by Emil Guillermo
A Black, South Asian Indian woman, from Oakland, California, the first ever to be elected to the United States presidency.
That was the headline of hope.
Kamala Harris represented joy and positivity. Her election would have been a historic win for America and our country’s great diversity.
But on Election Day, the electorate did not turn the page on the chaotic hate of Donald Trump.
Was it a gut punch or a reality check?
When major networks called Pennsylvania for Donald Trump, it was essentially game over. There was no way, Harris could get to 270 electoral college votes without Pennsylvania.
Trump, with substantial leads in Michigan, Wisconsin, Nevada, and Arizona, went on to get 312 electoral votes, more than enough needed to become the 47th president of the United States.
The good thing is, Trump, ready to pounce with fake charges of vote rigging and cheating, now doesn’t think our electoral systems are all that bad.
We were spared that useless denigration of our democracy’s integrity.
Plus, now we don’t have to worry about the peaceful transfer of power as CFDT34, (Convicted Felon Donald Trump, 34 counts), the twice-impeached former president gets to call the White House home again. And all his legal problems and possible prison time will soon be forgotten.
In January, Trump will be able to invoke his favorite parts of Project 2025—deportations of thousands of Filipinos among the undocumented, plus the vengeful roundup of his political dissidents, the “enemy from within”—all without fear.
Who will stop him? The checks and balances are practically gone. The Senate and possibly the House will be in Republican control. The Supreme Court already is.
And the corporate media as a watchdog? When major newspapers failed to endorse a candidate, they were already on bended knee.
Where does that leave good, non-elite regular people who tried to do the right thing in this election?
Among them: The women angered over the loss of their reproductive rights.
Activists who fought against further erosion of civil and voting rights.
The hundreds of thousands of undocumented, including Filipino TNTs who now face Trump’s threat of impending ICE roundups.
The parents of trans children now see their children endangered after Trump used transphobia as a wedge issue.
The voters were repulsed by the hateful, misogynistic, sexist, racist, and bigoted sentiments that came out of the Trump campaign.
They were outvoted by those who saw the Trump record, and weighed all the fascist fears, and still said Trump was OK by them.
It’s the kind of thing that has plunged Harris voters into a deep depression.
They now must find a way to keep fighting for our rights in our democracy. Or they will drop out and join the ranks of the so-called “low propensity/low information” voters, go back to their lives, and tune out until some politician or issue comes around to turn them back on.
Maybe they go with the flow and learn to hang with Trump by just staying quiet and apolitical.
We may be at that point already. When one of my columns critical of Trump was being circulated on the Facebook site of my former San Francisco high school this week, one reader blasted the person posting it for triggering readers over the politics of the day.
The immediate reaction was to declare the site a “politics-free zone” because politics was a turn-off.
That’s called censorship.
Or maybe the person who blocked my column was just ashamed of her own politics because she voted for Trump?
The Winning Coalition
It’s now clear there’s a new strange coalition of working-class urban people, non-college-educated women, and rural voters who revere Trump.
They’ve all gone Republican, along with one in three voters of color.
The voter profile flipped. Too many Blues went Red. And now the Reds are gloating.
“This will be the Golden Age of America,” Trump said as he spoke at an early morning victory rally in Florida and heralded MAGA’s diversity.
“Union, non-union, African Americans, Hispanic American, Asian American, Arab American, Muslim American, we had everybody, and it was beautiful,” Trump said, saying his coalition was “the party of common sense.”
Or nonsense. People voting because of inflation for Trump who espouses inflationary policies. People voting for Trump even though he wants to deport their parents and grandparents.
Add these voters to Trump’s Bro/males, the original “low propensity/low information” voters, a good deal of them who are Black and Latino, and it makes up a new winning American electorate.
They’re voters who react to the feels of a political brand. Trump’s is strong. Harris was seen as weak, of course, because she’s a woman. The misogynists couldn’t see Harris going up against Putin and Xi, even though Harris has prosecuted more bad guys than Trump ever has.
Trump’s bro appeal that prevailed. That plus the simplification of issues into basic selfish matters like the affordability of gas and food.
Don’t talk ideology. Fill my tank. And my refrigerator.
That’s all it took to provide the winning edge of a few percentage points. But definitely NOT a mandate.
Trump loves these “low propensity-low information” types because he’s one of them too. He never read a briefing book in his first term. He wants you to be the same way. Real debate over issues isn’t necessary.
The better to subject us all to his authoritarian bent.
The New Fear In America
And that’s still the fear. Don’t think his fascist tendencies go away with a victory. If you’re one of the many Filipinos who felt as citizens you have nothing to worry about, just wait when ICE goes into workplaces to question and detain anyone who looks like they could be undocumented.
Minor inconenience? Or major civil rights infringement?
And that’s just one area of concern.
Now, you may be one of those who voted, but did it secretly, not publicly. You stayed private maybe because you felt the fear of being trolled. Or you feared the threat of violence.
That’s more real than the price of gas or eggs.
Trump talked about rifles training on Liz Cheney’s face. That could easily be yours.
Across the U.S., 36% of voters said they would feel scared if Trump is elected president, according to an early CNN exit poll.
47% said only Trump was too extreme.
71% said they were concerned about violence as a result of the election.
On Election Day, American voters were far from celebratory as they exercised their right to franchise.
Many were just plain afraid. So they voted with the bully.
And a little less than 3% of voters say they’re all right with that.
This is how Americans voted. Ask your neighbors why they’re so afraid, possibly of you.
This is the New America in 2025 we did not expect. Not when we had a real choice for history.
EMIL GUILLERMO is a journalist and commentator. He’s covered politics from Hawaii to Washington, DC. When he was the first Filipino American to host a national news show on NPR. See his micro-talk show on www.patreon.com/emilamok and on YouTube.com/emilamok1. He performs an excerpt from his new Emil Amok Monologues, “Transdad,” Nov.18 at the Marsh, 1062 Valencia St., San Francisco. Tickets here: https://themarsh.org/monday-night-marsh-stream/
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