Students, professor react to results

Donald Trump was elected the 45th president of the United States on Tuesday, defeating Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. In widely unexpected victory, Trump secured the necessary 270 electoral votes after officially winning the states of Wisconsin and Pennsylvania. The Associated Press called the race at 2:31 a.m. Wednesday morning.

In addition to winning the presidency, Republicans held onto the Senate by winning a number of competitive races in states such as Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and North Carolina. Democrats gained Senate seats in Illinois and Nevada. The House of Representatives remained majority Republican.

Student reactions to the results varied widely.  

“I’m definitely surprised. I didn’t think [Trump’s election] was going to happen. I’m most excited for the Supreme Court justices because that is a big win for Republicans,” freshman and Trump supporter Victoria Banowsky said.  

Sophomore Andrew Schmitz, an anti-Trump conservative, said, “This election has given us a referendum on the status quo. Whether Americans truly are unsatisfied with their economic standing or could not accept Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump is our president.”

Schmitz continued, “We must move forward and hope for the best to heal the division and disconnect that has never been more apparent in our country. We must remember that rhetoric aside, both parties want what’s best for America.”

Sophomore Danielle Konan shared, “As a daughter of immigrants, I was quite disappointed in the outcome. I didn’t really have an affection for either candidate, but it was disheartening to realize just how divided America is still. That being said, I hope the president-elect will be able to rise to the occasion and be a president for all Americans.”

Associate Professor of Constitutional Studies Patrick Deneen shared his analysis of the results with the Rover. “Trump’s victory is stunning for several reasons,” he said. “First, not only did he run against the opposition party and defeat it resoundingly; he ran against the establishment of his own party and succeeded in remaking it. Second, he revealed the yawning chasm between coastal elites of both parties and the views and sentiments of less educated and more rural voters in the heartland.”

Deneen continued, “Lastly, he was the vehicle of an ongoing realignment that has been underway for some decades, with elements of the old Democratic Party—particularly the South and Midwest—coalescing around a candidate who promised a blend of liberal and conservative policies, including economic nationalism, constraints on immigration, a relatively more isolationist foreign policy, and middle-class entitlements.”

Commenting on Trump’s high support among evangelical voters as well as his majority support from Catholics, Deneen said, “Remarkably, religious voters were willing to overlook his glaring offensiveness and even dubious values to vote for someone whom they believed would put an end to an aggressive campaign to marginalize and even criminalize religious belief and practice.”

“While it was assumed by most that there would be a civil war and reckoning for the Republican party,” Deneen concluded, “it turns out that it will be the Democratic party that spends at least the next four years trying to find its way in the wilderness.”

Matt Connell is a sophomore studying business and constitutional studies. You can contact him at mconnel6@nd.edu.