‘I cannot believe Trump won’
When Donald Trump announced his candidacy for president in June 2015, he called Mexicans ‘rapists’ and promised to build a ‘great, great wall’ to keep them out. Today he was elected the new president of the United States. Exchange student Pedro Herrejon (20), who migrated from Mexico to Texas when he was 8 years old, still can’t believe it.
“I woke up this morning with the news that Donald Trump has been elected president”, says exchange student Pedro Herrejon (20) from Texas, who studies Economics at Tilburg University. Like many others, Pedro felt confident that Hillary Clinton would win the 2016 presidential election. “I cannot believe the outcome. It’s truly unexpected. A lot of people, including myself, did not believe the Donald would trump the election.”
“Trump does not stand for the Republican principles I believe in”
Republican
Although Pedro is a proud Republican, he did not support the party’s official nominee, billionaire Donald Trump. “Trump does not stand for the Republican principles I believe in”, Pedro explains. “Most young people aren’t happy with this outcome. Although my university, Texas A&M, is a Republican school which benefits greatly from a Republican victory, students aren’t happy with the result. Everyone is devastated back home, calling Trump’s victory a catastrophe.”
Economics student Pedro Herrejon (20)
According to Pedro, Donald Trump is not a politician. “The White House was won by a reality TV star”, he says. “And I don’t think people who voted in support of him understand that.”
Now that Donald Trump has come out on top in the presidential race, what’s going to happen next? “I think there will certainly be a couple of days of shuffling and figuring out what’s next, because this is totally unprecedented.”
“The White House was won by a reality TV star”
Worried
“On a personal level, I’m not that worried. I don’t believe anything extraordinary will happen now that Trump is president”, Pedro says. He doesn’t take Trump’s electoral ‘promises’, like his promise to build a wall at the Mexican border and make Mexico pay for the costs, too seriously. “I’ve never heard of a country paying another country for the construction of a border. That’s just madness.”
Pedro believes the consequences of Trump being elected president will be felt globally rather than nationally. “I don’t think Trump’s negative impact will be very visible in the States. But I do worry for the overall well-being of the world”, he says. “Until I came to study in Europe, I don’t think I realized how interconnected the world is today, and how America’s political moves affect other countries. Trump has no idea, absolutely no idea, about how to handle foreign affairs. Yet, here we are. That worries me.”
‘My parents are sad’
Pedro is originally from Mexico. “My parents and I migrated to the USA when I was 8 years old”, he says. “My parents have a very negative view of Trump, because they left Mexico seeking better opportunities. They left Mexico because its political leaders don’t care about the people, but now they wonder how Donald Trump is any different. They are actually sad, not angry, that someone as unqualified as Donald Trump got into the White House.”
“Trump won the election because of the white vote”
As a Hispanic-American, Pedro was shocked by Trump’s statements about Mexicans. “Personally, I cannot believe he got away with calling Mexicans rapists. It’s so not true! I think Latinos in the States will never forgive him for saying that”, Pedro says. “Most of my friends are Latinos as well. Many of them, if not all, despise him. Trump won the election because of the white vote, plain and simple.”
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