Debate on U.S. Election Result

On November 15, exactly one week after the election of the 45th U.S. President Donald Trump, Webster Geneva Campus organized an open debate on “Trump’s Triumph: The Implications of the U.S. Elections.” The debate gave all students and faculty an opportunity to ask questions and express their feelings and perceptions on the victory of the New York City’s billionaire. Trump is the second U.S. Chief Executive born in New York City after Theodore Roosevelt, the 26th U.S. President, and his victory against all polls came as a surprise to many in Europe. The debate was useful to clarify how the U.S. electoral system works and what will be the pros and cons of the next administration vis-à-vis the current one.

The participants mentioned the importance of the loss of jobs in certain key States in the Mid-West and in the South of the U.S. to justify the Republican victory. Additionally, the disgruntled, white, lower middle-class, which voted for the GOP’s candidate, as well as the derogatory and snobbish attitude of the Donkey’s Party vis-à-vis the Republican electorate, resulted in an avalanche of supporters.

Although the audience was definitely in favor of the Democratic Party’s candidate and the fact that she obtained the highest popular vote ever after President Obama’s, one student asked if the victory of Senator Clinton would have created the very same indignation among foreigners and the U.S. citizens living abroad. In a few words, he perceived all over the world a biased attitude concerning what is good and what is not good for America nowadays.

Oreste Foppiani and Jubin Goodarzi of Webster Geneva Campus’s Department of International Relations, together with Clementina Acedo, Director of the Geneva Campus, and Meg Riggs, Deputy Public Affairs Counselor of the U.S. Mission to the United Nations in Geneva, moderated the debate between students and faculty.