St. Andrews students react to ‘The Donald’ becoming President

Since the result of the election, the world has either reacted with revulsion or joy. Countless memes, angry Facebook statuses and tense conversations later, the dust seems to have settled and the realisation that Trump is now the leader of the free world has sunk in. Since it was nigh on impossible to walk 10 feet or sit down to eat lunch in St. Andrews without hearing an opinion on the result, it seemed appropriate to collect a selection of opinions from some of the students.

Quinn, first year

“Honestly, I’m worried and scared for my country. It scares me that there are so many people that agree with Trump’s views. While I saw the issues with Clinton and had my own problems with her she still had some positive ideas. Frankly, I’m nervous and scared. I feel worried about the LGBTQ community, the black community, the Latino community, the Muslim community and everyone who is seen as ‘other.’ I think tensions are going to become really high and I’m worried dangerous behaviour will be normalised. Overall, I’m in disbelief. I’ll probably being wallowing in sadness the next couple days.”

Rosie, first year

“You want my opinion on all of this? Utter bullshit!”

Joseph, first year

“Um…it’s surprising I guess. I suppose there are lots of parallels to Brexit, it was the silent majority on the right that took it. And for the US it always seems to be a case of one-upmanship, we threw them a Brexit, they countered beautifully with an out-of-date tangerine.”

Georgia, first year

“Throughout this election, I think so many of us treated Trump as a comic curiosity rather than condemning him with all of the moral outrage his campaign should have inspired. This was an election about celebrity and memes rather than a passionate rejection of bigotry, and honestly, that terrifies me for the future of politics globally, as well as in America.”

Kelly, first year

Although the result isn’t exactly what I expected, I’m trying to remain cautiously optimistic. Hopefully President Trump will follow through with his promise to unite America, because it certainly feels divided right now.”

Caitlin, first year

“I was very shocked by the result because I think the media made it seem that Hilary would win but now that the decision has been made, we need to accept it and support everyone so the country can still be united.”