How Trump Won

November 9th had a surprising outcome for the nation. Trump and Hillary supporters alike watched late into the night to see state after state go red for Trump. Around the world, surprise and horror would be an accurate way to describe world leaders who woke up feeling perplexed as to what outcome this would have on treaties, deals, and perhaps the international world order.

Throughout the primary election, Donald Trumps bid for the presidency was not taken seriously. The media as well as most Americans thought it to be a joke. Until he began to win. State by state, Trump sent the message of “Make America Great Again” home for many white Americans who have felt disenfranchised and “forgotten” by a system. A system which, before, would put them higher than any other American simply because they were white and men. Feminism, “Black Lives Matter”, the LGBT community, Obama (by virtue of being black) have placed that hierarchy in question. And rightfully so. Time has provided us with social progress – or perhaps progress  is the wrong word for those who think the country is shifting in the wrong direction. Regardless, when the results came in showing Donald Trump won, I immediately wanted to understand why.

My first impulse was that racism, sexism, and Islamaphobia won. People chose the leader they thought best represented their America. But, how could that be? How could it be that 2016 America believed that someone who bragged about sexually assaulting women, refused to disavow the KKK, and called for a nation-wide ban of Muslims from the United States be a representation of anyone’s America?

I have spoken to many Trump supporters since last June when he announced, and with almost every conversation came a similar response: He doesn’t mean it, or, even if he does, that isn’t why “I” am voting for him. The answer would always be rooted in the economy: He is a business man, he will bring jobs back…But even so, in my head that would be even more confusing. Trumps financial background is perhaps his worst quality.

But here is what Trump did, and why Hillary lost: he was unapologetically successful and unapologetically white. And through this, he allowed his supporters to be the same. Trump gained popularity because he told his base what they haven’t heard from politicians: be proud to want what you want. Be proud to be white. Be proud to be politically incorrect. Hillary told her supporters what she wasn’t. “Stronger Together” meant, “we are not Trump”. But if we are not Trump, what are we as democrats? That was the failed message, and a major reason why Hillary Clinton lost the election.

Furthermore, Trump spoke to a base who has been forgotten by those who place the planets health over oil and coal mining jobs. Kate Linthicum wrote and photographed a trip of hers to rural Ohio. After reading it and looking through this pictures, I wonder how Trump did not win by a larger margin.