Students Share Mixed Reactions to Trump’s Win

Emotions ran high on campus following the early Wednesday morning announcement of Donald Trump’s victory. Classrooms, hallways, and lunch tables were full of students discussing the results. The M-A Chronicle spoke with some students to hear their thoughts.

Freshman Julianne Hanson was surprised by Tuesday’s results. “I for sure thought that Kamala Harris would win. I was super surprised that Trump won,” she said. “I think people in California as a whole really believed that Harris would win because of her popularity with the younger generation.”

Hanson followed the election closely. “It was really really sad. My mom was super disappointed. It was impacting me doing my homework because I kept looking on Google to see who was winning,” she said.

Hanson expects news coverage will change over the next four years. “There’s going to be a lot more news on controversial policies that Trump will put into effect,” she said. 

Sophomores CaDavion Ardoin and Nathan Frausto both predicted a Trump victory. “I knew Trump was going to win because most people didn’t like Harris, probably because she was a female. I know Trump was doing some bad stuff, but she was gonna let the border down,” Ardoin said. 

Frausto watched the election on the news with his brothers. “I felt super happy. I knew he was gonna win when he had at least 220 electoral votes because Pennsylvania was huge for him to win, and Georgia as well,” he said.

Frausto feels optimistic about what the election means for the country’s future. “Trump is trying to make the economy better and lower gas prices,” he said. 

Freshman Oscar Barron also correctly predicted the results. “I wanted Kamala Harris to win, but I expected Trump,” he said. 

He followed the election through TV and social media. “I watched a little bit at home from the news or from TikTok. I watch a lot of TikTok lives, and that’s how I got my information,” Barron said.

Freshman Hunter Doss put his feelings toward Trump’s win more plainly. “Trump’s a loser,” he said.

Barron was more optimistic about what the results would mean for the country. “I hope Trump can do everything he said he’ll do. I hope he brings gas prices down,” he said.

Freshman Talia Hairston supported Harris but didn’t think she would win. “I had hope for Kamala Harris, but I didn’t really think that people were ready to have a woman for president,” she said. 

Hairston reflected on what the election would mean for the country at large. “I’m probably not going to be affected as much because I’m in California. But for the country, I think other people are going to regret voting for who they voted for,” she said.

Senior Leni Fakava Ma wasn’t surprised by the Trump win. “Though I might not like his choice of words or his actions or him in general, it wasn’t shocking,” she said.

Fakava Ma noted that Trump’s win doesn’t mean all his policy plans will be implemented. “There’s still a lot of things that Trump has to do for his words and what he wants to be approved,” she said.

Aimee Vera

Senior Aimee Vera followed the election Tuesday night. “Once, Harris was getting close—she almost tied Trump—and I felt like she was going to win, but then I went to sleep, woke up, and saw that he won,” she said. 

Vera expressed concern about a Trump presidency normalizing discriminatory attitudes. “I don’t think he’s going to deport a lot of people on day one, but it will cause more hate with trans rights, and it will cause a lot of xenophobia. It will be pretty scary,” she said. 

Camille Scott

Senior Camille Scott predicted a Harris victory. “I actually really believed that Kamala was gonna win. Maybe it was just the marketing that they had going on, but it really felt like Kamala had a lot of voters and a lot of support from the majority of the U.S. At least that’s what I saw from social media,” she said. 

Looking ahead, Scott worried about the potential effects of the Trump administration on women’s rights and the economy. “For me, or just women in general, I pray for them. Especially the economy, too, because Donald Trump did horrible things to the economy,” she said.