Belief in Donald Trump is like belief in the afterlife

A personal reaction to his election

Am I disappointed at Mr Trump’s election? I suppose I am, I think he’s wrong about a lot of things, like the attitude to big business, and little people, and immigrants, and those who have nothing, and those who see no choice but to lead a life of crime (which is a statement you need to think about, because crime is not just muggings and drugs).

Would I have preferred to see Ms Harris as president? No, I suppose I wouldn’t. She endorsed everything that President Biden has done, and that included killing 45,000 Gazans, so she was already off my Christmas card list. In my view, there is no balance of good or bad when one is responsible for that level of carnage. She took that responsibility on The View, whether she intended to or not.

There is a wailing and a gnashing of teeth of biblical proportions going on around parts of America and the world at this election result. There had been fears that the result wouldn’t be known for weeks or months of judicial wrangling, and that the winner could end up, as before, being declared by the Supreme Court. That will not be so this time around. There are even commentators who are saying boldly that Mr Trump has now won the presidential election for the third time. Well, as far as the other two times are concerned, they’re history. And the new president-elect is the future, one for which the American people have democratically voted, according to the rule of law. The controversies surrounding the Electoral College are laid aside for now: the people have decided, regardless of any state representatives on that body. The rule of law has won. The rule of business has won. The rule of the gun has won. The rule of money has won. And the rule of a people desperate for change has won. The speculation has already begun as to how desperate they will be for change in four years’ time.

A buddy of mine and I were chatting about the election a week or so ago, and he was—is—in favour of Mr Trump. I asked him what persuaded him to that view, and he said, “Trump will prevent the third world war.” It’s a bold statement, but, if it’s true, if Donald Trump will prevent the third world war, then I am for him. For I am not persuaded that Ms Harris would have done that. She has had a bloody hand in the deaths of the innocent in the Middle East and, whether her defeat is due to that or no, I think it’s deserved for that, if for nothing else. Whether, absent a third world war by the time four years have elapsed, I can be certain that its prevention was the handiwork of Donald Trump remains to be seen, however. In whom else should I place my trust to that effect, if not in Donald Trump, now?

Belief in Mr Trump’s ability to forestall the third world war is a bold belief. It’s very like belief in the afterlife: either one believes in it, in the here and now, or one doesn’t. And by the time it comes to say I told you so, no one will be bothering about predictions that were made on 6th November 2024.