The Deep Reasons behind Trump’s Election Loss

What happened to Donald Trump was a natural result of the war he waged against American democracy, against its noble traditions and its written and unwritten rules alike. This war opened the back door of American society, and Trump’s term, in my opinion, contributed to intensifying popular fear in America. To many analysts, it seemed that America was in danger.

I have no doubt that many analysts and people who followed the last American presidential election took delight in celebrating the events in the election that showed Trump on the verge of soaring to a second term, fighting off an opponent at the end of his eighth decade. Not even the most pessimistic predictions entertained the idea of a future in which Trump was not president. But the political scene on Nov. 3 was different. It defied all the predictions and scenarios, which raises an important question: How could Trump lose like that?

Returning to 2016, we can clearly see the most important signs of political change that accompanied Trump’s arrival in office, the first being his feeble commitment to the game of democracy. That year, in the midst of a fierce campaign against Hillary Clinton, Trump wondered about the legitimacy of the election. The historian Douglas Brinkley said of Trump that “the country has not had a presidential candidate … try to cast doubt on the entire democratic process and system of government … since 1860.”

Perhaps the most eye-catching marker of Trump’s presidency was his incomprehensible position toward the media and his constant willingness to restrict the freedoms of his enemies. Trump appeared unforgiving in dealing with criticism, a characteristic completely incompatible with democracy. He announced at an early stage of his presidency that he would pursue legal action against media outlets and those who criticized him, and that he would make those outlets a source of great wealth for himself from the damages they would pay him. But that idea would not take hold in a democratic society, and it became clear that in a democratic society, the idea of taming the press would not succeed.

During the last four years, Trump shocked the world with the way he governed America. Before the 2016 election, the world was unaware of the heated battle raging within the country. The world was also unaware that there were political signs that warned of Trump coming to power in America before it happened. The world viewed him in the historical image of the Republican Party, and did not expect the Trumpian identity to be so far removed from the democratic traditions that the world had become accustomed to. It was clear that the policies that violated democratic standards would come at a great cost.

At the beginning of his presidency, Trump’s speeches were worrying, and his criticism scathing. American media were the ones most affected by Trump’s attacks, and as a result, the world witnessed the formation of a media coalition with each one of Trump’s press conferences. The media became an important enemy, and the least expected course of events for American politics became possible during the last few years. Democratic standards set the stage, and many rules were broken in ways unfamiliar to both Americans and the rest of the world.

In truth, when Trump lost the election, he didn’t just lose the votes of the American people or the Electoral College. What happened to Trump was a natural result of the war he waged against American democracy, against its noble traditions and its written and unwritten rules alike. This war opened the back door of American society, and Trump’s tenure, in my opinion, contributed to intensifying popular fear in America. To many analysts, it seemed that America was in danger, and that by addressing societal, political and party issues, people might see a stray bullet strike the democracy that the Founding Fathers built almost three centuries ago.

I personally believe that Trump lost the election because he allowed political and racial polarization to fester unrestrained, and because he tried to freeze the flexibility of democracy and break its ability to accommodate change. I believe that America is no longer accepting of right-leaning ideas that work to counteract the enormous increase in racial diversity in America. Abroad, American politics became more close-minded than before, and many countries accused America of bleeding them dry politically, economically and with respect to security.

America after Trump can expect to see a period of democratic rejuvenation that features adjustments to the election process, constitutional amendments and changes involving the workings of the Supreme Court and its justices. However, Trumpism will remain an important period in American history, just as Reaganism was in the time of Ronald Reagan.