Trump Triumphant - Reaction and Future Action

 

There's no denying that Donald Trump's election victory came as a shock to millions. One of our right-wing rags, The Sun, smirked triumphantly:

"LIBERAL late-night show hosts were seen losing their minds following Donald Trump's sweeping election victory. The US TV stars (Jimmy Kimmel, Stephen Colbert and Seth Myers) went into full-blown meltdowns with some tearing up and others becoming emotional live on air".

Kristin Tadlock-Hunter, an American living in Britain, told in The Guardian of her feelings:

“Devastated doesn’t cover it ... I think it’s a unique experience, to be an immigrant watching it from afar. It feels like you’re watching your house burn down from across the street, with all your friends and family still inside".

And I know that very many British people, including me, were shocked to see a convicted felon elected as leader one of the world's greatest democracies. I'm sorry to say, though, it was only similar to shocks to the system that I felt after Trump supporters attacked the US Capitol building, after the Brexit referendum vote, when Boris Johnson was elected and when Reform UK won seats in the last election. It was larger in scale, but similar in type - a dull horror, mixed with disbelief, at the triumph of the populist Right.