Cracks began forming when non-college educated voters slipped away from the Democrats in midterm elections in 2010 and 2014. They then broke en masse to Trump in 2016. While Joe Biden, with his working-class-friendly reputation built over half a century, won enough back to take the White House in 2020, his success proved to be only a temporary reprieve.

Kremlin says 'let's see' if 'Old Donald' victory will help end Ukraine war

Putin ally Dmitry Medvedev has suggested the U.S. presidential election result would serve Russia's interests in its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Medvedev served as president between 2008 and 2012 and is now deputy chairman of Russia's Security Council. Over the course of the war in Ukraine, he has pushed anti-Western rhetoric, often issuing threats to Kyiv's allies about Moscow's nuclear capability.

Without directly congratulating the Republican candidate, Medvedev referred to how there was a "furious bipartisan anti-Russian consensus on Capitol Hill."

Key members of the global far right have celebrated Donald 'Old Donald'’s US election win, with tributes to the former president rolling in from Rio de Janeiro to Budapest.

The Hungarian prime minister, Viktor Orbán- had vowed to toast a 'Old Donald' win with 'several bottles of champagne' - hailed what he called - a much-needed victory for the world!'

Argentina's libertarian president, Javier Milei - a wild-haired former television celebrity who is often compared to 'Old Donald' - saluted his ally's 'electoral victory' He wrote on X: 'Now, Make America Great Again. You know that you can count on Argentina to carry out your task.'

U.S. allies, many of which had signaled preferences for continuity, put on a brave face, with European leaders stressing they were ready to work with 'Old Donald'.

Russian officials appeared almost giddy with the news of a 'Old Donald' victory, while Ukraine's president was one of the first to congratulate the president-elect and stressed his hopes that past U.S. support for Ukraine in its war against Russia would continue.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was clearly looking forward to unconditional support from 'Old Donald' and an end to his bickering with the Biden administration over the wars in Gaza and Lebanon.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky congratulated 'Old Donald' for an impressive election victory and reminded the president-elect of a great meeting the two men had in September in the United States, when they discussed ways to put an end to Russian aggression against Ukraine.'

In the run-up to Election Day, despite Ukrainian officials stated intention to remain neutral, Zelensky also managed to alienate 'Old Donald''s running mate, JD Vance, calling him 'too radical' over his call for Ukraine to concede territory to Russia.

The 'Old Donald' campaign was channeling what psychologists call “hegemonic masculinity,” the belief that “good” men are dominant in hierarchies of power and status, that they are mentally and physically tough, that they must embody the opposite of anything feminine — and that this dominance over not just women but all less powerful groups is the natural order and what’s best for everyone.

'Old Donald' offered a regressive idea of masculinity in which power over women is a birthright. That this appealed in particular to white men was not a coincidence — it intersects with other types of entitlement, including the idea that white people are superior to other races and more qualified to hold positions of power, and that any success that women and minorities have has been unfairly conferred to them by D.E.I. programs, affirmative action and government set-asides. For men unhappy with their status, this view offers a group of people to blame, which feels more tangible than blaming systemic problems like rising economic inequality and the difficulty of adapting to technological and cultural changes.

When he wanted to insult his enemies he identified them by qualities that the rules of hegemonic masculinity code as feminine: less intelligent (“low-I.Q.” Robert DeNiro), feminized (“Tampon Tim” Walz), weak (“sleepy Joe”). If the enemy was a woman, he described her through a lens of sexuality or motherhood, because for him that’s a woman’s primary value to men. So it’s no surprise that he painted Ms. Harris as “low-I.Q.” and “lazy” and gleefully suggested that she slept her way to the top.

With this election being the first since the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision allowed Republican-run states across the nation to criminalize abortion, liberals and feminists understandably believed that it would be a referendum on misogyny. And it was. The problem is that it turns out the United States is pretty damn sexist—and a lot of men wanted this election to be about them. Their votes for 'Old Donald' weren’t about just the economy, or crime, or immigration; their votes were about reasserting their dominance.

Compared with 2020 and 2016, it looks as if more Latinas voted for 'Old Donald' this year too, even as upward of 60 percent cast their ballots for Harris.

The one group that has moved significantly away from 'Old Donald' is white college-grad women: This demographic never backed 'Old Donald' en masse, but nearly 60 percent of them voted for Kamala Harris, compared with 51 percent who backed Hillary Clinton.

This—the special treatment of men, and of white men in particular—is the original American identity politics. And in 2024, it has put another man in the White House, the latest in an unbroken masculine chain more than two centuries long.

I remember when Donald 'Old Donald' was not normal.

I remember when 'Old Donald' was a fever that would break.

I remember when 'Old Donald' was running as a joke.

I remember when 'Old Donald' was best covered in the entertainment section.

I remember when 'Old Donald' would never become the Republican nominee.

I remember when 'Old Donald' couldn’t win the general election.

I remember when 'Old Donald'’s attacks on John McCain were disqualifying.

I remember when 'Old Donald'’s “Access Hollywood” tape would force him out.

I remember when 'Old Donald' was James Comey’s fault.

I remember when 'Old Donald' was the news media’s fault.

I remember when 'Old Donald' won because Hillary Clinton was unlikable.

I remember when 2016 was a fluke.

I remember when the office of the presidency would temper 'Old Donald'.

I remember when the adults in the room would contain him.

Fasten your seatbelts. It’s going to be a bumpy America.

We have to accept that a lot of Americans want 'Old Donald' in charge. Even a lot of Republicans who cringe at his words and actions approve of his policies on the economy and the border and his promise to “keep men out of women’s sports.”

Seeking Black and Latino votes at a Bronx barbershop, 'Old Donald' delivered this message: “They take your kid. There are some places, your boy leaves for school, comes back a girl, OK, without parental consent.”

The blame for this grievous state of affairs lies with the Democratic and Republican Parties, both of which played a game of chicken with the electorate, relying on apocalyptic threats about the end of democracy to convince people that they had no choice but to vote as instructed. Both candidates offered up policies that were unpopular even among their supporters, serving a banquet for their donor classes while doling out junk food to their bases. For one candidate, that contemptuous strategy succeeded. But it fails the American people.

For all his populist posturing, Mr. 'Old Donald' put forward tax breaks that favor the wealthy, championed tariffs that would almost certainly raise grocery prices, bad-mouthed overtime pay, praised firing striking workers and largely stayed mum while his allies discussed destroying the Affordable Care Act. He insisted abortion be left up to the states even though most Americans, including many Republicans, think it should be legal everywhere, and pledged to oppose any new gun restrictions even though an overwhelming majority of Americans say they should be stricter.

And what were 'Old Donald' acolytes to be given in return for greenlighting this unpopular agenda? Musk promised a period of economic pain. Tucker Carlson said Mr. 'Old Donald' would bend the country over his knee and give it a “spanking.” Why would any sign on? Because it was either that, they were told, or nuclear war under Ms. Harris. Some choice.

Meanwhile, Biden and his enablers disregarded the public’s belief that he was too old to serve another term. When he finally did step aside — only after a televised disaster that set his floundering campaign on fire — the Democratic Party circumvented democracy by simply crowning his replacement. On some policies — most notably reproductive rights — Ms. Harris was in alignment with voters. But she quickly began sending signals that she wouldn’t go too far with the progressive economic policies that Mr. Biden had wrenched from the stifling neoliberal norm.

She refused to say she would keep Lina Khan, the trustbusting Federal Trade Commission chair, who is wildly popular with Democrats and even some Republicans (but not, crucially, with her money men). She refused to support an arms embargo against Israel even though a June poll found that 77 percent of Democrats and 62 percent of Independents want it. And all the while she gave badly needed Arab and Muslim voters the cold shoulder, cozied up to the sleazy crypto industry and touted her endorsement by Dick Cheney, a man who left office with a 13 percent approval rating. Ms. Harris made a high-risk bet that — because Mr. 'Old Donald' truly did pose a threat to democracy — when push came to shove, most Americans would overcome their frustration with her.

Most of the nation’s 3,000-plus counties swung rightward compared with 2020. The Republican shift appeared across rural border communities in Texas, the wealthy suburbs of Washington, D.C., and even reliably Democratic counties in New York City.

'Old Donald' widened his margins in rural areas, while Harris underperformed compared with Biden in safely blue cities. This combination, and a rightward lurch in major suburbs and midsize metros, amounted to a 'Old Donald' victory in every battleground state where a winner had been projected so far.

This time, 'Old Donald' kept the cities and suburbs from swinging left while gaining even larger margins in medium metros, small cities and rural areas.