(Atlanta) Do you remember the #notmypresident movement? It exploded in the streets of major cities in the United States the day after the election of Donald Trump in 2016. Like a great burst of collective anger which lasted more than 10 days.
Published at 12:48 a.m. Updated at 5:00 a.m.
Atlanta, the city par excellence for the defense of civil rights, was at the heart of this wave of demonstrations.
On Wednesday, in the Georgian capital which voted 72% for Kamala Harris, it was dead calm. As if time was frozen on the day after the election which gave a decisive victory to the Republican candidate both in terms of the popular vote and the number of electors. There were low expressions, sadness, but no revolt.
While the rest of the Western world is hyperventilating, starting with Canada which knows that a Trump presidency can hit the wallet in addition to wreaking havoc on bilateral and multilateral relations, the Americans are digesting the news with composure .
However, we know much better about the political animal that is Donald Trump than we did eight years ago. It’s hard to forget that he tried to steal an election, incited an insurrection, took over the Supreme Court, was convicted in a trial and faced a series of others. During his campaign, he increased threats against his political rivals and journalists, to name just a few.
In Canada, the man is scary. An Angus Reid poll indicated at the end of the summer that two out of three respondents in the country expressed deep fears regarding the man who is today the president-elect.
PHOTO BRYNN ANDERSON, ARCHIVES ASSOCIATED PRESS
Students from Spelman College on the evening of the presidential election
In the United States, this fear has largely evaporated, even among some of the Americans who did not vote for the Republican candidate and whom I met in key states in the election this fall. A poll conducted by ABC on Election Day estimates that only one in three Americans are afraid of a Trump administration, half as many as in Canada, proportionately.
For what ?
A first explanation can take the form of a maxim in English. Better the devil you know than the devil you don’t know. Better the devil you know than the one you don’t know. And all American citizens know Donald Trump much better today than in 2016.
They lived under his presidency for four years. There were ups and downs, but life took its course. The country’s institutions limited its worst excesses. And civil society has mobilized whenever necessary.
We must remember the small army of lawyers who invaded the airports of major cities when Donald Trump implemented a measure to limit the entry into the country of nationals of Muslim countries. The lawsuits rained and President Trump 1.0 had to put water in his Coca-Cola.
“There is a lot of fatigue and shock in progressive circles after this election and they will turn to strategy for the future. We know what needs to be done,” Seth Shelden, a New York lawyer who was part of this movement and who advocates to abolish nuclear weapons, told me.
Even today, a majority of Americans have fairly strong confidence in their institutions and the checks and balances that have been put in place. And Kamala Harris’ arguments which warned them against an anti-democratic drift by the Republican candidate seem to have largely fallen flat. “Even though institutions have been tested, Americans are confident that the safeguards will hold up,” says John McIntyre, a political scientist and international relations expert at Georgia Tech.
Another part of the explanation lies in the conception that many Americans have of leadership, a concept which, in their eyes, goes hand in hand with that of authority. And the position of the American president, who is at the same time head of state, head of government and head of the armed forces, is the very embodiment of this leadership.
The seal of the American presidency with an eagle and arrows says a lot about the presidency which has been strengthened since the end of the war [de Sécession].
John McIntyre, political scientist and international relations expert at Georgia Tech
According to him, there is a macho component of this position which benefits the Donald Trumps of this world and disadvantages the Kamala Harrises. “We often forget that in Philadelphia, when the founding fathers were considering the design of the Constitution, the idea was raised of having a king of America before creating the position of president,” recalls the political scientist. And Donald Trump is the very image of an elected king.
And what about women in all this? Are they not afraid of this man who is at the origin of the overthrow of the protection of the right to abortion throughout the country and who was brought back to power by relying in particular on the evangelical right?
PHOTO AUDRA MELTON, ARCHIVES THE NEW YORK TIMES
A voter casting her vote last Tuesday at a polling station in Atlanta, Georgia
54% of them gave their vote to Kamala Harris. Not exactly a tidal wave. White women mostly voted for Donald Trump.
We must not forget that a large number of American women – more than 36% – are opposed to any recourse to abortion. Many others are for free choice, but think that inflation and the cost of living, less theoretical, are much more salient issues in their own lives. Donald Trump’s businessman aura gives them confidence, they often told me. And this, even if the man has repeatedly gone bankrupt.
If the majority of Americans are no longer afraid of Donald Trump, can we conclude that they will give him free rein? It would be risky to think like that. The progressive and human rights movements, now paralyzed by the election result, will quickly regain their senses.
And when we don’t fear a leader, we can more easily stand up to them. Fear, unfortunately, is rarely the best advisor.
