As the election drew to a close, the future of the United States is increasingly taking on a dauntingly red hue.
Donald Trump’s victory in the 2024 presidential election marked the end of a historic electoral contest.
Trump delivered his victory speech late last night in Palm Beach, Fla., where he said this election was historic.
“This was, I believe, the greatest political movement of all time,” he said. “There's never been anything like this in this country and maybe beyond.”
He said his win would assure a “golden age” for the U.S.
Trump said his campaign was key and its impact significant for his victory on election night.
“This campaign has been so historic in so many ways,” Trump said. “We’ve built the biggest, the broadest, the most unified coalition.”
He thanked those who worked with him and supported him in the electoral campaign.
Trump also thanked minority groups who voted for him.
“This is also a massive victory for democracy and for freedom,” he said. “we’re going to unlock America’s glorious destiny, and we’re going to achieve the most incredible future for our people.”
He said it’s the right time to unite people again after four years of polarization and division to succeed.
“Success is going to bring us together, and we are going to start by all putting America first,” Trump said. “America’s future will be bigger, better, bolder, richer, safer, and stronger than it has ever been before.”
He said he would keep his word as he did in his previous presidential term.
Vice President Kamala Harris expressed gratitude to the crowds for their trust in her concession speech at Howard University on Nov. 6.
‘’The outcome of this election is not what we wanted, not what we fought for, not what we voted for. But hear me when I say, the light of America’s promise will always burn bright’’ she said.
She also congratulated Trump for his win via a morning call and asked for a ‘’peaceful transfer of power.’’
‘’While I concede this election, I do not concede the fight that fuelled this campaign.’’
She asked her supporters to stand for American ideals.
‘’This is the time to organize, to mobilize, to stay engaged for the sake of freedom and justice for the sake of the future we will build together,’’ she said.
Politics professor at Humber Polytechnic, Elinor Bray-Collins said this election would mark a historic event, especially with Trump’s legal accusations.
“Americans are on the precipice of potentially electing a convicted felon for president,” she said. “He’s got a unique type of skin in the game as well.”
Bray-Collins said Trump’s triumph would be a sign of further decline in American democracy.
“He’s a symptom of a system that is sick, not the cause of it,” she said.
Experts such as the Academic Director of Wilson College in McMaster, Don Abelson, said swing states were essential for Democrats to win.
“If Kamala Harris is able to take Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, possibly North Carolina, she will be in a very, very good position to win this,” Abelson said. “If she loses even one of those traditional blue states, things are going to get dicey.”
All of these states voted for Trump. Many academic experts, such as Abelson, echo the worries and disheartening attitudes of many people around the globe.
“Never in my lifetime have I ever seen a more distasteful and disturbing election. Never in my lifetime have I ever seen a former president of the United States maintain that his opponent was mentally impaired at birth,” Abelson said.
Voter turnout was another reason the election favoured Trump. Data from the Associated Press analyzed the demographics of voters who voted for Trump versus Harris.
Compared to the previous elections, young people had a smaller turnout for Democrats than Republicans.
In the 2020 Biden-Trump election, 61 per cent of voters aged 18 to 29 voted for Biden. However, in the 2024 Harris-Trump election, only 52 per cent of voters in that age bracket voted for Harris.
The AP’s data also shows how Latino and Black men favoured Trump over Harris. In 2020, 90 per cent of Black voters and 63 per cent of Latino voters went to Biden. In 2024, these numbers changed to 80 per cent of Black voters and 56 per cent voted for Harris.
Daniel Hambly, a history professor at Humber Polytechnic, said that democratic backsliding patterns are appearing across the world.
‘’There's been a move globally towards a sort of a decline in political freedoms,’’ he said.
‘’More and more countries moving away from the democratic norms that have been established in the West for a very long time and towards more authoritarian practices,” Hambly said.
As per Economist Intelligence’s Democracy Index 2023 report, the average global democratic health has fallen to its lowest levels since the index started in 2006.
Less than eight per cent of the world’s population live in a full democracy while almost 40 per cent live under authoritarian rule, it said. The United States stands in 29th with a ‘‘flawed democracy’’ classification on the list of 167 countries and territories ranked.
‘’Another Trump presidency might see America slide, you know, more towards that system of governing authoritarianism and away from some of the democratic norms that have been established in the United States,’’ Hambly said.
