Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/750768
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 13 NOVEMBER 2016 12 US Elections Harmless clown or dangerous fascist? T R U M P T R U M P T R U M P Donald Trump's victory might have taken the world by surprise but JURGEN BALZAN looks at who voted for the billionaire reality TV star, why and what will happen next T he election of Donald Trump has drawn extreme reactions, with his supporters viewing him as the best President since George Washington while his detractors see him as the devil incarnate. He might be dismissed as an entertainer-in-chief but some fear a throwback to the 1930s. The world is shocked at why America chose a racist and misogynist millionaire as their next president. Yet, a brief glance at the results shows that Trump was elected because he won the hearts and minds of white men, college educated white voters, the middle class and the rich, rural America, the industrial heartland and Christian voters. Identifying who voted for Trump is easy, but identifying the reasons why they voted for him is a more complicated task. Americans may have voted Trump into the White House, but that doesn't mean they love him. One of the most telling findings from the US elections exit polls was that Trump won despite being disliked by 60% of voters. While 54% of voters had an unfavourable view of Hillary Clinton, Trump managed to win the vote of the majority of voters who disliked both candidates. Who voted Trump? Hillary Clinton might have won more votes nationwide, however the archaic and perplexing winner-takes-all elec- toral system designed in the 1880s gave Trump the vic- tory. Although counting has not been concluded, Clinton is on track to win the votes of 63.4 million people, compared with 61.2 million for Trump. Trump's triumph might have come as a surprise to many, especially since he trailed Clinton by some 4 points going into Tuesday's election. While many perplexed pollsters are trying to understand what went wrong, the data from exit polls might provide preliminary explanation on who voted for whom and why. Predictably, this election was about the economy and the state of the American economy trumped other issues such as immigration and terrorism. Trump's victory was made possible by his popularity among the middle class and the richer voters. He won a majority, albeit a slight one, among voters who earn more than $50,000 a year while Clinton fared much better with low-income earners. She won 53% of voters who earn less than $30,000 (to Trump's 41%) and 51% of voters in the $30,000 to $49,000 bracket. But the most important divide in this election was not between whites and non-whites. It was between those who are often referred to as educated voters and those who are described as working class voters. 60% of Americans do not have a college degree and Trump won 67% of this category while 51% of voters with a high school level of education or less also opted for the Republican. Among college graduated, Trump only won 45% to Clinton's 49% and the Democrat fared even better among post-graduates – winning 58% of the vote against Trump's 37%. Trump's candidature also exposed a deep class divide among white voters, with the Republican winning 67% of white voters without a college degree (Clinton won 28%) and 49% of white college graduates (Clinton won 45%). One of the keys to Trump's victory was his sweeping wins in Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin – four traditionally Democratic states which have however elected a Republican governor since 2010. His criticism of Clinton's support of the North American Free Trade Agreement and his opposition to other free trade agreements such as the Trans-Pacific Partner- ship resonated with millions of voters who wanted change. As Clinton dithered on free trade agreements, Trump's plans to slap a 35% tariff on any Mexican-built cars shipped back to the US and his promise to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement, which was signed by Bill Clinton in 1993, hit a chord with angry vot- ers. On the other hand, Clinton won 71% and 75% of non- white college graduates and non-white voters without a college degree respectively. However, claims that Trump won because the major- ity of voters are racist were dispelled by Trump's support among Latino voters. Despite his disparaging comments on Mexican migrants and his hard stance on immigration, 29% of Latinos voted for Trump – 2% more than the support earned by Repub- lican nominee Mitt Romney in 2012 in the same demo- graphic. Meanwhile, despite his record of discrimination against blacks and his failure to distance himself from white su- premacist groups such as the Ku Klux Klan, African Americans did not turn out to vote against Trump. In fact, Trump received a higher percentage of African American votes than Romney did and although black vot- ers overwhelmingly voted for Clinton – 88% to 8% for Trump – the number of black voters who made it to the polls was fewer than it was in 2012 and 2008. Curiously, 9% of declared Democrats voted for Trump who also won 48% of independent voters while only 7% of Republicans voted for Clinton. Trump's candidature also exposed a deep class divide among white voters, with the Republican winning 67% of white voters without a college degree (Clinton won 28%) and 49% of white college graduates (Clinton won 45%). One of the keys to Trump's victory was his sweeping wins in Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin – four traditionally Democratic states which have however elected a Republican governor since 2010. His criticism of Clinton's support of the North American Free Trade Agreement and his opposition to other free trade agreements such as the Trans-Pacific Partner- ship resonated with millions of voters who wanted change. As Clinton dithered on free trade agreements, Trump's plans to slap a 35% tariff on any Mexican-built cars shipped back to the US and his promise to renegotiate While Trump might have been ridiculed for his outrageously racist and sexist comments and actions, Clinton remained highly unpopular and did not offer an alternative narrative to Trump's bravado