The results of the 2024 presidential election on Nov. 5 sparked conversation among University of Minnesota students with negative reactions.
With President-elect Donald Trump winning, students are concerned about what the next four years will look like.
Benjamin Lindeen, a fourth-year student, said he was a bit surprised Trump had won, but he also knew it was going to be a close race.
Lindeen said that based on the polling data and the generally more positive sentiment around the Harris-Walz campaign, he believed Vice President Kamala Harris would score a narrow victory.
Osama Jerome, another fourth-year student, said the results of the election do not reflect the direction he wants for the country.
“I think the country has a lot of very significant issues and problems, and I think Donald Trump is not equipped to deal with any of them,” Jerome said. “His biggest solution to every single problem is mass deportations. You can’t mass deport your way out of economic turmoil.”
Abbie Swenhaugen, a third-year student, said she hopes the next four years can serve as a reflection period for the country.
“We should think about where we hold our values and how we can use our values to vote,” Swenhaugen said.
Swenhaugen said she hopes the country can come to a common consensus where people realize how important it is to have a variety of perspectives in government in order to ensure democracy.
Lindeen said the Trump administration during Trump’s first term was unproductive and based on the Biden-Harris administration, he believes Harris would have been able to do a better job.
“If you look at what Trump ran on in 2016, it was, ‘Build the wall, drain the swamp, lower taxes and repeal and replace Obamacare,’” Lindeen said. “Of those things, only one happened, and that would be tax cuts.”
Lindeen said he believes Trump and Republicans have duped the working class into believing they have their best interests at heart.
“Biden is one of the most pro-union presidents in modern American history, marching on picket lines, whereas Trump really is not,” Lindeen said. “He did not get any major endorsements from unions, and he’s mostly focused on helping the top 1%.”
Jerome said he does not think the Democrats have been effective in explaining how they will help the economy.
“Sure, the economy might be doing well for people who have money and resources, but it is difficult for me, as a computer science student, to find a job, and I think the economy is not stable for a lot of people,” Jerome said.
Jerome said inflation is a primary concern for many Americans, and Trump is running on a policy that plans to implement tariffs taxing imports from foreign countries.
If Democrats hope to win in the future, Lindeen said they should reinvigorate the message that the Democratic party is the party for working-class people and they support labor unions and manufacturing.
Swenhaugen said she hopes Trump’s policies make things more affordable, though she does not expect it.
Despite Trump’s denied association with Project 2025, Swenhaugen said she hopes not to see any of its policies come to fruition.
“The biggest one for me is getting rid of the Department of Education,” Swenhaugen said. “Our education systems are literally the most fundamental part of how we run as a country.”
Swenhaugen said she is grateful to live in a state where women’s rights to abortion are protected, but she worries about her family and friends in other states who do not have the same protected rights.
The results of the election will have a significant impact on the country, Jerome said.
“You cannot implement the policy of mass deportations without destroying significant communities throughout the United States,” Jerome said.
Jerome added he believes the budget cuts and austerity measures the Trump administration plans to run through will leave many communities under-supported.
Many of his friends and family feel disengaged and want to give up on the country, which Jerome said he sees as harmful.
“You can never stop fighting, and you should never stop advancing your own interests,” Jerome said. “They never stop, so why should we?”
