Fear, Tears, Rage, Reckoning: The Editors, on 4 More Years of Donald Trump

Yesterday, former President Donald Trump became future President Donald Trump, defeating Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election. Today, our editors react.

—Tommy Barone ’25 and Jacob M. Miller ’25, Crimson Editorial Chairs

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I am scared of another Trump presidency.

I am scared for people who look like me, for those living in border communities, and for U.S. citizens — including my family members — who don’t speak English. I am scared that an entire population will be terrorized, profiled, and questioned by law enforcement with little accountability because of how they look. I am scared that communities filled with love and compassion will vanish from our streets, as people live in constant fear, wondering if today or tomorrow will be the day they’re torn away from their homes, families and friends.

Trump ran on mass deportation, and he won. For years, his dehumanizing language surrounding immigrants has been normalized, and I fear we will now face its most dire consequence: mass deportations.

Last night, I sat in my common room watching exit poll after exit poll come in, each update like a punch to the gut. But nothing hurt more than Trump's strong performance among Hispanics, particularly men. I thought the Hispanic vote would turn out for Harris. I was wrong. As a young Mexican man, it is hard for me to fathom how Hispanics could vote for Trump, knowing his promises on immigration.

Today is a sad day. For me, my family, and all the Hispanic families who may be torn apart, both literally and politically.

—David I. Gonzalez ’25, Crimson Editorial editor

I’ve started seriously considering the possibility of pursuing job opportunities outside of the United States. As I watched the map turn red, I couldn’t help but look into how employment visas work.

—Hailey E. Krasnikov ’25, Crimson Diversity & Inclusion Chair

I’ve cried a lot today. I’m lucky to have grown up in a family where men are allowed to cry. Dread fills me. Right now I just want to give my mom and sister and grandma and aunts and cousins a hug.

—Matthew E. Nekritz ’25, Associate Editorial editor

As a left-wing electoral organizer, I find some reassurance in flipped House districts and successful pro-abortion ballot measures. As a person, I feel sickening fear for my friends that are transgender, non-citizen, or female. A second Trump term spells nothing but trouble for the people I hold the closest to my heart.

I was doubtful that America would be willing to embrace a Black woman as president. People do not like when we lead — just look at Claudine Gay. I’m not surprised that I was proven right.

—Jasmine N. Wynn ’27, Crimson Editorial editor

In 2016, Donald Trump lost the popular vote, so we blamed the system. He campaigned by appealing to racism and xenophobia, so we blamed him.

Those excuses can hold no longer. Yesterday, the American people delivered a resounding message: After one term of botched crisis management and embarrassment on the world stage and eight years of relentless bigotry, we somehow want more.

Remember: No matter what people say, Donald Trump isn’t good for the economy, tough on crime, or pro-military — he’s a dirty crook who called 1,800 American Marines “suckers” for giving their lives for their country. He has shown that his only ideal is himself — and somehow, America forgave him. Don’t get me wrong — we can disagree all we want about policy, and there’s nothing wrong with being a conservative. But Trump isn’t a conservative — he’s a fraud.

This race was the Harris campaign’s to lose, but Democrats shot themselves in the foot with performative progressivism. Feeling left behind by a movement that seems to care more about renaming bridges than solving real problems, tens of millions of Americans with legitimate grievances voted for a populist outsider. Today is the day to brush off this loss and stop looking for excuses.

—Rohan Nambiar ’27, Crimson Editorial editor

We don’t know our neighbors. No one should have been surprised by the outcome of this election. But convinced by TikTok campaigns, echo chambers, and a complete sense of detachment from the prevailing values of the average American, Harvard students were still shocked. In the coming four years, the least we can do is step out of our ideological bubble and engage meaningfully with our compatriots.

—Julia S. Dan '26, Associate Editorial editor

This is the second time I’ve watched in horror while our country elected Donald Trump. I’m less surprised. I’m even more scared. It still feels just as hard to find the right words.

It’s a terrifying day to be an American. And it’s an especially terrifying day to be transgender.

One in five trans Americans lost access to healthcare in the last year due to anti-trans policies, according to a report from FOLX. This number will undoubtedly skyrocket under the presidency of a convicted felon who has promised to order “every federal agency to cease all programs that promote the concept of sex and gender transition at any age.”

I am worried for my own safety. Worried that I’ll lose access to essential healthcare or that I’ll have to leave the country. Worried because it feels impossible to imagine my future as an openly, unapologetically transgender American.

But even more, I am worried for my community. Worried because the ability to leave is itself a luxury that most do not have. Worried because the right is waging a war on trans existence. Worried that they might be winning.

I am right to worry. We all are. But we must not let the worry overwhelm us; now, more than ever, is the time to get to work. We have always been here, and we will still be here tomorrow. As long as we keep imagining our futures. As long as we keep fighting for them.

—E. Matteo Diaz ’27, Crimson Editorial Comp Director

I have watched the Supreme Court limit my rights, observed a genocide in Gaza, experienced voter suppression firsthand, and now I have witnessed Donald Trump win a second term.

I worry for my family back in my small-town in Oklahoma. I worry for all those who — like me — have watched millions vote their rights away. I worry for the unknown future we have brought on ourselves.

But no matter what happens, my focus will remain the same: to march through the streets, protest, and organize for a world I’d want to live in and that I’d want my kids to live in.

—Hea Pushpraj ’25, Editorial Comp Director

I woke up this morning to a text from my mom: “I love you. You live and study in a blue state. You are safe.” She’s right. Over the next four years, I, personally, will be okay. But today I am mourning for all those who won’t.

Women, who have already lost their right to reproductive healthcare, some of whom will die. My queer friends, who may not be able to love who they love and live as they are. People facing dire threats worldwide who will lose crucial support from the U.S. The future generations that will inherit a warmer world with more devastating natural disasters. It’s 80 degrees today, in November, in Massachusetts.

Above all, I am demoralized. I believe in the American experiment. I believe the way forward is to talk to those I disagree with and attempt to reach consensus. But at the moment, it is hard to imagine talking to people who would sooner support a convicted felon found liable for sexual abuse over a qualified, talented woman.

If Kamala Harris had done half of what Trump did in this campaign — threatening to “knock the hell out of people backstage” and appearing to mime oral sex on a microphone in one night alone — she wouldn’t have gone on to win the election. She would have been crucified.

We cannot keep pretending that misogyny and racism are vestiges of the past. They are alive and well. We must call them out when we see them and work to change the culture that has reelected Trump.

—Heidi S. Enger ’27, Crimson Editorial editor

To the men who depend on the gender gap: Do not look to women to make ends meet and provide food at the dinner table with the economy you have given us. We will not console you when you are laid off from the company that you voted to be given a tax cut. Do not turn to us when your back hurts from the job you had to take because you refused higher education. Refrain from holding our hands when we die in the emergency room from a curable complication during pregnancy. Do not weep for your daughter when she has to bring the unwanted pregnancy that resulted from an assault to term.

To the men in America who came from their mother’s wombs and held their sister’s hands in youth: These were preventable tragedies. You have turned your backs on the gifts of life and have blossomed into something malicious and without empathy.

To the men who voted for Donald Trump, you are America’s strange and bitter crop.

—Kelisha M. Williams ’25, Crimson Editorial editor

I fought for Kamala — hard — and lost. It hurts, but today’s pain is only the beginning.

For this campaign, I forfeited sleep and stability, skipped classes, missed parties, spent less time with friends and family than I did with strangers in swing states. I uprooted my life for a woman who does not know my name, with whom I do not agree absolutely, and whose success both at the polls and in power was never guaranteed.

Why? Not because I adore the Democratic Party. Not because it was convenient. Surely not for the resume line. Like countless students at Harvard, including my very closest friends, I entered this campaign because of the stakes.

The fight for freedom is not a platitude — it’s an imperative. Women, our sisters and mothers, are dying for lack of healthcare and basic bodily autonomy. Our democratic process now rests in the palms of a man who tried to end it, full stop. Bigotry and hatred are not just ascendant but triumphant.

This is where we stand today. The confusion and anger can be overwhelming. We fear for ourselves and our loved ones — and for all those whose fundamental freedoms hang in the balance.

It is not okay. Everything will not be alright. We lost. But when you lose, the fight doesn’t end — it becomes all the more important. Everything remains on the line. We need to take a breath, pick up the pieces, and organize — on behalf of our country, our rights, and our democracy.

—Lorenzo Z. Ruiz ’27, Crimson Editorial editor

As I said after Claudine Gay’s resignation, many Black Americans work twice as hard to earn half as much.

While I mourn Kamala Harris’ loss, I am drawn to reflect on what it says about the nation we live in today. Kamala Harris was just the second Black woman to ever serve in the United States Senate. She was the first Black person and woman to be elected vice president. Before that, she served as the attorney general of the most populous state in our nation. There is no doubt — none — she is qualified to assume the presidency.

It was not enough. Rather than choosing a path forward, we chose to embark on a journey into the past. Simply put, we have seen this movie before. We have seen our now president-elect separate migrant children from their parents, inspire an attack on our democracy, engage in racially-charged rhetoric — and so much more. And yet Americans have chosen to reward him with four more years in office.

I am dumbfounded — though not surprised — by the decision of my fellow voters. But this doesn’t mean we can give up. There are too many issues at stake to give up.

Lastly, we owe a great deal of respect for Vice President Harris. She was dealt a bad card, but she handled it with grace, resilience, and class. Moving forward, we must commit ourselves to the imperative she uttered after the 2020 election: “Dream with ambition, lead with conviction.”

—M. Austen Wyche ’27, Crimson Editorial editor