‘It was never about them’: Americans continue to speak out against the real reason why Trump won the election

There is simply no good reason why two incredibly qualified female candidates should have lost to a reality television show host, but that is unfortunately the timeline we live in.

“But her emails!” they cried in 2016. Donald Trump is a felon. He is a rapist. He is grossly underqualified to have been President once, and yet, he is now our President-elect once again.

Despite the continued circulation of these lies, the real reasons these two Presidential candidates lost are much simpler: Misogyny and racism, as X user Ricky Davila called out, writing, “It was never about them or their supreme qualifications, it was about misogyny, racism, hate, and fascism.”

2016 could have been considered a fluke. Clinton wasn’t a hugely popular candidate, but she was still the preferred choice with decades of experience, and a much better platform than the one Trump was running at the time, where it seemed like it was more vibes than actual plans. They can cry that Harris and Clinton were unqualified all they want, but that is simply not the truth.

The U.S. is one of 7 countries without a female leader in modern times. There is honestly no reason for that in this day and age. The United States is supposed to be the land of freedom and opportunity, and yet, when those opportunities are presented to women, the country fails them every time.

Why is that? All you need to do is look at the hate spewed online. As X user Derek Chapman said in the comments of Davila’s post: “Wrong. Hilary flawed and criminal (allowed to walk). Harris just completely unqualified. Why can’t you guys see this? Get out of your own way!”

I’m sorry, saying Harris was unqualified? The current Vice President of the United States? Men really will just say whatever shit online and face no consequences. Also, Trump has famously been convicted and currently awaits sentencing with a new lawsuit being served. If his emails had been released, you can bet they’d be defending him online.

We need to fight back against this racism and misogyny

Is Harris perfect? No. She was not my first choice either. But I didn’t vote for her or Clinton just because they were women. I voted for them because they were qualified, and I knew that I, as a bisexual woman, was at risk under Trump. We have to face the facts as a country that unless we can get a handle on the rampant misogyny and racism that permeates our society, we are never going to move forward. There is no reason we should be a country that has never had a female leader, especially when the last two female candidates have held high-ranking political positions. We voted for Biden. Why did we not come out in the same droves for Harris?

It is 2024, and people are still saying online that Harris would cause a war while on her period, and there are even more people agreeing with those horrifically sexist comments. There are countless reasons Trump being back in office is dangerous. We have to acknowledge and understand that Gen Z will not be the generation that saves us. We need to be raising our children to be better adults.