<div>Donald Trump has been elected the 45th president of the US. He won the election on a wave of support from white working-class voters by playing to their insecurities. His empathy for their victimhood and his simplistic but deeply controversial solutions struck a chord with them, bringing them out in large numbers to defeat Clinton. His victory signals that racist and misogynist attitudes remain deeply entrenched in America. That 42% of women voted for Trump indicates how deeply women have internalised patriarchal values and how widespread this problem is. Her defeat marks the end of the road to the White House for Hillary Clinton. This is unfortunate. By winning the US presidency, the world’s most powerful job, she would have shattered the “hardest and highest glass ceiling” in the world. She could not but cracks have appeared in that ceiling. Although she lost the electoral college vote and thus the White House, she won the popular vote.<br /><br />Trump’s victory has set off a wave of unease and insecurity in the US and elsewhere. The just-concluded elections polarised American politics and society as never before. Trump’s victory is unlikely to reverse that polarisation. Indeed, it is being widely interpreted as a huge setback to America’s pluralism and diversity, even its democracy. <br /><br />Liberal Americans, Blacks, Hispanics, immigrants and women are understandably apprehensive over what a Trump presidency will bring given the unmistakably racist, misogynist, xenophobic and Islamophobic agenda of his election campaign. With the House of Representatives and the Senate as well as the White House now in their hands, the Republicans are in a strong position to further their agenda. This will help them pursue policy changes – do away with Obamacare, for instance. Conservative appointments to the Supreme Court are expected and with that the Republican control of the executive, legislature and judiciary will be complete.<br /><br />There is considerable anxiety abroad too. There is concern in India that a Trump presidency would adversely hit outsourcing of American business to India, visas for Indians etc. The Muslim world is worried over the impact of Trump’s Islamophobic outlook on US foreign policy. Confrontations could increase; Trump’s promise to tear up the nuclear deal with Iran, could for instance, set off Washington and Tehran on another collision course. Would his anti-immigration campaign rants translate into America shutting down its doors to refugees fleeing conflicts in Iraq and Syria? Candidate Trump ran a mean-spirited campaign, which stirred the worst anxieties among American voters. Many Americans and others across the world will be hoping that his crude and divisive speeches were just campaign rhetoric and that once in the White House, Trump will emerge a more responsible leader who represents all Americans.<br /></div>
<div>Donald Trump has been elected the 45th president of the US. He won the election on a wave of support from white working-class voters by playing to their insecurities. His empathy for their victimhood and his simplistic but deeply controversial solutions struck a chord with them, bringing them out in large numbers to defeat Clinton. His victory signals that racist and misogynist attitudes remain deeply entrenched in America. That 42% of women voted for Trump indicates how deeply women have internalised patriarchal values and how widespread this problem is. Her defeat marks the end of the road to the White House for Hillary Clinton. This is unfortunate. By winning the US presidency, the world’s most powerful job, she would have shattered the “hardest and highest glass ceiling” in the world. She could not but cracks have appeared in that ceiling. Although she lost the electoral college vote and thus the White House, she won the popular vote.<br /><br />Trump’s victory has set off a wave of unease and insecurity in the US and elsewhere. The just-concluded elections polarised American politics and society as never before. Trump’s victory is unlikely to reverse that polarisation. Indeed, it is being widely interpreted as a huge setback to America’s pluralism and diversity, even its democracy. <br /><br />Liberal Americans, Blacks, Hispanics, immigrants and women are understandably apprehensive over what a Trump presidency will bring given the unmistakably racist, misogynist, xenophobic and Islamophobic agenda of his election campaign. With the House of Representatives and the Senate as well as the White House now in their hands, the Republicans are in a strong position to further their agenda. This will help them pursue policy changes – do away with Obamacare, for instance. Conservative appointments to the Supreme Court are expected and with that the Republican control of the executive, legislature and judiciary will be complete.<br /><br />There is considerable anxiety abroad too. There is concern in India that a Trump presidency would adversely hit outsourcing of American business to India, visas for Indians etc. The Muslim world is worried over the impact of Trump’s Islamophobic outlook on US foreign policy. Confrontations could increase; Trump’s promise to tear up the nuclear deal with Iran, could for instance, set off Washington and Tehran on another collision course. Would his anti-immigration campaign rants translate into America shutting down its doors to refugees fleeing conflicts in Iraq and Syria? Candidate Trump ran a mean-spirited campaign, which stirred the worst anxieties among American voters. Many Americans and others across the world will be hoping that his crude and divisive speeches were just campaign rhetoric and that once in the White House, Trump will emerge a more responsible leader who represents all Americans.<br /></div>
