NEW YORK, Nov. 9 (UPI) — Hillary Clinton called Donald Trump in the wee hours of Wednesday, conceding the presidential race and clearing the path for him to win the presidency.
Though he had yet to officially pass the needed 270 electoral votes needed to win the presidency, Trump appeared to have completed one of the most improbable campaigns in American history, going from business mogul and tabloid sensation to a reality television star — and now the 45th president of the United States.
His stunning victory deals a searing blow to Democrats, who hoped eight years after sending the first black man to the Oval Office they would break through the highest glass ceiling for women. In the end, Clinton, a candidate with three decades of experience in public service, was dogged by political scandals past and present that overshadowed her potentially historic White House bid.
Trump’s campaign roused a sleeping giant in American politics: working-class white men, a group that powered the Reagan revolution in the 1980s, but had failed to produce a popular majority in five of the last six elections. Trump’s aggressive, unapologetic rhetoric about a nation suddenly devoid of its prior greatness offended millions, but served as a call to arms for millions more.
His policy prescriptions also ignored political norms for a national campaign, channeling the anger of Internet message boards and conservative talk radio into a set of proposals that, if enacted, would permanently change the face of the nation and its relationship to the world. He has proposed building a wall on the Mexican border and promised he will force the Mexican government to pay for it. He assured voters the mass deportation of undocumented immigrants will begin immediately after he is sworn in. He has promised to rip up free trade deals and set fire to an international climate pact negotiated by his predecessor Barack Obama and 200 other nations. He has hinted American military alliances will be subject to allies paying for U.S. protection.
His campaign drew crowds more in line with a rock concert or a football game, and were frequently just as rowdy. Chants of “lock her up!” referencing Clinton’s private email server scandal, were as frequent as “USA! USA! USA!” The rallies occasionally turned violent, when supporters physically accosted protesters, with Trump as emcee sometimes egging them on.
Trump ascends to the presidency after running one of the most unconventional campaigns in the nation’s 240-year history. He began the race by calling Mexicans “rapists” and “murderers.” He repeatedly brawled with his Republican primary opponents including a string of debates each seemingly nastier than the last.
He referred to his opponents not with their political honorifics senator, governor or secretary, but with schoolyard taunts: “Little” Marco Rubio, “Lyin'” Ted Cruz, “Low Energy” Jeb Bush, “Crooked” Hillary Clinton.
And that was only the policy end of a campaign that was defined just as often by public feuds the candidate engaged in with ordinary Americans.
He publicly criticized a Muslim Gold Star family that lost a son in Iraq after they criticized his proposal to halt virtually all Muslim immigration. He ridiculed a former Miss Universe as fat after she became a topic of discussion at the first presidential debate.
Even a month ago, Trump’s hopes for the presidency seemed all but lost, after a tape of him speaking into a hot microphone for Access Hollywood in 2005 captured his vulgar language, as be boasted his celebrity status empowered him to kiss and grope women without their consent.
After the tape, a dozen women came forward, each telling a similar story of Trump kissing or groping them against their will – and Trump responded by calling the women liars who were out for attention. Some he said were not pretty enough to warrant his attention.
In electing Trump, millions of Americans were willing to put their trust in a candidate about whose personal finances – and vast business empire – they know less than any major party nominee in the last 40 years. Trump steadfastly refused to open his tax returns to public scrutiny, citing an ongoing audit by the Internal Revenue Service. The New York Times published one year of his taxes, 1996, which showed Trump took a loss of nearly $1 billion, which he later acknowledged he has used to offset taxes on his personal income for more than 18 years.
