The American people exercised their constitutional right to vote this week, electing Donald Trump to be the 47th President of the United States. Endowed to us by our forefathers nearly 250 years ago, the right of the people to determine their next President is the most fundamental of all American values; our soldiers laid down their lives on the farms of Gettysburg and the beaches of Normandy to defend it.
Ironically, the people of this country have now elected a man who has continuously shown disdain for those sacred democratic institutions. They have elected a man who has even attempted to directly subvert them. That is why it is the opinion of The Loyalist Executive Staff that Donald Trump stands in opposition to the Jesuit values on which Loyola was founded, and that his election will prove to be disastrous for this great country in which we live.
Trump has shown time and time again that he stands diametrically opposed to our most fundamental values and institutions. He sabotaged the peaceful transition of power after his loss in the 2020 election, demanding that state officials fabricate election tallies and encouraging his supporters to obstruct Congress’s certification of electoral votes. When the dust had settled after Trump’s insurrection-inciting speech on Jan. 6, our Capitol stood violated, law enforcement officers lay dead, and our nation was heinously fractured.
Trump’s rhetoric is intended to spark fear within American conservatives, declaring that the real issue is “the people from within,” referring to the “radical left lunatics.” With language as pervasive as this, he marks liberals as public enemies, only further deepening the sectional chasms that divide our country.
The lives of some Loyola students will not be significantly affected due to Trump’s election. But to others, Trump aims to deport illegal immigrants while taking away birthright citizenship; hence, Cubs with undocumented relatives, members of the LGBTQ+ community, or low-income students will confront a scary and unpredictable next four years. As climate change is accelerating and “Green” policies are desperately needed, we’ve elected a man who’s lauded rising sea levels because the world will “have more oceanfront property.”
We hope that Trump will listen to the voices of reason within his new administration. But, controlling the Senate, the Supreme Court, and possibly the House, the possibility for the MAGA-monopoly over our Federal government to result in drastic and regressive changes to this country is a real one. He’ll likely pack the Supreme Court with young, conservative justices, ensuring that the Court’s recent rulings on issues like abortion and affirmative action will stay in place for at least a generation.
We must not let any attempts to divide this country prevail. At the end of the day, if the people of this country can remember that, we can weather any storm, and this “government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the Earth.”