I covered the polls on Tuesday.
I stood outside the Town of Olean Firehall alone, in the dark, in a rural area on Tuesday and asked people exiting the polls why they were voting.
Many people didn’t want to share who they voted for, but some were willing. One man told me he voted for Donald Trump and when I asked him why, he said “Well, I have two daughters that I hate.”
In the interest of not being decked in the face or otherwise attacked, I kept my face level and passive and simply thanked him for his participation.
Once he returned to his car, I let out the breath I’d been holding and fought back tears.
To hear someone speak with such hate and have no remorse about making a deliberate choice to hurt someone else was terrifying.
What’s worse about the interaction? It didn’t shock me.
And when I went on Twitter (I refuse to call it X) Wednesday morning and saw frat boys tweeting “Your body, my choice. Forever.”, I wasn’t shocked either.
When I saw a MAGA parade celebrating Trump’s victory with a depiction of Kamala Harris as a slave in chains attached to a four-wheeler, I also wasn’t surprised by that.
These things are disgusting. They are bone-chilling. But they aren’t surprising.
Look at who we just put back in office.
Donald Trump is a convicted felon. A rapist. A racist. A sexist. A homophobe. A transphobe. An evil human being.
If someone in charge of our country can be all these things and still lead, we shouldn’t be surprised that his followers do the same and get away with it.
If you voted for Trump, how can you look at your sister, your girlfriend, your mother and know that you actively voted against their rights?
What does it say about our country that as soon as Trump was announced as the official president-elect, the website Expatsi that helps Americans move abroad saw a month’s worth of activity in just two days?
People keep saying to me that they voted for Trump because of his economic plans. Did you know that 23 Nobel-Prize-winning economists wrote and signed a letter that said Harris’ economic plan was actually superior to Trump’s?
No, of course you didn’t. You didn’t bother to do any research about either candidate’s policies.
Because policy is not the reason you voted for Trump. That’s not the reason Harris didn’t win.
The truth of the matter is that Kamala is a woman, and a black woman at that. America still doesn’t trust women and would rather see a felon in office than an over-qualified, well-educated woman.
So, when your girlfriend gets pregnant, and you’re faced with either being a deadbeat dad or living with the guilt of abandoning your kid, I hope you thank Trump for it.
When your favorite authentic Mexican restaurant closes down because the owners were deported, I hope you thank Trump for it.
When you can’t afford Shein clothing imported from China because Trump’s wonderful economic policy imposed higher tariffs, I hope you thank Trump for it.
When your disabled cousin can’t graduate high school because the Department of Education was dissolved, I hope you thank Trump for it.
When you and your wife want kids but can’t have them because you have fertility issues, but IVF was banned, I hope you thank Trump for it.
And when you want Trump out of office, but he abolished the 22nd amendment that limits a president to two terms, well I hope you know who to thank for it.
I hope you get what you f*cking voted for.