‘Terrified and grieving’: What Bristol Uni students think about the US election result

Donald Trump is set to be the new US president for the second time after a close match with competitor Kamala Haris. This election brought many contentious issues including the reproductive rights of women, the protection of minorities and the war in Gaza. We asked what Bristol Uni students thought of the election results.

The response was, as to be expected, overwhelmingly negative.

Students, including many international students from the US, told us it’s “a harrowing day for everyone around the globe.”

Women’s rights

One of Trump’s core running issues is banning abortion. While his stance on a nationwide abortion ban is unclear, one of his Project 2025 policies is to use the Comstock Act from 1873 to ban the mailing of abortion pills. As two-thirds of abortions in the US are performed via mailed abortion pills, this could be detrimental to reproductive rights even for those in blue states.

Since the overturn of Roe v Wade, access to abortion has been almost completely banned in 17 states across the country. The overturn of abortion as a constitutional right makes it easy for Trump to restrict access to abortions without needing support from the Senate or House of Representatives.

One American student studying vet med at Bristol, Annabelle, told The Bristol Tab: “As a woman, I am scared of losing some of my rights in America and worried about how much control Trump will have with the Senate also being majority Republican now. Overall, I am worried about the next four years and unsure if I will go back to the US after I graduate because of the political state.”

Another student told us the results are “incredibly depressing for women and girls across America.”

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Additionally, Trump has been accused of a slew of sexual misconduct and rape along with making misogynistic comments such as calling Nancy Pelosi a “sick crazy b***h”

Marginalised groups

Trump vowed to bring back his controversial Muslim travel ban as well as encouraging mass deportations across the country. With these raids and deportations, Trump will pursue a dystopian reality similar to President Dwight D Eisenhower in 1954 when his government rounded up and deported people with Mexican ancestry including US citizens.

According to an anonymous third year politics student, his “despicable campaign of destruction” will also target LGBTQ+ people with a focus on attacking the rights of trans youth by banning schools from supporting gender transition. Trump also wants to rescind national protections against the discrimination of LGBTQ+ people as well as promote an educational program of strictly heterosexual marriages akin to Thatcher’s section 28.

Another anonymous student added that it is “a sad day for minorities.”

Conflict in Gaza

Another key issue Bristol students stressed was the Democrats’ “support for genocide.”

One American international student studying in Bristol said: “Her [Kamala’s] very pro-Israel stance deferred a lot of people from voting for her.”

Adding: “Kamala had barely any time to prepare her campaign and to publicise her plans and to deviate her association to Biden and form an independent coalition.”

Harris like current president Joe Biden has repeatedly defended Israel’s right to defend itself when questioned on the situation in Gaza, some analysts believe this issue lost her the swing state of Michigan which has one of the highest Arab and Muslim populations in the country.

Economy

Trump’s new administration will attempt to overturn many of Biden’s economic policies, including the Inflation Reduction Act and lowering taxes. These rollbacks could further increase economic inequality and be detrimental to the US economy.

A Bristol’s student socialist society member said: “The old cliche is right: the rich get richer, the poor get poorer, and the middle gets squeezed,” explaining how some voters felt Trump might be an alternative to this, adding: “The Democrats, by adhering to their corporate donors, rather than to any popular demands have handed the United States to the far right.”

This election has brought fear and grief to students at Bristol as a convicted felon and alleged rapist is set to become president of one of the most powerful countries in the world for the second time.

Louise studying childhood studies told us: “My family are super liberal and we knew that Biden wouldn’t ever have won but Kamala made all of us feel hopeful. My community back home was excited about her and her campaign had so much energy and positivity. I can’t fathom that people chose Trump over her.”