Donald Trump's win on Election Day has been likened to Britain’s stunning vote to leave the European Union -- but bigger.
Trump hailed the Brexit vote as a harbinger to his winning the presidency, drawing a parallel to the raucous British debate over whether the United Kingdom should leave the European Union, despite warnings from elites that such a move would be a mistake.
Brexit, short for “British exit,” refers to the vote Britain held in June to withdraw from the European Union, a political and economic alliance made up of 28 countries.
Trump called his candidacy “Brexit plus,” saying that just as a populist movement in Britain led to the vote to leave the E.U., so too would a similar spirit usher him into the White House. His argument was dismissed as folly by his critics. Now, the parallels will once again be examined.
Donald Trump Captures Presidency in Historic and Stunning Upset of Hillary Clinton
President-Elect Trump Addresses Crowd: 'It Is Time for America to Bind the Wounds of Division'
"Ours was not a campaign but rather an incredible and great movement,” Trump said in his victory speech.
Fueled by grievance, the Trump vote seems particularly similar to what occurred in Britain where voters were upset over immigration and trade policies they felt worked against them.
In the end, America did exactly what the U.K. did, pointing to a disconnect that the ruling elite have with the disenchanted and skeptical voters across the electorate. Trump often spoke to his base about a "rigged system." In the U.K., the Brexit vote was a similar case of those going to vote who felt let down by a system polarized into the haves and have-nots. Many observers have described the Brexit vote as a revolt against the elite.
"Now, it's time for America to bind the wounds of division -- have to get together," Trump said after hearing from his opponent that she had conceded. "To all Republicans and Democrats and independents across this nation, I say it is time for us to come together as one united people."
Trump is seen as anti-establishment, and numerous polls indicated his chances of winning were far less likely than Clinton’s leading up to Election Day. He surprisingly picked up many competitive states that analysts said were out of his reach.
The fallout from Brexit is not as dramatic as a historical win for the real-estate mogul, who will now become the most powerful person on the planet.
After Brexit, the markets reacted in surprise. After projections suggested on Election Day that Trump was on course to win, the Dow Jones futures plummeted about 800 points. Wall Street still seems in recovery mode.Trump will likely win at least 270 electoral votes, according to ABC News projections, and will take his Republican ticket to the White House in January.
On Twitter, a forum Trump often used as his megaphone during his campaign, the president-elect called his win "beautiful and important."
The White House issued a statement today that President Obama plans to make the transition a priority.
"Ensuring a smooth transition of power is one of the top priorities the President identified at the beginning of the year and a meeting with the President-elect is the next step," the White House statement read.
British supporters of leaving the E.U., mostly conservatives, had called for a vote on whether to remain in the alliance, arguing a referendum on the issue hadn’t been held since 1975.
Advocates of Brexit said that being outside the E.U. would boost the British economy by placing fewer regulations on consumers, employers and the environment. It also would give the country more freedom to establish its own economic and political policies, they argued. The British pound has since hit lows not seen in more than 140 years.
No comments:
Post a Comment