Students' reactions to election outcome prove divisive
(Image courtesy of vectorolie at FreeDigitalPhotos.net)
November 10, 2016
By Caley Griebenow, associate editor-in-chief
It was almost 2 a.m. on Nov. 9, and senior Joe Doner found himself watching the news with his parents. The three of them were anxiously awaiting the results of the presidential election, fingers crossed for Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton to come out on top. They watched as more and more states turned red, signaling an oncoming defeat.
Shortly after turning off the news between 2 and 3 a.m., Doner went to sleep with feelings of “horror and pain” after it had become apparent a Clinton victory was not going to happen. He could not believe the results; Donald Trump will be the 45th president of the United States.
“It still doesn’t feel real to me,” Doner said. “I’m just really disappointed [in this county]. I thought we were better than this.”
Wednesday, Nov. 9., was the official end of the election, as Trump was announced the winner. Students were quick to react to the end of a chaotic and divisive election season.
For Doner, he is most concerned about the possibility of nuclear war in his lifetime because he believes Trump is both unpredictable, since he does not think about the consequences of his actions, and unqualified, since hasn’t served in a political office.
“There is nothing [Trump] won’t considering doing,” Doner said. “He has shown time and time again how little he cares about other people.”
Senior Andrew Salgado shares Doner’s disbelief, as he can’t believe people would overlook some of Trump’s comments on people of different races and people with disabilities.
However, others view the upcoming Trump presidency as something to look forward to. Sophomores Riley Myk and Ben Piscitelli are happy with the results of the election. Myk believes Trump’s experience with money will make him a successful president, and Piscitelli thinks Trump will bring people together once he’s in office.
Junior Rebecca Benyk disagrees. She is shocked and disappointed that despite Trump’s controversial comments about women, people still voted for him and not Clinton.
At school, both Benyk and junior Cameron Kelly noticed that the result of the election seemed to be the most prominent topic of conversation, and that most students were upset by Trump winning. But she also noted that many of her classmates took to social media platforms like Instagram and Twitter to voice their concerns (#notmypresident was trending for hours after Trump’s victory).
According to Kelly, she can remember drawing portraits of Obama after his inauguration in 2008 and being excited for his presidency; she does not share the same emotions for this election.
All of these students agree that it will take some time for the news of Trump’s presidency to sink in. Salgado believes the realization may hit earlier than expected.
“Once Trumps makes a big decision that negatively impacts us, that’s when people will start caring,” Salgado said.
Click here for more official news on this election:
http://www.nytimes.com/elections/results/president
http://www.cnn.com/2016/11/09/politics/clinton-votes-african-americans-latinos-women-white-voters/
