Karmageddon

by Tom H. Hastings

487 words

In our 2024 presidential election, Donald Trump got 77,303,568 votes, or almost half (49.8%) of all votes cast and counted. We live in a system where a plurality (more than anyone else) wins at that level, rather than a majority (more than half). With barely more than 75 million votes and just a bit more than 48%, Kamala Harris was close, but close is still a loss in our system.

So, at this point, nearly two years later, how are those Trump voters feeling? They got what they wanted. Is it working out? (By the way, even though Trump repeatedly claimed he had a sweeping mandate, the 2024 results were nowhere near many of the stunning actual landslides in our history).

·       Hispanic voters: While Trump lost with Hispanic voters in 2016 and 2020 by wide margins, he was within three points of Harris in 2024. After the brutality and indiscriminate violent grab of thousands of Latinx folks—most of whom have no criminal history—polls are showing that many Hispanic voters may have democracy’s version of buyer’s remorse.

·       Rural voters: They favored Trump every time, but grew in their support from 2016 (59%) to 2020 (65%) to a whopping 69% in 2024. Now, however, many more rural voters believe Trump and his Republicans have done a poor job and broken many promises around cost of living, health care, and other issues. Those who run tractors, big trucks, and other diesel-fueled equipment are in a MAGA-churn right now.

·       Foreign policy: Those who told Roper Polls in 2024 that their important issue was foreign policy voted strongly (56%) for Trump. Of course his promise to keep us out of war and his obviously false portrayal of himself as a peace person are likely part of that voting choice. That is borne out in recent polls showing that even Republicans overwhelmingly disapprove of Trump’s foreign policies (33% approval). That was then; this is now.

How will karma work itself out in November for Republicans in Congress who have supported Trump’s programs, including his One Big Beautiful Bill, portions of which are now beginning to take effect by eliminating health care coverage for millions of Americans?

What about the karma for anyone who drives for a living, now that the Republican policies—tariffs, military spending, a war of choice with Iran (costing taxpayers at least $43 billion so far)—have driven fuel prices higher than ever? Did truckers vote for Trump? Did they like it when the US Senate refused to rein in Trump’s war that shut down so much of the world’s oil supply? Did farmers vote for Trump? Did it come back to bite them with Trump’s trade wars?

When Biden and Harris left office the Economist called the US economy the envy of the world. We haven’t been hearing that lately from anyone except Trump and his minions in his cabinet and in the House and Senate.

Karmageddon. 

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Dr. Tom H. Hastings is Coördinator of Conflict Resolution BA/BS degree programs at Portland State University. His views, however, are not those of any institution.