Kristallnacht occurred on November 9, 1938. Although the word Kristallnacht has been translated as the “Night of Broken Glass,” much more occurred. There were attacks on Jews in the streets along with arrests, arson, and looting. One would have thought that those days were gone. Sadly, they are not. On November 7, Israeli soccer fans and other Jews were chased and attacked in the streets of Amsterdam by Palestinian supporters. History repeats itself.
Now to my main topic. It was hard for me to sleep election night and Wednesday morning when it became clear that Trump would be returning as president. There has been plenty of finger-pointing and excuses being made. That is not what I am going to address. Instead, I will list five winners and losers, avoiding those which are most commonly mentioned.
Winners
Muslims
This is the first election where the Muslim vote was important. There is a high concentration of Muslims in Michigan, which was one of the seven swing states. Trump made a strong effort to obtain their vote, including meeting with individuals who have a view of Israel that we would find unacceptable. There was little pushback or concern from Trump’s Jewish supporters. That sent Trump a message that he does not have to worry about his Jewish support. In contrast, the Jewish community is concentrated in states where it was clear who was going to win, such as California, Florida, and New York. The question is which group will he follow: the Muslims or the orthodox Jews, whose views differ on Israel, Gaza, etc. From a political perspective, the answer may not be what we want to hear.
Non-Violent Felons
One of the problems many ex-cons face is that employers are loath to hire someone with a criminal record. Now these individuals can point out that if the majority of Americans voted for a person who was convicted of more than 30 non-violent felonies for the most important job in the county, why should they not be hired?
Non-College-Educated
There was so much talk about the importance of college-educated women. The Democratic Party kept pushing college student loan relief. The non-college-educated, which outnumber those with college degrees, went with Trump. They showed the Democratic Party that you ignore us at your peril.
DJT Stock
Trump Media & Technology Group (DJT), of which Donald Trump is a majority shareholder, based on its fundamentals is a penny stock. But due to the Trump name and the expectation that he would win the presidency, it went up, and as of November 9, it is almost $32 a share. Now that he won, the stock may increase in value, since buying shares in this stock or offering a takeover benefits Trump. An entity may use their purchase of stock or of the entire company as a way to curry favor with Trump.
Judge Aileen Cannon
Judge Cannon presided over the strongest case against Trump, which involved Trump taking classified documents and lying about possessing them. First, she slow-walked the case and then dismissed the case on the grounds that the special prosecutor lacked authority. She probably would have been reversed for the third time by the appellate court. However, since Trump won, the case will go away. Judge Cannon conveys the impression to many that she was trying to help Trump, who had nominated her for district court judge. Expect her to be promoted to a circuit court. Some have called for her to be appointed to the Supreme Court. Others have mentioned her as a possible attorney general.
Losers
Traditional Republicans
Many traditional Republicans, including Liz Chaney, came out in support of Harris because they thought a Trump defeat would give them a chance to take back the party. That did not happen. The Republican Party has become a populist party of the working class while the Democratic Party has become the party of the college-educated and elites. It is a switch to how the parties were not too long ago. Trump switched to the Republican Party and took traditional members of the Democratic Party with him.
Attorney General Merrick Garland
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, in his vote against impeaching Trump for his conduct on January 6, said instead of impeachment there should be a criminal investigation and, if necessary, adjudicated in criminal proceeding. That was a perfect opening for Garland. This was also before Trump indicated that he was going to run. Instead, Garland did nothing, and it was only after the January 6 commission exposed Trump’s conduct, which appeared to violate the law, that Garland did something. By then it was too late. It ended up being the worst result. When Trump was charged, he already was an announced candidate. Thus, it looked like it was a political prosecution. Plus, it was started so late that the case could not be tried and completed before the 2024 election with the risk that it would go away if Trump won, which happened.
Leadership
One of the complaints is that Biden should not have run for a second term. He had promised that he was going to be a bridge candidate. He was right. He was a bridge between two Trump terms. When Biden balked at not running, the elders of the party should have engaged in an effort as they did too late in the process to get him off the ballot. Senator Chuck Schumer, former speaker Nancy Pelosi, and Congressman James Clyburn had the ability to do so, and they failed. Also, Senator McConnell, if he had supported the impeachment of Trump instead of wimping out and leaving it to the court system, had the chance but blew it. Trump became even more powerful while McConnell and his traditional Republicans became irrelevant.
American Allies
Trump and his base are isolationists. They do not want to spend American money or send troops to help even America’s allies. Thus, Ukraine is in danger having its funding cut off by a Trump administration, which would lead to capitulation to Russia. NATO is worried that Trump will not commit American troops and weaponry to defend NATO, which is an invitation for Russia to try to take Poland and other countries in the east. Israel has to worry whether the United States will continue to supply armaments for its war in Gaza and in Lebanon. Will Trump put pressure on Israel to finish with Gaza ASAP or else lose munitions?
DEI/Identity Politics
Harris was picked as vice president because Biden promised to pick a black woman. Her mother was Indian, and her husband is Jewish. Thus, she checked all the boxes - but voters did not care. Also, they thought that women only care about abortion and minorities only care about racist comments. Conversely, they did not appreciate the opposition to transgender athletes, namely, men competing against woman.
With any election there are winners and losers. Also, elections have consequences. In 2016, Trump surprisingly won the presidency, and the Republicans won the Senate and the House of Representatives. Hillary Clinton’s loss was blamed on sexism, overconfidence, and James Comey. Eight years later, Trump, who lost in 2020 and has plenty of baggage, won the popular vote. Also, Republicans are now the majority in the Senate and appear to maintain control of the House. Although some of the winners and losers in 2024 were different than in 2016, the Democratic Party needs to look at both elections to try to understand why they lost and why the margin was greater in 2024 than in 2016. Blaming it on sexism and racism is not going to cut it.
Warren S. Hecht is a local attorney. He can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
