By Franco Ordoñez, NPR
In one of his final rallies, at the iconic Madison Square Garden in New York, former President Donald Trump delivered a ramped-up version of his typical stump speech, promising “the strongest economy, the most secure borders and safest cities.”
He also railed against adversaries he sees as “the enemy from within,” and described his opponent, Vice President Harris, as a bad person with a “low IQ.”
“We’re running against something far bigger than Joe [Biden] or Kamala [Harris] and far more powerful than them, which is a massive, vicious radical-left machine that runs today’s Democrat Party,” Trump told the crowd.
In his return to power, Trump defied so many expectations, surviving repeated scandals and multiple indictments. He is the first convicted felon to win the White House.
Trump’s overall closing focus on the economy and immigration ultimately resonated with enough Americans — more than the message delivered by Harris, who called for unity and warned that Trump was a “petty tyrant” who was obsessed with revenge.
Trump doubled down on his hard-line border stance, using increasingly dehumanizing language to describe immigrants, accusing them of poisoning the blood of the country and falsely claiming a Venezuelan street gang was taking over the country.
The election results show that Americans were less concerned about Trump’s rhetoric and instead longed for a change. Polling just before Election Day showed Harris was not able to seize the change mantle as part of the Biden administration.
Many experts cite out-of-control inflation midway through the Biden administration’s term as key to Harris’ downfall. While inflation waned, prices remained higher than when Trump was in office.
Voters like Dale Roberts in Georgia saw Harris as an extension of President Biden.
“Harris has got the same policies that Biden did. There's no two ways about it,” said the 67-year-old former state trooper. “No matter how she lies or tries to get out of it, she can't wiggle out of it. She should have changed the policies or tried to change policies while she was vice president.”
As he did in 2016, Trump seemed to galvanize an army of working-class white voters this election cycle, particularly men. Exit polls also indicated that he eroded support with key groups for Democrats, including Latinos and Black men.
In the end, Trump’s victory may have simply come down to an old political cliché: “It’s the economy, stupid.”
“Ultimately what it says about President Trump’s win is that people are more willing to vote for their pocketbook,” said Republican pollster Jon McHenry. “They say, ‘I think the democracy criticisms are overblown and I'm going to vote for my pocketbook because I know that that's not overblown.’”
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