大象传媒

For the past year we have been strapped into a seemingly never-ending roller coaster of vicious propaganda, vitriol, racism, sexism, queerphobia, and a smug complacency in the face of a bloody genocide. 

Election 2024 brought the lowest of lows鈥擠onald Trump鈥檚 wildest, most fascist fantasies manifesting in a parade of hate鈥攁nd the highest highs鈥攖he late-breaking entry of a multiracial woman of color who snagged the Democratic Party鈥檚 nomination. Vice President Kamala Harris launched a record-breaking billion-dollar campaign amid a tidal wave of young women progressives spurred by attacks on their bodily autonomy. 

Over and over, we were told this was the most important election of our lifetimes. We, the people, were asked to choose between an apologist for genocide, the specter of fascist insurrection, or a third-party option that had no serious prospects for victory.

Along the way to winning the election, Trump and his allies reduced so many of us to objects, to evildoers, to garbage, to the enemy. If we made it through these past months, it was with a sense of nervous hope that the insults and attacks had an expiration date. If we could just make it to Nov. 6, we could deal with the trauma, heal, and look forward to holding the centrist establishment accountable. 

Along the way to losing the election, Harris and her backers flirted with A-list celebrities and , repeatedly shunned Palestinians fighting for their rights, pushed back against demands to hold Israel accountable for genocide, and wrapped it all up with an appearance on Saturday Night Live.听

With both candidates鈥� approaches top of mind, I began monitoring election results on Nov. 5, feeling鈥攖o quote one woman I overheard say to another that morning鈥斺�渘auseously optimistic.鈥� As I anxiously monitored the New York Times鈥� , coaxing it toward the blue-tinged left, I found myself reliving the , when that same needle veered suddenly to the red-hued right.听

So, here we are again, waking up to a new chapter of the same nightmare we experienced from 2016 to 2020. Now, as we are still reeling from many months of abuse, we face the prospect of four more years of it. 

We need to understand what has happened and how to move from here. But we also need to take a moment to mourn鈥攆or ourselves; for our fellow Americans and especially immigrants; for our Black, Brown and queer sisters, brothers, and kinfolk; for our children鈥檚 imperiled future; and for our country鈥檚 fate. 

In the coming months, we鈥檙e going to read reams of analyses about why Harris lost the  election: the insurmountable polarization our country is experiencing, third-party candidates鈥� 鈥渟poiler鈥� effects, the blind spots and failures of the Harris campaign, political amnesia, whether the nation is ready to elect a woman, and how Trump鈥檚 voters will regret supporting a demagogue. 

But maybe it鈥檚 not even that complicated. 

鈥淚n so many ways our leaders have failed us, and a lot of people are really struggling,鈥� immigrant rights organizer and author Silky Shah said on a recent episode of my show, . 鈥淎nd the easy thing that happens is blaming immigrant communities when, in fact, obviously we should be blaming those who have put in these policies that aren鈥檛 helping communities on the whole.鈥�

Most Americans agree on their basic needs: good jobs and , , and so on. They also . Indeed, some of those who picked Trump might have done so because , while others might be hopelessly invested in racist, misogynist, queerphobic, anti-immigrant hate鈥攐r both. Together they number , or 51% of the electorate, with of Latino men, younger voters, and first-time voters.听

The rest of us鈥攁bout 67 million鈥攚ho picked Harris, either did so holding our nose to keep Trump away from the levers of power, or genuinely believed she was a force for good. (It is this latter group that is probably most shocked and perplexed by the election results). 

Instead of a shift toward policies that prioritize collective care鈥攚hich could unite Americans鈥攚hat we got from the two major-party political candidates were false narratives that largely fell into two camps: Trump painted the nation as a dystopian quagmire that only a strongman like him could fix, while Harris鈥� campaign was based on the idea that we must preserve the booming economy she and incumbent President Joe Biden ushered in. 

But in truth, both parties have moved dramatically rightward. According to investigative journalist and 大象传媒 contributor Arun Gupta, 鈥淥ne is a hard-right Republican party known as the Democrats, and the other is a fascist party, a MAGA party known as the Republicans.鈥澛�

Shah concurred, saying she found it 鈥渁ctually really surreal to see how far to the right things have moved and how much Democrats aren鈥檛 even really advocating for immigrants in the way that they were before.鈥�

Gupta attended Trump鈥檚 Madison Square Garden rally in New York City that made headlines for its speakers鈥� . He saw a different reality than the one being reported in corporate media outlets. 鈥淵ou had lots of anti-Palestinian, anti-immigrant bombast. But that is only half the equation,鈥� he said, a week before the election. 鈥淲hat鈥檚 really going on at these rallies 鈥� is love and 丑补迟别.鈥�

He concluded that Trump supporters are 鈥渢here as much out of hate as they are out of love. And they go there because these rallies make them feel good about themselves. They make them feel good about the country, that they鈥檙e part of a movement.鈥�

What if we all seek a love-based movement that prioritizes us over the interests of elites? What if Trump鈥檚 election is a horrific manifestation of a nation cutting off its nose to spite its face? There are no easy answers to these questions, but since we have failed to stave off extremist hate from occupying the highest rungs of power, we know the most vulnerable among us will likely pay a heavy price in the coming years. The rest of us can鈥檛 give up. 

鈥淥ur power and our potential actually goes beyond the ballot box,鈥� says Khury Petersen-Smith, co-director of the New Internationalism Project at the Institute for Policy Studies. 鈥淲e need to keep on pushing on all of those levers [of power], regardless of who wins, no matter what day鈥擡lection Day, the day after, Inauguration Day, the day after.鈥�

We will鈥攚e must鈥攇et through this time by reminding ourselves that most of us want the same things: safety, security, stability, and鈥攄are I say it?鈥攍ove. But how we get there as a nation is a conundrum we must continue grappling with.