Why Trump Will Win Again

Rina Cakrani, Columnist

With the Democratic primaries underway, the country and the rest of the world are reminded of the upcoming 2020 election and the possibility of another four years of the Trump administration. Many do not really care about who the Democratic nominee will be because Trump “will win anyway.” While there is so much mobilization and effort among different grassroots organizations to turn the public opinion against him by trying to make them realize how his policies have affected communities in a negative way, there is still a high possibility that he will get re-elected. People who think he will continue to be president for another term have not given up on his re-election.

I think that after being told so many times that he’d lose in 2016, people are rightfully afraid. Trump won despite inviting a foreign adversary to interfere in the American election, having multiple accusations and evidence against him by different women for sexual harassment and disrespecting Mexicans in his candidacy speech. Things have only gotten worse since he became president because that’s when he started implementing executive orders that hurt different communities, especially those that have historically been marginalized. He implemented the Muslim ban, increased the vetting for foreign citizens, especially those coming from non-European countries, and began separating Latino children from their mothers and putting them in detention centers. Not to mention the numerous gaffes with foreign leaders and a foreign policy that has been extremely hostile to many countries. 

The America First campaign, claiming that America is and must continue to be superior, has proven to be rhetoric based on white supremacy and isolationism from the rest of the world. Trump’s presidency so far has exposed vulnerable populations to extreme danger, putting their humanity and lives at risk. Despite all this, he still has a high chance of winning. As a foreigner, I have noticed how individualism is such a big characteristic in American society and how people do not truly act on issues that have not actively touched them. Americans do care a lot about the economy and since the economy is doing well (despite the growing inequality gap), other issues might seem distant and perhaps not as important.

Disrespecting foreign leaders and putting up a Muslim ban may not seem like such a huge issue to the American public, especially to the typical Trump supporter; therefore people might not find a massive problem with his policies. If Americans, particularly white Americans, were so affected by his rhetoric and controversial statements towards immigrants and communities of color, they would have not voted for him in the first place. One thing is certain though: communities of color will vote against him again in huge numbers, motivated by the fact that they have felt the effect of his policies upon their communities after his election. At the same time, there is still quite a lot of uncertainty when it comes to the overall election results.