We can unify our great country: Other views
What people are saying about Donald Trump's win.
DonaldTrump: “I pledge to every citizen of our land that I will be president for all Americans, and this is so important to me. For those who have chosen not to support me in the past, of which there were a few people, I’m reaching out to you for your guidance and your help so that we can work together and unify our great country. ... I want to tell the world community that while we will always put America’s interests first, we will deal fairly with everyone, with everyone — all people and all other nations. We will seek common ground, not hostility; partnership, not conflict.”
Trump’s surprise win leaves a nation unnerved: Our view
Hillary Clinton: “I congratulated Donald Trump and offered to work with him on behalf of our country. I hope that he will be a successful president for all Americans. ... Donald Trump is going to be our president. We owe him an open mind and a chance to lead. Our constitutional democracy enshrines the peaceful transfer of power. And we don’t just respect that, we cherish it. It also enshrines other things: the rule of law, the principle that we are all equal in rights and dignity, freedom of worship and expression. We respect and cherish these values, too. And we must defend them.”
President Obama: “One thing you realize quickly in this job is that the presidency and the vice presidency is bigger than any of us. So I have instructed my team to follow the example that President Bush’s team set eight years ago, and work as hard as we can to make sure that this is a successful transition for the president-elect. Because we are now all rooting for his success in uniting and leading the country. The peaceful transition of power is one of the hallmarks of our democracy. And over the next few months, we are going to show that to the world.”
Ezra Klein, Vox : “Donald Trump has won the election. Now it is up to America’s institutions, and the people within them, to check his worst instincts. There is danger in Trump. He’s a man with authoritarian impulses, a conspiracy theorist’s bent, and a taste for vengeance. He has an alarming temperament, little impulse control and less decency. ... But he is entering an office that is weaker than many realize. For all the same reasons Barack Obama could not bring about the change he had made people believe in, Trump cannot wrench America to his vision of greatness. He is constrained by the House and the Senate, by the Supreme Court, by the executive agencies, and — in ways less formal but no less powerful — by his own staff and party.”
Diana Furchtgott-Roth, MarketWatch : “Trump swept America because his policies would improve the American economy and America’s standing in the world. Further, Trump acknowledges the dangers posed by radical Islam, and would strengthen the U.S. military. ... By electing Trump and keeping Republican majorities in the House and Senate, America has made a choice not to continue on the path of slow growth, high taxes and burdensome regulation, and a weak military. This choice is to be applauded.”
Jonathan Chait, NYMag.com : “I’m sorry to sound hokey, but I’m going to stay and defend truth and democracy. Never in my lifetime has the United States seen a period of darkness like the one that lies ahead of us. But we have seen periods of darkness before — segregation, McCarthyism, the internment of the Japanese, the Civil War, slavery. The American story is fitful progress punctuated by frequent reversals, some of which appeared at the time like they would last forever. None of them did.”
Matthew Tully, The Indianapolis Star : “Accepting an election result doesn’t mean embracing the winner. This is America, and we get to complain about our leaders as much as we want. We get to oppose policies we don’t like. We get to say, ‘I told you so.’ That’s fine. As much as I’d like to see an embrace of compromise and camaraderie going forward, I am a realist. The coming years won’t be pretty. But we will survive. ... It’s just four years. Four years in which both parties will be well-represented in the seats of political power. Four years of checks and balances. Four years cut in half by midterm elections.”
David Remnick, The New Yorker : “Trump’s shocking victory, his ascension to the presidency, is a sickening event in the history of the United States and liberal democracy. On Jan. 20, we will bid farewell to the first African-American president — a man of integrity, dignity and generous spirit — and witness the inauguration of a con who did little to spurn endorsement by forces of xenophobia and white supremacy. It is impossible to react to this moment with anything less than revulsion and profound anxiety. ... The most hopeful way to look at this grievous event — and it’s a stretch — is that this election and the years to follow will be a test of the strength, or the fragility, of American institutions. It will be a test of our seriousness and resolve.”
Mark Leibovich, The New York Times : “Usually elections bring a measure of closure. (But) you wonder if anyone will even bother this time. ... At the very least, I’ll offer a small proposal, take it or leave it. Maybe the purest act of patriotism involves well-meaning citizens redoubling their efforts at being respectful, compassionate and decent in their everyday lives. It’s what we can control, after all, our small gift to democracy, beyond all the noise and fallout that our politics inflicted in 2016. We toast to our endurance and maybe our resilience, too. We survived the rough trip to Nov. 8, and now we unpack.”