For some time, we have been writing in this newspaper that Donald Trump is incompetent. We’ve also argued that, as a politician, he is not someone to be feared beyond what is reasonably warranted. And now the US electorate – those who are most entitled to have their say on the matter – have decided the same.
The problem for a politician is not so much being arrogant, vulgar, sexist, racist, violent, chauvinistic or greedy. No, the problem is when you don’t know how to ‘do’ these things, because perhaps many people like them. And he didn’t know how to do them. What he did manage to do – according to the unanimous reports in the press – was to enrich himself, his family and his friends. An investigation is currently underway to determine whether he did so legally.
Other than that, he has proven to be a terrible administrator of public affairs within his own country, an ill-prepared and harmful player on the international political stage and, if one were to joke about it, a champion of progressives in the rest of the world, where every political leader who has boasted of being close to the US (except in South America, where only Brazil has ‘escaped unscathed’) has lost their election, from Orbán to Netanyahu. Others haven’t lost yet, but they’re not in a great position either. He, who is certainly the most true to himself, hasn’t just lost – he’s been humiliated, “crushed” as we like to put it. His worst nightmares are coming true: there are Black female governors, Native American female governors, Muslim senators, gay senators, a Black Speaker of the House (the third-highest office in the country)…
The response of US citizens after less than 22 months of this (now) blond phenomenon’s administration has been unequivocal and centred on one aspect in particular: living conditions – the appalling deterioration in the circumstances in which Americans find themselves. They see people beaten and killed for daring to protest, the United States cutting back on international cooperation—which for nearly a century has been one of the country’s political (and also power) pillars—and then a less free press and jobs taken away from those not aligned with Trump. And then, indiscriminately, for everyone: rising inflation, rising prices, industry in distress, declining healthcare standards, and funding cuts to schools and universities. In short, one could say that Trump has done every bad thing he possibly could to his people, except for a few ultra-rich individuals, of course.
The people have risen, and they have done so beyond all expectations. It is not just the numbers that show it; as I mentioned, it is also the political calibre of those elected and the significance of these individuals, who mark a significant increase in the influence of the “left” in US politics. The US, of course, has not become a “socialist” country, not even a “left-wing” one, but perhaps a little more progressive than the one that elected Joe Biden – and perhaps even Barack Obama.
The person who has come off very badly in this vote is Ursula von der Leyen, who has always tried to keep up with Trump, only to be humiliated by him in Scotland, on a golf course where she agreed to discuss the future of the European Union while acting as a caddy – not even as a player. And we still cannot forgive her for that.
English version by the Translation Service of Withub
