American election: Trump elected President, this expatriate from Lot between “sadness and anger”

She got up every morning at 5 a.m. but this Wednesday was bound to be different. In New York, Camille Couderc turned on the TV as soon as she got up and learned of Donald Trump's victory while swallowing her coffee, “mouth agape.” All this in front of the United States red card. Angry red. There's a better way to start the day. “It’s not really a surprise. But we are very worried, particularly about what will happen in the days to come but also in the months and years to come,” explains La Lotoise, who is professor at the prestigious French and private high school in New York. She already attended the election of Joe Biden and was on the front row in Washington DC when the Capitol was attacked by supporters of Donald Trump. Needless to say, three years later, she feared the worst.

“I am in a form of sadness and anger at the same time. But what worries me most is the status of my colleagues. In high school, there are many French teachers who have a long-stay permit or a cultural exchange visa Now, eight years ago, when I was in Florida and Trump was elected, he had already announced that he was not in favor of this type of visa. Which means that potentially, some. visas of my colleagues might not be renewed,” explains the Lotoise originally from Pradines who has just married an American. She obtained her green card this summer and has permanent resident status, so less risk of having to return to France. But she couldn't vote.

A climate of tension

Another black spot: diplomatic relations. With France, they seem preserved. But this is not the case for all nations. And then of course, the iVG. “In New York where it is possible to have an abortion, I obviously feel spared. But I think of the American women who are not so lucky,” she slips. Health care remains a pet peeve. The Frenchwoman returns home once a year to see her loved ones but also to carry out all her medical appointments. “I was severely anemic for a year and a half in the United States but this anemia was only diagnosed in France,” she points out. Moreover, his attending physician is still in the Lot.

Camille observes around her in New York a climate of tension, mistrust and divisions. But for the moment, no protest movement or incidents. “One of my colleagues is afraid that he will be accused of voting for Trump just because he is a white man. We are looking for whose fault it is, there is no more room for debate, here, now, it’s is white or black,” she exclaims. Proof of the differences is the atmosphere in his classroom this Wednesday morning. “I overheard a conversation between two of my CM2 students. One was telling the other that she was worried because she has two dads and that Trump is homophobic,” says the teacher. Meanwhile, at the next table, another schoolboy took the news “jokingly” with, in mind, images of Trump seen on social networks. Some public schools benefited from a day of rest, a “distress”, for the elections and for fear of excesses. Not Camille's school. She will be in class tomorrow morning, in front of the same blackboard. And this, with Trump or not, at the top of the White House.