Sometimes I Wonder If Trump Voters Are Right

Eight years ago, the U.S. election shattered my worldview, and I still haven’t recovered. And even now, I haven’t found an explanation for it.

There is a discussion in my circles about when it actually began. Some say with the decision for Brexit. No one really believed that it would come to a withdrawal from the EU; the referendum was just a snap decision by David Cameron, never ever! And then, boom!

For others, including me, it began with the U.S. election eight years ago. I woke up and cried, and I could still sob about the fact that the result was even possible. Brexit I could dismiss as an outlier. Those who voted for Brexit were maybe taken in by false promises. But those who elected Donald Trump knew exactly what they were doing.

That shook me, and not only because Trump was and is a threat to all of us. It also shattered my worldview. I used to believe that I understood what happened. Everything had its nice little place in my head. Today, I’m at a loss. I know all the explanations that are circulating; I’ve read about the hillbillies, the despair of the white working class, the middle class’s fear of losing its status, the conspiracy theories on social media, Elon Musk and Peter Thiel, the Russian bots, the appeal of easy answers, the yearning for greatness when oneself is small … but all that is not enough. Not for Trump, not for the fact that everywhere we look, hate and agitation prevail.

Above all, it is not enough to explain that it is yet again possible that Trump will be elected president, even though he is now babbling more nonsense than ever, lies even more brazenly, because it doesn’t even matter, and even though he at a minimum let a coup happen in 2021* and is making pretty clear that, if he should lose again, will not quietly accept the result this time, either.

I’m sorry for repeating what you already know, but that’s what happens when you lose composure. You shake your head and keep saying the same thing.

Sometimes I wonder if I’m wrong. What if Trump is right about some things? I try that on a little, like a strange coat, but it doesn’t fit, and I don’t understand how it can fit anyone. And sometimes I think that maybe there is an explanation, namely that people are more evil than I thought. But I don’t want to believe that.

In any case, I’m traveling. When the votes are being counted, I’ll be in the desert and mostly won’t have cell phone service. Everyone talks about how calm it is there. Maybe I’ll return and the world will have a woman as U.S. president. Things won’t be anything near perfect, but they’ll be better, and I don’t dare demand any more from this world right now.

*Editor’s Note: The original text mistakenly says 2024.