Believed to have more than the necessary 270 electoral college votes, Donald Trump has been elected the next President of the United States.
It was billed to be an incredibly close contest and, as expected, the result proved tricky to predict as polls rolled in from across the States. In Oxford, JCRs were packed with students waiting up to see who would take up residence in the White House in 2017.
Trump’s success became more likely as the night wore on, with the New York Times declaring him the probable winner as early as 0230 GMT, and bookies’ odds suggesting a 70% chance of victory by 0400. The backdrop to political alerts about the states’ results was concerning news from the world’s stock markets, with Dow Futures – which indicate the opening position of the Dow Jones overnight – plunging by 750 points.
Where were you at 2:30am on 11/9?
The @nytimes and the markets are now predicting a win for @realDonaldTrump…#DemOxcracy
— Cherwell (@Cherwell_Online) November 9, 2016
Trump also proved dominant in key battlegrounds such as North Carolina, New Hampshire and Wisconsin, and took Ohio, which has voted for the winning candidate in every presidential election since 1960.
Meanwhile, the most nail-biting state remained Florida, which took until around 0500 to declare its support for Trump, on a 49.1%-47.7% split.
Many Oxford students are of the same opinion. For entirely different reasons. #DemOxcracy https://t.co/60wWaGZZG4
— Cherwell (@Cherwell_Online) November 9, 2016
In congressional elections, the Republicans have retained a majority in both the Senate and the House, with a few seats still to be called.
Cherwell’s team of student reporters across Oxford sent back the latest updates on student reaction to the election, from JCRs, the Union and Lola Lo’s. On Twitter, we interviewed, posted and polled to bring you the news in Oxford as it happened.
Student opinion seemed largely in favour of Hillary and in dismay at the result, although pockets of Trump supporters were uncovered, both on the ground and online.
Which is worse? #DemOxcracy
— Cherwell (@Cherwell_Online) November 9, 2016
Students were, like pundits, shocked that we were unable to predict the scale of Trump’s success. Pembroke JCR’s prediction of 304 Electoral College votes for Clinton proved more than a little wide of the mark, while Univ JCR’s commentary, provided by Sir Ivor Crewe, noted that “This looks like a similar situation to Brexit: A revolt against the establishment.”
Louis McEvoy, a second-year historian at Christ Church, said, “I have no words right now. One can only imagine how Latinos, African-Americans and Muslims in the US are feeling. Racism is what progressives must now focus on fighting above all else. This is like an evil, racist Joey Essex becoming PM”.
Not all were dismayed, however. Harry Forbes, a Trump supporter and Magdalen fresher, said, “History is being made before our eyes”.
Bleak predictions from @ChCh_Oxford… #DemOxcracy pic.twitter.com/0cwW8x8iK3
— Cherwell (@Cherwell_Online) November 9, 2016
Calum Jones, a second-year historian at Somerville, said, “The result has come as a huge shock, and I do not think I am alone in saying that this has been an extremely disappointing night. We can only hope that Donald Trump moves away from the nasty rhetoric his campaign once he takes up office.”
“This is horrifying and terrifying. Trump is a bigoted proto-fascist with the temper of two year-old being given control of the world’s largest nuclear arsenal”, Daniel Villar told Cherwell.
Olivia Bradley, a fresher at Christ Church, said, “Trump is certainly a fascist; he represents a step back in the history of American politics”.
Thomas Zagoria told Cherwell, “To be honest, I’ve been emotionally braced for this for weeks, but I just hope that Democratic senators have the physical stamina for four years of filibustering.”
At St Anne’s, Dan Radigan asked our reporter: “How many disillusioned voters does it take to change a country?”
Additional reporting by Maxim Parr-Reid, Theo Davis-Lewis, Carlo Attubato, Charlie Gillow, Ben Ray, Dan Curtis, Esme Ash, Jack Hunter, Josh McStay, Marianna Spring, Olivia Webster, Philip Pope, Katherine Pye.
