losers”, but he himself dodged military drafts. You can also find evidence of this in the way that he speaks to and treats other people, the fact that he has to break people down and ridicule them to feel powerful is not real strength.
Like former President Barack Obama said, “real strength is about taking responsibility for your actions. Real strength is telling the truth even when it’s inconvenient. Real strength is helping those who have less who need help, standing up for those who can’t always stand up for themselves.”
Simmons explained how disrespected he felt by Trump’s remarks as a veteran.
“He doesn’t respect veterans. He proved that at the cemetery when he disrespected the greats and told a general’s son who died ‘what’s in it for him?’ He also said that if any of his children joined the military he would disown them. He wants to bring many retired generals back to active duty as well, so that he can court-martial them just because they said that he was not fit to be president,” Simmons said.
So, as people of America what can we do? After hearing the election results, I felt lost, defeated, miserable, and enraged. But after hearing Harris’s inspirational speech, I felt empowered to continue to fight and use my right as a journalist to speak up for those who can’t.
If you’re out there feeling alone, hopeless, and terrified like I was after the election, I just want you to know that in a world deeply ingrained with hate and prejudice, there is someone out there who is fighting for you and genuinely cares about you. Don’t ever give up because the real battle starts here today, with uniquely, one of a kind, you. And that’s the best kind of you I could ever ask for.
