Why Our Country Isn't F*cked

Three people who have never voted for Trump lay out the case for hope.

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On Tuesday, Donald J. Trump won the presidential election. Predictably, many Democrats have been acting like it’s the end of the world.

Christina Applegate captured the general tenor of the left’s reaction in a post on X that, as of this writing, had amassed over 173,000 likes: “Why? Give me your reasons why????? My child is sobbing because her rights as a woman may be taken away. Why?And if you disagree , please unfollow me.”

Author John Pavlovitz also expressed strong feelings in a post that quickly raked in 57,000 likes: “I will never forgive my family members and former friends for voting for him. Never.”

The consensus seems to be that Trump’s election demonstrates that our great nation is irredeemably racist, sexist, and hate-filled. As author Jill Filipovic claimed, “this election was not an indictment of Kamala Harris. It was an indictment of America.”

Such reactions are not unexpected: the same despair and fear gripped many leftists when Trump won in 2016. Then, too, depression rates rose, mental health declined, and many patients suffered from what clinical psychologist Jennifer Panning called “Trump anxiety disorder.” Now, as then, a significant portion of the left is in a state of terror.

However, we are here—as three individuals who did not vote for Trump and who have spilled much ink highlighting his lies and character flaws—to say that this terror is unjustified. Instead of fear, the rational response to this election is hope.

How can we say this? For one, the data simply don’t support the conclusion that our country is irredeemably patriarchal and white supremacist. Trump secured only 55 percent of the white vote. He also won 45 percent of the Latino vote and 44 percent of the female vote. Harris won white college graduates of every age.

If racism and sexism did not propel Trump to electoral victory, what did?