Against All Odds: Donald Trump’s Journey From Reality Television to the Presidency

Leading up to November 8th, Donald Trump would face some of the darkest times for his campaign.

Plagued by an infamous Access Hollywood tape from 2005 and countless other accusations of racism, xenophobia, and sexism, Trump’s run for the White House seemed all but over. In addition, countless polls from newspapers and non-partisan organizations had Trump consistently trailing Clinton. Most notably, Nate Silver’s “FiveThirtyEight,” a poll aggregator website regarded as highly accurate, gave Clinton a 71.4% chance of winning the presidency the night of the election.

So why did Mr. Trump prevail against all odds? According to Democratic leaders, one of the main reasons was the reopening of the FBI investigation against Hillary Clinton by Director James Comey. After the FBI cleared Clinton of charges concerning the use of her private email and her subsequent apology, many people felt as if the matter was closed. However, Mr. Comey reopened the investigation after discovering additional emails on former Congressman Anthony Weiner’s laptop. The media heavily publicized the reinvestigation, thus furthering the notion that Clinton was, according to Trump, “crooked” and untrustworthy.

Navin Nayak, the head of Clinton’s research division wrote, “We believe that we lost this election in the last week. Comey’s letter to Congress in the last 11 days of the election both helped depress our turnout and also drove away some of our critical support among college-educated white voters — particularly in the suburbs.”

Another important reason for Mr. Trump’s victory was the underestimation of the so-called “silent majority” who helped lift Trump to victory. The silent majority are the people who support Mr. Trump and what he stands for, but do not want to publicly state their opinions for fear of criticism. The silent majority is mainly a populist movement, (mostly rural white voters) where commoners want to strike back against the economic elite.

Mr. Trump’s victory closely resembles the Brexit movement in Great Britain where polls showed a landslide victory for remaining in the European Union, but a “silent majority” voted for leaving. Ultimately, the silent majority provided a much-needed boost to Mr. Trump’s numbers to clinch the presidency.

Numerous and sometimes violent protests have followed Trump’s victory in the Electoral College despite his loss in the popular vote by an estimated 700,000 to one million votes.  Half a dozen cities have seen “Dump Trump” marches.  However, come January, 2017, Donald Trump will assume the Presidency and our democracy, that has endured for 240 years, will continue.  Regardless of your political leanings, rest assured, there will be another presidential election in 2020.  That is the strength and beauty of a political system that ensures the peaceful transition of power.