Election 2024 is finally over, and no one could be happier than President Trump. When the final votes were tabulated, he must have been thinking, how sweet it is.
In 2016, he was accused of conspiring with the Russians, subjected to vicious personal attacks ever since, was the victim of unprecedented lawfare, armed government agents breaking into his Mar-a-Lago home, and two assassination attempts. The list goes on, but as it says in Tehillim (75:8), “Hashem is the Judge, one He humbles, and one He raises.” And Hashem decided to raise Trump.
He Did It His Way
Trump won by putting together a coalition not seen since the days of Ronald Reagan - and in some ways, ever. He won significant support from African Americans, Latinos, Asian Americans, Arab Americans, Jews, union members and other groups that traditionally vote overwhelmingly for Democrats. Add the Amish in Pennsylvania to this group.
Although Vice President Harris received more votes from Jews than Trump, it was less than Democrats usually get. According to a Fox News voter analysis, 66% of Jews overall voted for the Veep, compared to 32% for Trump. But in New York, the state with the largest Jewish population, only 55% voted for Harris compared to 45% for Trump.
Trump got help from a very unexpected source: Pres. Biden, and whether that was intentional or not is a matter of opinion. Here’s the story. Immediately after Biden withdrew from the race, former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich opined that his decision was not voluntary. Newt said Biden was ousted, threatened with the 25th Amendment which says that the President could be replaced by the Vice President “if unable to discharge the powers and duties of the office.” Biden, a loyal Democrat his entire life, never forgave the party for forcing him out.
Two days after the election, Biden spoke on the White House lawn. Sky News Australia, a right-leaning news service, ran a story with the following headline: “Joe Biden Bizarrely Appears Sharper And Happier Than Ever After Kamala Harris’ Humiliation.” Sky News host Rita Panahi said, “(Biden) didn’t seem too upset with the outcome of the election, beaming and smiling throughout his three-minute address.” News commentator Ben Shapiro also noticed that. “Joe Biden is the happiest man in America today,” he said.
Playing Hardball
Politics is vicious, the ultimate hardball game. It’s become obvious that Biden is no longer at the top of his game – he sometimes needs help walking, forgets and/or confuses names and words, and appears frail and weak. However, even though he can’t always articulate his thoughts, that doesn’t mean he doesn’t understand what’s happening or form accurate judgments about them. It’s my unscientific opinion that he can.
Biden has been incredibly helpful to Kamala. He chose her as a running mate in 2020, at a time when it appeared her career in politics was over. And he put her in a position that she could use to launch her own campaign for the presidency, an incredible gift because as a candidate, she never won one primary or even one delegate. For some reason, serious friction developed between the two camps. Did Biden feel Kamala was involved in the coup against him?
In September, Biden was photographed wearing a Trump hat. Of course, it was just for five seconds and dismissed as a joke. Then again, there is much said in jest. Just days before the election, Biden called Trump supporters “garbage,” a shocking remark from a seasoned politician. Without question, tens of millions of people were offended, and some likely enough to go vote when otherwise they may not have. A slip of the tongue? On Election Day, his wife Jill wore a bright red pants suit – the same shade red as the ties Trump so often wears. Just a coincidence, or was she sending a message?
Fallout Area Ahead
It’s still too early to understand all of the repercussions from Election 2024, Trump’s incredible comeback, what it means for the future of the major political parties, and how it will impact America, Israel, and the world. But here are some initial thoughts.
*Outside the world of Torah, Elon Musk is one of the most brilliant people in the world – if not the most brilliant. And Musk will play an important part in Trump’s second term. Officially his role will be to head the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, with the objective of cutting $2 trillion or more from the federal budget. In real life, his influence will go well beyond that.
Musk and Trump have formed a very close personal relationship. Musk put up at least $150 million to help get Trump elected, and almost certainly was also an influential advisor. Trump’s victory speech lasted 25 minutes, “and he devoted four of those minutes to lavish praise of Musk, Tesla, SpaceX’s rocket launches and satellite internet programs,” according to Forbes. And he called Musk “a super genius,” and said “a star is born – Elon.”
In an interview with Joe Rogan released the day before the election, Musk said he wants federal agencies to be much smaller, and make sure they “stick to what Congress authorized instead of all this other stuff.” He also said he would cut regulations which he said are costly and delay progress. Musk is one of the most admired and respected people not only in America, and only someone of his stature could make the drastic changes he’s talking about. Trump could not do this alone; maybe working with Musk he’ll be able to.
Musk is a tech guy, and it will be interesting to see which technologies he promotes. My guess is that he will try to push America into a new era, one that will have much greater focus on high tech like AI, satellites, robotics, space exploration, solar power, and brain implants. We may even see new technologies most of us have never heard of. As a group, these will propel the U.S. economy forward, help grow profits, lower costs, and help keep America ahead of its competitors and adversaries.
A few more thoughts about the election. Now that Republicans have put together a winning coalition, they will work hard to solidify it. Democrats will have to decide if they still want to support woke and other extreme policies. And they will reflect on the mistakes they made during the campaign. Some will be very obvious. No one likes to be called garbage, treated like a second-class citizen, and accused of being racist if they disagree with policies they detest and are clearly against their best interests. In a different matter, it’s still unclear how much financial aid the U.S. will provide to Israel or other countries.
As this is being written, Republicans have control of all three branches of government, and they will move quickly to make the changes they have promised. Stay tuned to see how all this plays out.
Sources: forbes.com; foxnews.com; israelnationalnews.com; zerohedge.com; YouTube: Sky News Australia “Joe Biden Bizarrely Appears Sharper And Happier Than Ever After Kamala Harris’ Humiliation”
Gerald Harris is a financial and feature writer. Gerald can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.