Donald Trump, a neo-fascist who launched a failed coup in 2021 to remain in power, looks likely to win the presidency against Kamala Harris. And while all the votes haven’t technically been counted yet, Trump pulled ahead in Pennsylvania to create an insurmountable lead in the Electoral College vote around 1:25 a.m. ET Wednesday according to Fox News, the first major news outlet to declare Trump the winner. The far-right network officially called the whole contest for the former president (and now likely future president) around 1:50 a.m. ET.
Harris, for her part, has not conceded and isn’t expected to speak publicly until at least the daylight hours of Wednesday. But many world leaders have been congratulating Trump on X, including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and French President Emmanuel Macron. Even the TV news networks that didn’t officially declare Trump the winner overnight still spoke as though it was a given he would eventually win.
It’s a devastating result for decent people who had hoped to avoid a second Trump term, which is guaranteed to result in incredible pain and suffering for vulnerable people within America’s borders. But there are plenty of Trump supporters who are happy about the outcome, including the wealthiest man in the world, Elon Musk. The tech oligarch was instrumental in pushing Trump over the finish line and the Tesla CEO spent Tuesday night celebrating at Mar-a-Lago while gloating on his social media platform X.
“Let that sink in,” Musk tweeted around 12:30 a.m. ET early Wednesday, even before the race had been called by Fox News. Musk included a photoshopped image of himself holding a sink in the Oval Office of the White House, stitched together using a screenshot of Musk’s arrival at Twitter headquarters shortly after he purchased the company in Oct. 2022.
“The people of America gave @realDonaldTrump a crystal clear mandate for change tonight,” Musk tweeted after Fox had called the race for Trump.
Earlier in the night, Musk tweeted a photo of himself with Trump and UFC president Dana White that appears to have been taken at Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s residence and private club in Florida.
🇺🇸🇺🇸The future is gonna be so 🔥 🇺🇸🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/x56cqb6oT5
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 6, 2024
Trump has promised to make Musk the head of a new Department Of Government Efficiency, which stands for DOGE, the cryptocurrency that Musk has previously invested heavily in. But aside from the jokey name, it appears that both Musk and Trump are planning to make some very serious cuts to government spending that, coupled with the deportation of millions, are likely to send the economy into tailspin.
Musk has built his fortune through enormous amounts of government money, including subsidies for Tesla and lucrative contracts for SpaceX. But with his new influence at the White House, Musk is positioned to help funnel even more money to his companies and friends, just as oligarchs always do.
Trump took the stage in Palm Beach, Florida around 2:25 a.m. ET and the Associated Press called Pennsylvania for the former president right around the same time. MSNBC host Rachel Maddow acknowledged that winning Pennsylvania created an insurmountable lead for Trump but the network didn’t officially call the entire country for the Republican candidate at the time.
During his victory speech, Trump hailed Musk as a “genius” and thanked the X owner early for his help. That assistance has reportedly included at least $120 million donated to Musk’s own political action committee America PAC, which has been accused of incredibly shady tactics, like giving away $1 million each day to registered voters in swing states who signed a petition. Musk recently won a small victory in court after the District Attorney in Philadelphia tried to stop the giveaways and failed.
The 45th (and soon-to-be 47th president) has also pledged to make Robert F. Kennedy Jr. an important figure in his administration. Trump said Kennedy would “help make America health again,” during his speech early Wednesday. But Kennedy has incredibly fringe ideas about health, including the idea that vaccines cause autism. Kennedy has also pledged to remove flouride from the country’s drinking water.
Trump spent the campaign spreading vile lies about immigrants, promising to launch a deportation force that would expel millions of people from the country, and pledging to use the military against his political enemies. He gave bizarre and rambling speeches at his rallies, and talked about such topics as the late golfer Arnold Palmer’s huge cock and even pantomimed giving oral sex to a microphone. And those were just the things he was doing in public.
Trump’s own former chief of staff said he met the definition of a fascist and said he often talked about Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler in positive terms. John Kelly, a retired Marine general who worked for Trump from 2017 to 2019, quoted the former president as saying, “You know, Hitler did some good things, too.” Trump also reportedly said that he wanted the kinds of generals that Hitler had.
Trump will almost certainly dismiss the federal charges against him when he ascends to power, though it remains to be seen how the state charges will be hashed out. Even if the state of Georgia tries to continue with its prosecution of Trump for trying to overturn the 2020 election, it’s unlikely the state can do much to hold him accountable given the fact that laws are fake and all that matters is what the people with guns decide to do. As president, Trump will naturally have the most guns at his side.
The Republicans also secured a majority in the U.S. Senate, which will make it much easier for Trump to accomplish his authoritarian goals, and a majority in the the House looked to be attainable at the time of this writing. Control of Congress and the White House will give Trump and the rest of the Republican Party the opportunity to essentially do whatever they want.
There are very dark days ahead. Very dark weeks, months, and years. And even if you don’t believe Trump will single you or your particular demographic out for harm, Project 2025 and the MAGA movement more broadly has promised a more decentralized form of oppression. Every person in any position of authority will be given carte blanche to harm whomever they like, as long as it doesn’t harm the larger fascist effort. You will meet some mini-fascist somewhere along your journey in the years ahead. And even if you think Trump is on your side, it won’t matter because laws are fake and all that remains is the exercise of raw power.
It won’t all happen at once. But it will happen. Best of luck. We’re all going to need it.
English (US) ·