Following former President Donald Trump’s victory on election day Tuesday, Nov. 5, students at North anticipate changes regarding queer and trans rights, women’s rights, military spending, and the economy.
“I think the outcome of the election has scared a lot of us, but we all have to find ways to deal with it,” said senior Jennifer Leung.
Trump won 49.9 percent of votes in the presidential election against Vice President Kamala Harris, and will be inaugurated Monday, Jan. 20.
“I think that Trump has plans to do things that would not benefit my family and my friends, particularly those who are women and who are part of the LGBTQ community,” said freshman Eli Helman.
Sophomore Rebecca Towvim said she also worries for the queer community, women, people of color, and transgender individuals.
She added that she thinks many people voted for Trump because of his economic policies. “A lot of people voted for Trump because the economy was really good while he was president, but I don’t think that’s going to be a continuous thing,” said Towvim.
Sophomore Amy Lee said, “Trump talked a lot about cutting support for Ukraine, and I heard about how that could lead to a full-on war in Europe.”
Some seniors, like Leung, were able to vote for the first time this year.
Leung said that she wishes more young people could vote. “I feel like a lot of people who voted on the republican side were all older people, and if we had more younger voters, we would have had a better outcome,” Leung added. “I really wanted to vote because I was really passionate about voting for Harris, and even though she didn’t win, I was proud that one of my votes went to her.”
Lee and Towvim added that they weren’t surprised by the results of the elections and said they were already expecting the outcome.
“I’m disappointed, but I suspected these results, even though it’s not what I agree with,” Towvim said.
Lee added, “Like a lot of people, I’m disappointed, but I wasn’t really surprised. I didn’t think Trump would win by that much, but I kind of knew he would win.”
