A historic comeback. Donald Trump was once again elected President of the United States on Wednesday, November 6, winning against his Democratic rival, Kamala Harris. The Republican claimed, Thursday from Florida, a “unprecedented political victory” in the history of his country. According to the results which came more quickly than expected, the populist candidate snatched victory in four of the seven swing statesdecisive states in the outcome of the 2024 American presidential election. He is now assured of entering the Oval Office again at the start of next year, eight years after his first victory and four years after his defeat against Joe Biden.
At this stage, Donald Trump obtains the votes of 277 major voters, seven more than the 270 required in the race for the White House. Unsurprisingly, the Republican also won the votes of the 40 electors of Texas, the 30 of Florida and the 17 of Ohio. Above all, he recorded successes in the key states of North Carolina (16 electors), Georgia (16 electors), Pennsylvania (19 electors) and Wisconsin (10 electors).
It is a political resurrection for the 78-year-old billionaire, four years after his electoral defeat, which he never wanted to recognize, and his attempts to reverse the results of the 2020 election. Also four years after the assault from the Capitol, January 6, 2021, following a speech by the former leader galvanizing his supporters in Washington. Donald Trump was indicted for conspiracy against the State, for his efforts against the results of the last presidential election, or even for having retained confidential presidential documents after leaving the White House.
He was even found guilty criminally of “aggravated accounting falsification to conceal a conspiracy to pervert the 2016 election”, at the end of the trial in the Stormy Daniels affair. His sentence is due to be known on November 26. Neither this historic verdict nor his three other criminal charges have damaged his popularity. On the contrary, his supporters denounced political persecution. What do the Democrats' attacks calling him “returned to justice”.
His victory marks the end of a campaign marked by violence and focused on fear of others. The elected candidate was the victim of several assassination attempts, from Pennsylvania to Florida. On July 13, during a meeting in Butler, Donald Trump was targeted by several shots. He stood up with his ear and cheek bleeding, then raised his fist and shouted to his supporters: “Fight! Fight! Fight!” A burst of combativeness and an image that left its mark. Enough to give him, in the eyes of his supporters, an aura of the miraculous.
Crossing the swing statesDonald Trump reiterated his slogans and false assertions against immigration, not holding back from personal attacks against Kamala Harris – sometimes racist and misogynistic attacks. The two candidates, who are completely opposed and whom the polls could not decide between, faced each other on September 10 during a single debate. The Democrat gained the upper hand, attacking her rival on the subjects most likely to hurt her ego: the attendance at her meetings or her reputation abroad. The billionaire, with a closed face, deployed his usual attacks, notably on immigration, and accused his rival of being “Marxist”. The Republican then refused any further face-to-face meetings, a strategy that ultimately paid off.
Over the weeks of the campaign, the populist's speech grew darker, between threats against his opponents, whom he described as“enemies from within”and apocalyptic words. The former real estate tycoon depicted a country drifting apart, invaded by millions of criminal illegal immigrants, economically and morally bankrupt. A rhetoric which has earned him the qualification of “fascist” by his former chief of staff, John Kelly.
As the election approaches, he, like his rival, has worked hard to convince undecided voters. In particular, at the end of October he held a large gathering at the legendary Madison Square Garden in New York, the city where he was born. He accused Kamala Harris of having “destroyed the country” and posed as a savior in front of 20,000 people. A meeting during which his lieutenants poured out sexist and racist rhetoric for hours.
Using suspicions of isolated irregularities as a pretext, he resumed his speech from “the stolen election”of “cheating”as in 2020. He who never stopped claiming that his defeat four years ago against Democratic President Joe Biden was due to “fraud”which no form of evidence has ever come to support. During this 2024 campaign, Donald Trump systematically refused to commit to recognizing the result of the election, if it was not favorable to him.
What direction will America take now, under this new Trump era? The president-elect promises to extend tax cuts and respond to inflation by developing oil and gas production. He also intends to tax up to 10% on products imported into the United States, up to 60% for goods manufactured in China. As for immigration, the Republican wants to launch “the largest deportation operation in the history of the United States”targeting 11 million undocumented aliens in the country.
