Trump’s victory: ‘America has found its common sense – now we need to find ours’
Donald Trump has won the 2024 US presidential election, securing a second term as president.
Telegraph readers reacted in droves, with many discussing what a Trump victory means for not only the US but the UK.
‘A much-needed kick up the backside’
Most readers view the result as a successful turnaround and a win for the war on woke.
“Time for the woke, delusional West to get a much-needed kick up the backside, including us,” Rohan L remarks.
Likewise, another anonymous reader hopes the Trump win will see a “dying down of identity politics peddled by the Left”.
They add: “Americans who aren’t indoctrinated to obsess over race and gender want the country to be led well with sound economic policy.”
Jonathan Phillips hopes Trump “keeps his promises to take action against the anti-Semitism on college campuses, backing Israel in its fight against Islamic terror and reversing the damage done by the woke, Left-wing liberal rubbish”.
Yvonne Osprey weighs in: “Turns out Americans like capitalism, economic freedoms, personal responsibility, and think aspiration and the American dream of personal entrepreneurship is still key, no matter who is promoting it.”
Jason Hobson highlights how Trump triumphed against all odds. “Tremendous result,” he says. “The Democrats and US establishment ran a vile campaign and threw every dirty trick at him but the American public saw through it. Maybe they should have focused on picking a better candidate instead.”
Others are looking forward to a safer world under Trump’s presidency. One anonymous reader commented: “Waking up to the world as a safer, more sensible place to live.
“The economy of the world will stabilise back to pre-Covid, Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping will be put back in their boxes, only women will be able to compete in women’s sports and borders will be restored.”
‘Vote for me – I’m not Donald Trump’
Despite its celebrity endorsements, big money and media-charged momentum, many readers criticise the weakness of Kamala Harris’s campaign.
Paul Hume argues the Democrats ran “a disastrous campaign from the start”.
“Harris would never have been voted-in had this been done properly,” he argues. “She had nothing solid to offer and the tactic of trying to smear your opponent to the extent they went to only makes people suspicious and get their backs up.
“It didn’t work for Hillary and it never will.”
Richard Fisher thinks the Democrats “have only themselves to blame.” He believes Harris lost the election on the economy – “or to be more precise, on the huge cost of living/inflation”.
Edward Seymour doesn’t hold back: “She ran one of the worst campaigns in modern history because she herself is one of the worst candidates in modern history.”
Another anonymous reader shares their view: “Being on the progressive Left and assuming everyone ought to agree with her out of hand, she thought three things would be enough to get her in, namely: her gender, her colour and her not being Trump. Unfortunately you need more than that to steer an economy and take on Putin.”
Likewise, Stephen Brooker says: “Harris was a lacklustre vice-president whose presidential campaign can be boiled down to: vote for me – I’m not Donald Trump.
“She only got to run because Biden did not decide not to run until after the primaries. Thus handing her the Democratic nominations on a plate. Hardly inspiring – as reflected in the votes.”
‘The UK outlook couldn’t be more different’
Others focus their attention closer to home. Tom Harris, the Telegraph columnist, wrote on Wednesday that “Labour’s hubris may have irreparably destroyed our relationship with the only pro-British US president in decades” – and readers are in agreement.
“Brits look on with envy as the US goes down the capitalist, anti-woke path,” write Keith Munro.
Peter Oxley ponders the outlooks for the US and the UK, which he says “couldn’t be more different”.
Some, such as William Taylor, are reminded of Labour snubbing Elon Musk by barring him from its International Investment Summit in October.
Mr Taylor comments: “Great news for free speech advocates.
“Shows the stupidity of our Labour Government. Not inviting Elon Musk to their investor show-and-tell because he said something they didn’t like now looks even more stupid than it did at the time. Let them try and silence Musk now.”
Many readers point to Labour’s meddling in the US election, viewing it as an own goal and believing it put the ‘special relationship’ in jeopardy.
Tom K thinks of it as a “blunder” on a “global scale”.
“What on earth was he thinking, sending a mob of Labour ‘activists’ to America to stamp and hoot for Harris? Talk about your idiotic behaviour coming back to bite you!”
Similarly, another reader says: “Labour has actively interfered in the election by sending ‘volunteers’ to help Harris and our Foreign Secretary, David Lammy, previously called Trump a ‘neo-Nazi sociopath’.
“Starmer and Lammy should not expect an invitation to the White House any time soon.”
An anonymous reader says they don’t care about “Starmer and Lammy’s personal discomfort” but do care “about their contribution to the very uncertain relationship between our country and the newly elected US president”.
They add: “They meddled in another country’s democratic election for political purposes and it has spectacularly backfired.”
Alex Balcombe writes: “America has found its common sense. Now we need to find ours.”