The First 24 Hours After The US Election, Seen Through The Eyes Of A New Yorker

Anti-Trump protesters in New York

Yesterday was bleak. But as much as the mood in the UK was low, in the US it was truly gloomy. Journalist and writer Dana Karlson explains what life was like in the first 24 hours after the US election . 

'I slept approximately three hours on Wednesday night. I took a catnap at 11 p.m. as one round of polls closed in New York. Hillary Clinton was narrowly ahead and pundits were hesitant to call any state that was close.

At 1 a.m. I groggily made my way to the living room. Before adjusting the volume on the TV, it was clear something was wrong. The reporters’ faces hung like hound dogs. Trump was ahead by a small margin. Earlier in the night, my Australian husband had stalked off to bed when a colour-coded map flashed on the screen. The center and south of the country were painted red. “Don’t worry,” I told him, “the numbers from the coasts aren’t in yet.”

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For those unfamiliar with the intricacies of U.S. elections: whichever party picks up the most the votes in a state gets to claim that state’s electoral votes. Each state is allotted a different number of electoral votes based on population. That’s why California has 55 but Alaska only has three. The winner needs to scoop 270 votes to win the majority.

California had already gone blue, but too many swing states still hung in the balance. My eyes were glued to the broadcast for what felt like 15 minutes – but was actually two hours. I fell asleep. I woke up, did it again. Soon my alarm was ringing. I sensed the fate that awaited us even before scrolling through my social feeds.

What I did not anticipate was the apathy. People who had voted for Donald Trump, writing off the election as a farce that wouldn’t change much, lamenting the “dramatic” liberal response. Excuse me, but what?

Much of American politics sounds like a sporting event. Even President Obama (please stay, won’t you?) worded it as such when he said: “Now, everybody is sad when their side loses an election, but… we have to remember that we're actually all on one team.”

Fair, but not accurate this time. Trump is not a politician. He has little policy but a lot of prejudices. Evidently, that is his biggest selling point. The election of this man was not patriotic by any stretch of the imagination; it was a protest to progress.

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As I boarded the subway on Wednesday, the most notable thing was that I scored a seat. The train was empty and hushed (this is not the Tube, New York is never quiet). The silence was in stark contrast to the energy of 24 hours before when people snapped selfies, wearing stickers with, I Voted, in red, white and blue. Rain gushed from the sky and commuters said thank you and sorry and no one made eye contact.

I twisted the key to my office, and felt hot tears rolling down my face as I stood in the middle of a glass-encased cubicle. What have we done? I had watched in shock as Nigel Farage spearheaded Brexit in June – when the top Google search was “what is the EU?” Belated buyer’s remorse, maybe, but I can’t believe that was the case in the US. Even those who privately flinched at pussygate, excused Trump’s hostility publicly and falsely equated it with Hillary Clinton’s emails. George W. Bush “lost” 20 million emails during the invasion of Iraq, a topic covered by the media in proportion to the rest of the news cycle at the time. Bush’s recovered emails won’t be unsealed until 2020, whereas Clinton’s correspondence sunk her in the minds of those searching for a way to assuage their misogyny. Despite losing the electoral vote, Clinton still won the majority vote of the people.

As friends sent around links to volunteer or donate to various organisations on Wednesday afternoon, it occurred to me that the only option was to do something. Anything. Not to be silent, and not to shrug this off and let apathy ossify our hearts and hopes. Approximately 47 percent of US citizens did not even vote. That’s inexcusable and unpatriotic. In the end it was uneducated white males and older white citizen who came out most fervently in favor of Trump, but it will be the younger generations that suffer. So I’m not going to ignore tremors of racism, sexism and hatred pulsing through the national discourse. Let’s connect the conversation across the Atlantic and make this movement move.

Continued below...

Words by Dana Karlson. 

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The First 24 Hours After The US Election, Seen Through The Eyes Of A New Yorker