Donald J. Trump was elected the 45th president of the United States Tuesday, according to The Associated Press and numerous other media outlets that declared him the victor at 2:31 a.m. Wednesday.
After a historic presidential race, Hillsdale College students and faculty expressed surprise over the Republican candidate’s victory and uncertainty for what the future holds. Trump is the first person elected president without having held a public office or serving in the military.
“A Trump victory sends a resounding signal that the people have wrenched back control of their government from disaffected impotent elites and replaced it with a government of, by, and for the American people,” sophomore Garrison Grisedale said.
Despite polls that leaned in Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Rodham Clinton’s direction, Trump came out victorious, securing more than 270 predicted electoral college votes. Trump took several swing states, including Florida, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.
“I pledge to every citizen of our land that I will be president for all Americans,” Trump said from his campaign headquarters in New York City alongside Vice President-elect Mike Pence, after Clinton conceded to Trump in a phone call. “For those who have chosen not to support me in the past, of which there were a few people, I’m reaching out to you for your guidance and your help so we can work together and unify our great country.”
Trump said he congratulated Clinton, adding that the country owes gratitude to her for her service. Clinton won highly contested races in Virginia and Nevada. She, however, didn’t make a speech Tuesday night.
In the wake of a seemingly endless chain of electoral victories for Trump early in the evening, college President Larry Arnn said in an email that he could see the tide was turning in favor of the political outsider.
“The political map is altering in substantial ways,” Arnn said. “That has seemed to be underway since Trump emerged as the leader in the primaries. Take time to figure out what it means. It is significant.”
Trump’s win along with the Republicans maintaining majorities in the Senate and House of Representatives give the party of Abraham Lincoln control of the legislative and executive branches for the first time since 2006.
Trump’s win and Clinton’s loss draws questions about the future of both major parties, Assistant Professor of Politics John Grant said.
“I think that the Trump candidacy exposed a big divide in the Republican Party over which direction that party should take,and exposing that divide between ‘Are we the party of George Bush 41 and 43, Mitt Romney, and McCain?’” Grant said.
Trump rose in the polls early following his announcement that he would run for president in June 2015. Trump continued to lead in the 17-way Republican primary. He became the presumptive nominee in early May, after Texas Sen. Ted Cruz ended his bid when he lost the Indiana primary.
In the general election, Clinton continually polled ahead. She gained a further boost, after a 2005 tape of Trump making lewd remarks leaked and several women accused him of sexual assault. Despite this, Clinton’s controversies surrounding classified emails sent to a private internet server, emails between campaign staff released by WikiLeaks, and FBI investigations plagued her campaign.
Throughout the race, Trump has defended increasing tariffs to encourage manufacturing within the United States and tougher restrictions on immigration, including construction of a wall along the U.S. border with Mexico. He has also promoted his plan to create tax deductions for childcare and put forth a shortlist of rule-of-law judges to fill the late Justice Antonin Scalia’s vacant position.
In an Oct. 20 Collegian poll of 493 students, 43 percent said they were planning to vote for Trump, far less than the 90 percent supporting Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney in 2012. Only 6 percent had voted for Clinton at Hillsdale.
Junior Elyse Hutcheson, founder of Hillsdale College Democrats, said she voted for Clinton in the election because she believes Trump is unqualified for the position of leader of the free world.
“I would be a little scared, if Donald Trump wins,” Hutcheson said Tuesday. “We’ll hope that the Congress, Senate, and House will stop any crazy bills he’d try to pass. His attitude towards minorities are frightening, and I would be scared to see an uprising of people who aren’t as kind to people who are different than them.”
Even students who said they voted for Trump said they were concerned about the reaction following the results.
Freshman Karissa McCarthy said she voted for Trump because her sister serves in the Air Force.
“I voted for who I would trust more with my sister’s life,” freshman Karissa McCarthy said Tuesday. “I’ll react the same way if either of them win: I’m going to pray. Either one of them is going to do something that’s going to make the other side mad, but I’ll be more joyful, if Trump wins.”
Other students said they were unsure of what a Trump presidency would entail, given his lack of political experience.
“I don’t know what Trump will do,” said Hillsdale College Republicans President junior Brant Cohen. “I don’t think he has an extensive experience with policy deals. His inexperience in government could mean a strengthening of Congress and getting back their power.”
Hillsdae Young Americans for President junior English Hinton said she thinks the win demonstrates America’s furthering distance from conservative principles.
“We’re straying from what President Ronald Reagan would have wanted for us,” Hinton said. “It doesn’t mean he’s not the lesser two evils, but we’re still not going toward the principled end.”
Trump supporters, however, are looking forward to January.
“If Trump wins, it would be a sigh of relief,” freshman Jadon Lippincott said Tuesday. “And I’m hopeful for his new policies.”
