U.S. REPORTER LOOKS BACK ON SHOCK RESULT
This vote and the protests have highlighted a split between the races, the classes, those who live in the country and those in the cities. I thought that I’d move on after the election but I just can’t leave now
It’s been the most turbulent fortnight in the post-war history of western politics.
The election of Donald Trump against a background of protests across the US brought the rest of the globe to a standstill.
The BBC’s Glasgowborn Washington correspondent Laura Bicker has had a ringside seat throughout.
Having now had time to pause, here are her personal reflections on two weeks which shook the world.
As the votes from each district were counted, it looked like Mr Trump was ahead.
His message that he, and he alone, could fix a broken and rigged system in Washington was resonating.
I was also keeping a close eye on Florida. He needed that state. As he began to edge ahead, I could see how this election was swinging just one way.
I couldn’t update each of the bulletins fast enough. I think I wore out the f loor running between radio and TV studios. I don’t think I’ve ever worked so fast or hard. The night now seems a blur. I can’t remember how many TV and radio reports I did.
Was it a big shock? Yes. I knew a large number of voters wanted something different but I thought that choosing someone who’d never held political office for the highest office in the land would be a step too far for some.
I also thought women voters would think twice about opting for a man who had talked about groping them.
But this wasn’t just a call for change – it was a roar and battle cry from rural states across the US. Eight years of Democrat rule was all that they could handle.
They feel forgotten and overlooked by an elitist Washington and they have placed their faith in an outsider. Someone given only a marginal chance of winning.
This country was at a tipping point and that was reflected in the mood of the nation and the protests.
This election has highlighted divisions between the races, the classes, those who live in the countryside and those who live in the cities, those who live on the coast and socalled f ly- over midwestern states that have been growing ever more stark for decades.
I’ve been at a couple of protests and they are mostly young, liberal Americans who fear a president Trump will wipe out Obama’s legacy on gay rights, civil rights, women’s rights and the right to affordable health care.
The protests and marches I’ve been to have been well-behaved and well-meaning. I know many demonstrators are beginning to organise themselves into pressure groups ready for when
Trump becomes president. I’ve a l so hea rd the fea r s of African-Americans and men and women of colour.
Many told me they felt betrayed by voters in America. Do they believe that Trump voters are all racist? No. But they do believe that much of his support came from angry white nationalists.
I was at the US versus Mexico World Cup qualifier in Ohio and met a number of Mexicans who have lived in the US for years but are not legal citizens. Their future is now uncertain.
I also met some who are legal – the vote has made them feel like they have been rejected. As I was talking to them, a US fan brought out handmade signs from a car. They read: BUILD THAT WALL and DRAIN THE MEXICAN SWAMP.
Having a ringside seat to this can be fascinating and alarming. The division is so stark. There is no bigger story to cover than this one right now and I feel very lucky.
I was thinking I may move on after the election to another foreign posting but I can’t leave now. I had pictured election day as a finish line but this story doesn’t end here. In fact, it is just beginning. They’re already bui lding the inauguration platform outside the White House and at the Capitol building.
Soon Trump will officially be sworn in as US president.
This campaign has been so unpredictable. I can’t imagine what the next four years will be like and I want to be here to find out.
The moment I could see it all unfolding was watching the results in Ohio, a socalled bellwether state which has been taken by the winning candidate in every election for more than half a century.