I don't understand how this many people see everything that he's done and said, and still voted for him. I just do not understand. I don't want to live on the same planet as these people, nevermind in the same country.
From what I've seen it's people angry at the status quo and looking for a change in a desperate effort.
This is exactly what happened with Brexit.
Status-quo politics is dead, many major western parties just haven't realized this yet. People want firmer political leadership that promises fundamental change and isn't afraid of breaking things along the way.
It's just fucking unfortunate that (in most countries) it's only the far right who are ahead of the curve at realizing this.
Center to left parties need to reinvent themselves and focus less on pleasing everyone or fighting losing battles. They also need to present a much clearer vision.
From what Iāve seen itās people angry at the status quo and looking for a change in a desperate effort.
This. Both the Biden and Harris campaign were focused on "it's not actually that bad, but it'll be worse under Trump". And for a lot of people, it IS that bad. All they heard from Harris was that it will be more of the same, and the same isn't working for a lot of Americans.
Just like with Brexit, geriatric brains still insisting that the world should be catering to THEIR demands. And similarly bitter that the world has moved on and they're all-but-obsolete.
Their votes are Boomer tantrums for attention.
In both cases Putin won.
Which was also influenced by russian campaigns
If that's what they actually wanted they'd be progressives, instead of voting to take exactly the worst parts of the status quo and make them even worse.
It's not really all that complicated. The Democrats represent the status quo. The status quo sucks. The Republicans present themselves as an alternative to the status quo. So, people vote Republican.
All the centrist messaging just makes it worse. The Republicans can explain why things suck by scapegoating the poor and marginalized. But the Democrats won't call out the rich and powerful who are the actual reason things suck, so instead they just try to tell people that things don't suck at all. They "reach across the aisle" to people like Dick Cheney who are clearly part of the political establishment which only serves to help Trump present himself as an outsider. They adopt all these right-wing positions on immigration, the military, etc, but the people that appeals to already have a party waiting on them hand and foot, giving them exactly what they want. And all the bad shit he does doesn't matter to them because they believe in lesser evilism and hate the establishment.
Of course, Trump is part of the billionaire class and isn't any sort of real alternative to the existing system, but as long as Republicans are able to paint themselves that way, and are the only "alternative" game in town, people are going to turn to them when they dislike the way things are going, no matter how shitty they are.
I felt surprised and confused in 2016 when Trump won, but it's been 8 years. It's long past time to start figuring out where the Trump phenomenon came from.
Best take I've read so far. Racism/misogyny/stupidity etc are certainly all factors but this is the main issue, absolutely. Everything sucks and pretending it's all fantastic and nothing needs to change is a delusional campaign strategy
completely agree. probably a lot disfranchised people have lost enough trust in the system to even vote. these people likely vote blue if they actually do something for them. why would they care trump is fascist when noone has addresses to their problems anyway.
100% this. And it frustrates me to no end because we're having the exact same issue in Germany (although we're still "behind" the US in the timeline). The extremist AfD has been gaining consistently over the past decade because they just present themselves as the alternative to everything establishment, so a lot of voters that are unhappy with the system for whatever reason flock to them (as one AfD politician put it, "the worse Germany is doing, the better for the AfD"). But instead of offering a different, more left-wing alternative to the status quo, all other major parties have been trying a centrist or even right-wing approach (e. g. the current government implementing hilariously useless stricter border controls), hoping to appeal to AfD voters by offering a watered-down version of their authoritarian agenda. And of course the outcome of this strategy is the same as in the US: The AfD just keeps on gaining ground.
Granted I don't understand those people, but this difference between now and 2020 is lack of support for Harris, not increased support for Trump. I'll add people sitting at home to the list of people I don't want to associate with.
I agree that people are stupid for not understanding how terrible Trump was and will be. However, I think a big problem was that the DNC didn't provide an attractive alternative to excite these dummies.
There was very obviously support for Harris early on when the DNC made some progressive decisions. Getting rid of Biden was a progressive choice. Choosing Tim Walz was a progressive choice. The DNC was immediately rewarded for these progressive choices with $1 billion in small donor donations.
The DNC got arrogant and decided to aggressively move in a conservative direction. Harris started talking about how she would build the wall and prosecute immigrants. The DNC welcomed the Cheneys with open arms. Harris told interviewers that she would be more conservative than Biden by accepting more Republicans in her Cabinet.
The DNC actively threw away their progressive supporters and gained absolutely nothing in return because the voters they were courting would never have voted for Harris anyway. Racists gonna vote Trump. Moderate conservatives gonna secretly vote Trump. People who want Republicans in a Presidential Cabinet are obviously gonna vote Trump.
If the DNC just focused on stuff like being pro choice or going into detail about fighting price gouging, that would have been much more successful than trying to attract the mythical "Moderate Conservative".
No, look at the polls. They absolutely support Trump.
They are morons.
I think that for many of his voters, the system doesn't work anymore for them. So they want it to change and they only see this change possible with Trump and Vance. Very sad.
Obviously the system doesnāt work for most people with wealth inequality increasing every year without exception and people needing 3 jobs to survive. As long as the system is set up such that there are 2 major parties that fight for media attention by begging for money from rich people there will be no improvement for the working class. The working class knows that and they feel that. However, with lying being so normalised on every news station itās very difficult to point to the right cause, so people lash out and vote for the candidate that promises change instead of the same spiel.
Because of Racism
Still, even the biggest racist should look at him and think: there has to be a better racist.
Don't forget sexism too
As a non-american, this seems unsurprising. The Harris campaign seemed to be running the same playbook as the Clinton one did. The main reason anyone gave for voting for her was not being trump, effectively making her the satus quo candidate. If everything is shit for you under the current status quo, that doesn't encourage you to vote for her.
Apparently it was the same faction of Dems behind her as the Clinton campaign. Nice job guys, thanks.
I don't know either. Maybe everyone should have did more to talk to their shitty parents but who could expect this much BS.
Youth vote leaned into Trump. It's an across the board / demographics loss for Democrats.
You can't blame this on the boomers. It wasn't much leaning but Trump gained support here.
You need to just fully recognize that your brand of politics is falling apart and we need real answers in the next 4 years. It's going to be even harder after the grifters have even more megaphones drowning out the truth
They like what he says and does. There's nothing deeper, they're not fooled, they're not protest voting. A lot of people in germany liked Hitler, a lot of italians liked Mussolini, a lot of russians like Putin, a lot of americans like Trump.
I think most countries have like 20-30% of people who'd love a fascist leader. They're why high-school bullies are popular rather than shunned for being anti-social. They're fine with people getting hurt as long as they can imagine themselves part of the "strong" side, as that's the only win and feeling of safety they get.
Why they're closer to 50% in the US is a more interesting question
Aside from plant of other things that have already been said, a lot of people look at it as a team sport. They don't see it as having real consequences.
For some, it's just not paying attention and not being happy with the way things are going.
I know. It is very disappointing.
Wisdom will show you. I watch the democrats for the last 3 elections snuff out the popular vote. They tried to pull a fast one in this election and disrespected their voters. It's a tough pill to swallow, but the democrats have the dirtier shirt for voter manipulation and suppression. This happened 2 times when Bernie Sanders was the popular vote. We didn't even get to chose this last time.
Great job, dipshits. I hope this personally impacts each and every person that voted for him.
Oh it definitely will. Just his tariff plans are gonna turn everywhere into a 3rd world country, not just the republican backwaters.
At this point, it's just desserts. The US had it coming for even letting him run in the first place. That being said, Republican backwaters are going to get fucked way harder than metro populations. Poor boomers are going to get wiped out without social security, Medicaid, or kids that love them anymore. The south can enjoy the next hurricane without FEMA aid. Have fun watching your loved ones get deported because you thought this only impacted "illegals", assholes. I have my popcorn ready.
Fuck em.
It's going to impact an enormous amount of people who didn't vote for him either though.
Its also going to impact the other 2/3rd of voters that dont give a fuck and dont vote at all. I hate this country so much
It will and they will put it on Biden
It definitely will and they still will blame the other party.
One side of me hopes they outlaw computer games and porn like it's laid out in project 2025. Unfortunately, it will hit everyone, but I fear that this is gonna happen anyway.
Me too. I would love that positive change in my life.
As an Australian watching this all unfold I just can't believe you guys did it again.
We can't either
Seconded. The first time I was willing to write it off as frustrated voters being misled by a conman. This time is different. You all had four years under this rapist conman and enough people decided they'd go back for seconds. Despicable.
Doesn't help they ran an unpopular candidate. I voted for Harris but too many racist sexiest people in America in both parties. Hell I heard democrats that joked when they voted for Obama that they voted for his white half. Harris was half black and half Indian. Also lot of black men wouldn't cote for a woman especially one of color. And I heard a lot of Indian hated that she half black.
As a fellow Australian, I don't understand why you're surprised.
"Hold your nose and vote for the lesser evil" may be pragmatic, but it doesn't get people emotionally engaged. It doesn't get you infectious enthusiasm and passion. It gets you reluctant, dejected compliance, and that simply does not catch fire.
On the other side you have nothing but emotional engagement; god knows it's not a rational or pragmatic choice there. Trump does nothing but pander to hatred and cruelty and fear and the power fantasies of gullible idiots, and it fucking works. Cheap shallow emotional satisfaction, no matter how stupid an idea it is. You know, like junk food and binge drinking and cigarettes and pokies; things that people know full well are ruining their lives, but they continue to seek them out regardless.
If the dems ever want to win, they will have to make the progressives fall in love with them, and you don't get that by backing genocide unconditionally, you just don't.
They didn't get the oh-god-yes, just a not-no, and that does not equal consent.
You got a room to rent?
You think you'd be welcome? At this point the entire world sees your 'culture' as rotten to the core and by extension all its peoples are contaminated. You could be truthfully stating "I didn't vote for that orange asshole" and nobody is going to risk believing you, nor care.
This cutesy 'I am moving somewhere else for 4 years' joke tells me you aren't taking this seriously which doesn't help ya'lls case. No, you stay stuck in your shithole country until things are bad enough you fix your shit because ain't nobody going to save you and it is time you and your ilk learn that.
I keep refreshing the page hoping for better results but I cannot believe my country is this fucking stupid
Hey now let's not blame voters for their actions. There is exactly one acceptable blame target for anything and that's obviously Democrats. Doesn't matter the topic, it's always the fault of Democrats. No matter what
From the inside it's un fucking believable too
Jesus fucking Christ not again
Actually it's not gonna be "again". It's gonna be way, way worse.
I really feel for the billions of people, including my fucking self, who didn't get a vote but who still have to suffer the consequences of this.
here we go again...
And they won the Senate and are on track to win the house. The supreme Court is already in Trump's pocket and even if he choked on a big Mac and keeled over tomorrow that still leaves Vance, who is just as insane as trump but knows how to make his shit palatable to anyone who hasn't been paying attention, which as tonight proves is more than half the country. We are 1000% well and truly fucked.
Where are you seeing they'll win the house? All I see is a narrow blue control of the house on projected outcomes.
If you are talking about the in progress data, you can't really assume much from it. Different classes of votes get counted at different times. In person versus mail in, urban versus rural. Some places had their urban in real quick, some had their urban in late.
There's no way the population that voted Trump in by such a wide margin did not also secure the house, which is generally districted in favor of Republicans anyway
Dear anyone that voted for this useless cunt,
You are fucking removed. Thanks for ruining everything for the rest of us, dipshit.
With absolutely no love, any creature with an actual brain.
The dumb bastards just gave Gaza to Bibi and Ukraine to Putin. And that is just a small part.
And I wouldn't be surprised if Taiwan was next now
It will be. The orange shit stain and co. will hand that shit over in no time. I'm betting he's going to leak military secrets as well because he's a fucking idiot.
The next 4 years are going to be rough...and mark my words. Every dipshit that voted for him, will be blaming biden somehow for increased costs everywhere.
Welp, I'm going to skip work tomorrow and figure out how to get citizenship elsewhere. Fuck the US.
How much do you make? I'm up for some light marriage fraud if you'd like a Finnish citizenship.
You can basically live indefinitely in the SEA with US passport (Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia). Find a in a nice liberal bubble with loads of other foreigners as long as you can make 2,000 usd/mo you'll be quite comfy and free here.
I've long given up on being part of the core society and embraced the life in a bubble. It's pretty awesome! Feel free to message me if you have any questions :)
I'm fortunate enough to also have EU citizenship. Will be booking tickets for me and the fam shortly. America is not the place for us.
I can't fucking believe we did it to ourselves again I'm completely in shock, this is fucking ridiculous.
I would say the same thing but just drive a car somewhere some time. People are the stupidest most selfish garbage you can imagine. And nothing brings that behavior out of them like driving a car.
Speaking of driving, that could be a protest measure. Super simple, super legal. Just obey all traffic laws, stay to the right, AND always drive 5 below the speed limit.
Sure it could elicit gunfire, vehicular assault, stalking. But the rear view mirror theater will be to die for.
Under trump i doubt much "freedom inhibiting" transit will be built. And bike lanes are ablist so they are gone. Sidewalks will be gone too as only "poor people" walk so why waste taxes on them. Hell, he might even rip out a railway to build a highway, cause that's more american.
I'd be way more shocked if he somehow lost.
I hate reality
I'm going to quote one of the great minds of our time.
"Is this real life???"
"Is this going to be forever???"
"aaahhhhhhhUUUGAAAHHHHHHH!!!!"
~David after dentist. 2009.
It's surprising how often a 10 year old high on drugs from 15 years ago is profound in describing situations of the modern day.
I'm REALLY Angry at the Economy which is why I voted for a Billionaire who Promised his Billionaire friends Cabinet Positions and Tax Cuts and other Treats at the Expense of ME!
Also he promised to Deport my Wife and Daughter and lock up my Gay friend which is a HUGE Plus!
I guess it's confirmed. Americans really are dumber than a bag of rocks.
a bad of rocks doesn't have 34 felonies.
No, but the bag I got is about to be an accomplice...
Where do mariginalized people go now?
To the camps, I think?
I'll be there once he gets to the gay part of the list.
Gays have a year or two before they are swept into the camps I think. First on the list will be immigrants and trans people in red states. That phase will begin in January. That will take 18 months at least. If they are as incompetent as they've been in the past, this phase could take the entire four years until his 3rd term.
Yeah I'm sure I'll be right after. I would like to avoid it all...
Underground railroads. It's basically already a thing again with abortion.
Assuming northern states can protect them.
Hey at least we passed amendment 3 in Missouri. We barely got it, but we have legalized reproductive freedom
Hey, I know it's disappointing and inadequate, but no one who fought for you yesterday has forsaken you today. Good luck, friend.
Canada.
Hope Canada doesn't follow trumps path then. With climate change Canada gonna feel real comfy soon imagine.
This is somehow less of a gut-punch than 2016 when everyone just assumed Americans would do the right thing and not elect Trump. It still sucks, but itās less of a surprise. The writing was kind of on the wall for awhile though, just given the fact that the election was as close as it was. Even if Trump hadnāt won, that he was able to run the most garbage campaign in history and was still tying it up was pretty damning of America.
So now we watch as we just peacefully transfer power to the most vile, irresponsible person on Earth and watch the world burn.
Why would anyone ever think they would do the right thing?
Because they did in 2020. A last gasp of human decency.
Welp. Remember guys save money. Those tariffs are gonna hit hard. Make friends, they will help you get through harder times. Workout and become physically stronger, you may need it. Archive books and studies and pieces of knowledge that may get banned.
And for right now, drink some water and go to sleep. No need in worrying about this right now. We'll have plenty of time to do so anyways.
Itās just so sad that people can look at this shit like Project 2025 and think letās go for that. Ignore Trump and his calls for being a dictator but what the fuck. I am so disappointed in my fellow Americans. I do not look forward to having this shit stain being shoved in my face with his inability to speak a clear thought.
I feel physically sick right now. I don't have the money to leave. I'm an openly gay man. We're headed for a christofascist dictatorship. I just wanted to stay alive long enough to bury my mother, that's all, and I probably won't get to, not in the new American Reich. I know Harris winning wouldn't fix every problem this country has but please fuck not like this
Take it easy friend. I understand your sentiments, we're all in this together, humans can and will endure. All your friends who cared for you before are still there, and we'll fight together to protect each other.
Jon Stewart on this
I love hearing a positive message right now.
But we just observed the majority wanting the racist misogynist horror show. Hard work doesn't fix that.
That's all well and good, but there's just something fundamentally wrong with this country. I love Jon Stewart, but I'm not sure the US can actually be fixed. If you're not a white evangelical man right now, you're in for four years of hurt and many of Americans did it to themselves. And the unfortunate truth is that four years of hurt won't fix anything. Many will do it again next time.
He doesn't seem to assure even himself at the end
š¤¦š¼āāļø
At this point a meteorite nuking our planet is probably better for everyone.
I guess people really do want fascism. We talk about it like it's an obviously-awful thing, but apparently most Americans disagree. Most people around the world seem to disagree, in fact. We laugh about the idiots voting for Trump, but far right lunatics are gaining positions of power all over the planet. It's not just Fox News-fed Americans.
It feels like we're building up to something catastrophic.
Fox News is a vestige of the 20th century. Social media is the 21st century Fox News. Everyone knows it's bad but we have not reckoned with it. Everyone agrees it's bad then everyone returns to scrolling their echo chamber.
Unfortunately the social media oligarchs side with Trump. We're all fucked.
They don't see what he's done and what he's said. The people that put him over the edge this time were targeted for being ill-informed and tempted by magic wand campaign promises like "no tax on tips" or dumb things like gold sneakers. They aren't watching informed news or doing research about his past performance. They're simply voting on vibe alone and have been heavily targeted on social media to make them think everything sucks and he's the only one who can fix everything when in fact he's the complete opposite of them.
It's not over yet. They still have votes to count throughout the night. If he does win after the official numbers come in, the good news is, you will never have to vote again. Voting is over from that point on. And if he drops dead in office, christian nationalism will take over with JD Vance. Keep your couches locked up!
Thanks for the silver lining.
Even if Harris wins like a few more states, all that this shithead needs to win is Wisconsin which is already looking to be a given. By that point he'll be at 258 and all he'll need is just 2 more states which could be any of them and it'll be over regardless of what Harris gains. Harris would need PA and MI to even have a remote of a chance.
FUCK THIS COUNTRY! FUCK THIS COUNTRY! FUCK THIS COUNTRY!
Penn is already gone.
Our only hope is the House.
Not everyone in this country is stupid. But too many people are.
The āshift in votesā map on the NYT is INSANE.
The green arrows are absent
They are invisible, just like the "green" party in a bipartisanship. But you can pool them with the reds as that's who they favour.
My anxiety meds aren't enough for this shit... š¬
Just woke up to this..
What the fuck.. How is this even possible...
It's a sad day today.
Free pass revoked. Showed us who the nation is that shows up late to wars after waffling on sides is now that you voted to abandon Ukraine and Gaza. And maybe even NATO and lives. And stuck your dick in the world economy again.
so dumps has dementia and is going to be removed from office and then JD Vance becomes the president?
shady jd.
The majority of the stupid is invincible and guaranteed for all time. The terror of their tyranny, however, is alleviated by their lack of consistency.
Albert Einstein
Didn't Einstein have to flee Nazi Germany and migrate to another country?
I dunno man. I'm not feeling good about this at all.
Yes, Einstein had to flee Nazi Germany. And yes, I'm not too sure about the last part of the quote either. Dark times are to come I guess - and probably not just for the US but for the whole democratic world.
Poop
Fuck.
Well fuck me sideways.
Just with a bit of estimation of the remaining 12% of votes uncounted, Trump is going to beat his 2020 vote record by a couple million, 81 million on the high end and maybe closer to 77 million on the low end. Unlikely, but possible he beats the 2020 all time record set by Biden. Definitely beats his 2020 numbers.
Kamala recently pulled ahead of Hillaryās 65 million and Obamaās 66 million, sheās gonna end up around 71-74 million.
Kamala lost the Popular Vote. In fact she won some blue states by smaller margins then she lost some āswingā states. Nevada might not even be tight enough to qualify as a swing state this election(needs to be 5% or less, Trumpās currently winning by 5.2% meaning it wasnāt a swing state), meanwhile Minnesota was won by 3, New Jersey by 4, New Hampshire by 4 and a half, and Maine might be lost weāll see, but those 4 were all swing states as the margin was less than 5%. New Mexico and Virginia came very close(and New Mexico would have been under 5 without RFK Jr dragging Trump down a point).
This also suggests the Electoral College no longer favors Republicans, and is somewhere between neutral and actually favoring Democrats again. 2028 a tight election with a Democrat win could see them lose the PV and win the EC.
I had a ton of 2004 vibes from the start and it looks like that was correct. He is coming back to serve a second term, and YES, this time he won the national electiiion.
Oh thanks to your Ohia and your brother Jebidiah(Also you canāt blame third parties this time, they did horribly nationwide. At worst maybe they tightened up Virginia a bit just through how uniquely bad for Democrats it was there, but on the other hand RFK Jr is the only reason New Mexico didnāt crack a sub 5 margin and go into Swing State territory again(Harris won by 5.2 there and RFK got 1 point. No third party means that crosses the 5 point threshold)
The Democratic Project 25 - as in the 25th Amendment on Day 1.
The democracy voted. It is what it is.
Hahahahahahahahahahahaha
ok but gaza
Now that USA is ruled by a fascist are they going to expel from the linux kernel every maintainers who work for american companies?
Not going to cry if they kick people who support a fascist piece of shit. Yep, that would be deserved, fascism has no place in free software.
Jan 20th is when the transfer of power happens, historically.
rent free, dude
The mail ins haven't been counted fully, lots of swing states stopped counting at 8 pm eastern standard time. Kamala has a solid chance to flip enough to get to 270, 2020 wasnt called till 4 days after the election. Stop being doomers until after the fucken votes are properly counted.
Harris has to take fucking Alaska to make it at this point. This is nothing but copium my dude.
Here's how Bernie can still win
Well, Democrats can rest easy knowing that Palestinian children will continue being murdered.
I hope it was worth it.
Glad to know there's now blood on the single issue voter's hand.
And now Ukrainian children too.
Look you donāt understand, Israel (AIPAC) was offering them a lot of money so they had to support it.
I hope it was worth it for you, spreading ideas that helped trump. I'm sure he'll completely flip his stance on Palestine any minute now
You people who attacks everyone who are not 100% into the Democrats are the reason she lost.
Burying your head in the sand for the sake of proving your unconditional support for a party only works for the right-wingers, not the left. Making everyone not completely on your side their enemy is also a tactic that only works for the right.
You're just being stupid by adopting their tactics and expecting it to work instead of making as many allies as you can. Good change only happens when you offer your hand to other people instead of chastising them for not offering their hand.
