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On Tuesday, Donald Trump defeated Vice President Kamala Harris to once again become the president of the United States. This is the first time Trump has won the popular vote in a general election, and only the second time in American history that a president has been elected to non-consecutive terms — Grover Cleveland became the first to do so in 1893.
The result has unsurprisingly left the nation divided, as Trump’s supporters celebrate his return to the White House while his detractors express worry and fear. That division is particularly apparent when looking at young voters. Harris only outpaced her opponent by 6 percent among voters aged 18-29, far less than President Biden’s 25-point youth advantage over Trump in 2020. And while youth voters at-large favored Harris, young men preferred Trump by 14 points.
APR looked to the University of Alabama to gauge the different reactions to Trump’s victory among college-aged voters.
The UA College Republicans made an Instagram post on Wednesday celebrating Trump’s victory.
“WE DID IT!!!” the caption reads, “After four years of failed leadership, America has resoundingly asked President Trump to get back in the driver’s seat and turn things around!”
“In just a couple short months, we’ll begin to Make America Great Again, Again!!” it continues.
The organization also announced that it would be holding an in-person celebration of the election’s results at a local Tuscaloosa restaurant.
“Tonight we’ll be celebrating Donald Trump’s election as our 47th president, alongside the other sweeping Republican victories across the country,” the organization wrote on its Instagram.
Meanwhile, the UA College Democrats published a lengthy statement detailing their reactions to the election — reactions that reveal a stark contrast between young Democrats and their Republican peers.
“First of all, I want to congratulate every single Democratic candidate who ran in this country, and especially the state of Alabama, and I want to give a special shout-out to Rep. Terri Sewell and Rep.-elect Shomari Figures for their victories in the 7th and 2nd Districts, respectively,” wrote Braden Vick, President of the UA College Democrats.
“Alabama voters want fair, honest, and good representation in Congress, and the victories of Sewell and Figures show as much,” Vick continued. “We also still have a fighting shot to win the U.S. House of Representatives. However, these victories must feel very hollow to our pro-democracy coalition given the broader national context.”
Vick went on to describe President-elect Trump as a “convicted felon, serial rapist, wannabe dictator, and one of the most odious figures in our politics.”
“The worst part is that we never saw this resounding defeat coming, nor did most in our coalition,” Vick went on as he expressed frustration with the current state of the Democratic Party. “Over the next few months and years, our Party, both in Tuscaloosa and across the nation, will face long and difficult conversations about who we want to be as a Party and as a force for good. We must answer these fundamental questions about ourselves: What are we fighting for, and who are we speaking for? Because who we currently speak for was nowhere near large enough to win this election.”
Vick and the UA College Democrats concluded their statement by advising their fellow Democrats on how to best approach the coming four years under a Trump presidency.
“There will be voices that try to burst into our camp and argue to pulverize the other in order to find the middle. This would be a crucial and dumbfounding mistake that would further rip apart our coalition for decades to come,” it reads. “We as Democrats must find it within ourselves not to abandon those most vulnerable to Trump’s wrath in our quest to rip the country away from the vices of his noxious tendrils.”
“We lost because the majority of American voters viewed us as protecting a status quo they did not want, and they viewed us as the party of Wall Street, not Main Street. Let it be known that, as far as UACD is concerned, we will always fight for the little guy,” it continues. “That has always been our mission, and we will never abandon America to fatten our own pockets.”
“To everyone who is scared, hurt, depressed, numb, and angry about our country’s current state of affairs and their personal safety in the United States, know this: We will never abandon you. We will always fight for your rights, and for the ability to live free as you truly are. We will never give in, and we will never surrender the fight for our freedoms, even when the odds seem long, the situation looks bleak, and when all hope feels lost. We are prepared to sacrifice everything to realize our freedoms and win our country back, because it is the only thing we can do.”
The organization also promised to fight “for everyone whose hopes and dreams have been ruthlessly crushed… for everyone who feels like they no longer have a home in this country… for all who feel lost, abandoned, and driftless” and so that “everyone has the right to a peaceful, dignified, and secure life in this country.”
“We love you too damn much to stop fighting,” the statement closes.
