“President Trump”
I have never felt as if there were words I could not bring myself to say. In the past, political figures have not been able to say certain phrases such as radical Islamic terrorism or in the case of Paul Ryan, “Donald Trump.” This inability has never applied to me until last night. On election night, I had this unique experience of physically being unable to say two words: “President Trump.” Now Trump supporters may laugh this off as my being a crazy liberal, but the fact of the matter is that I, a heterosexual white male, have never been more scared and shocked in my life. Last night, a large chunk of my dorm watched CNN’s election coverage for several hours, most of them being Clinton supporters. The boys waiting for the election results with me were and are some of the strongest, finest people I have ever met in my life. I have never seen such strong-minded students scared beyond belief. The amount of stress, tension and despair was incomparable to any other moment I have had in my short life. And when I finally went to bed, I thought there was a small chance I would wake up and it would all be ok, but you cannot wake up from a living nightmare.
I am only 15 years old, but one thing I can say with confidence is that uniting together to fight the revival of social conservatism is the only route to true freedom.
If there is one thing I am glad about, it is that we have seen the culmination of the barbaric race for the presidency. But to say I am disappointed that we now have to place our trust in Donald Trump is an understatement. It is an outrage surrounding the fact we will have a Republican president, House of Representatives, Senate and Supreme Court. We voted for our own downfall as a country on election night. This is a dark, divided time in our nation’s history, and although Hillary Clinton will not be in the White House, we need to do two things: prepare for the road ahead of us and keep Hillary’s powerful message alive and close to our hearts for the next four years. We are stronger together.
As an avid hater of Trump, I have an inherent feeling that I should not need to explain my views. There should be no need to explain why Trump is sexist, racist and unfit to be president. Last night, America proved me wrong. President-elect Trump’s plans will take us back decades socially. We will most likely have a Supreme court that will reverse Roe v. Wade and attempt to reverse gay marriage laws, a Congress that has a conservative agenda and a president that will roll back environmental regulations and background checks for firearms. Millions across the nation are forced to trust Donald Trump with nuclear codes, even when his campaign managers took away access to something as trivial as a Twitter account because of responsibility issues.
There is no question that these next four years will be hard for liberals. But the way to face the issues we will have is not to dismiss reality. Our checks and balances system is powerful, but the president can make decisions without congressional support. Besides, the Senate and House is red for the next two years, meaning they will likely support Trump’s policies. I hear many Democrats preaching about how this election will not truly affect our day-to-day lives, how our country will be okay. The fact of the matter is, though, we might not be okay. Our country has the potential to morph from the land of the free and home of the brave to a state of chaos and restriction. If we do not accept the actuality, Hillary’s vision of “Stronger Together” will be impossible. I am only 15 years old, but one thing I can say with confidence is that uniting together to fight the revival of social conservatism is the only route to true freedom.
Despite Trump’s win, I, along with many others, believe this country has the ability to head in the right direction for the long term. However, these next four years may be a liberal’s hell. Some may say that is extreme and that I am preparing for the absolute worst. But the worst is in sight now; the devil has been knocking on our door for almost two years, and last night we let him in. Please, let’s be stronger together and prepare for our 45th president: Donald Trump.