Well, here we are again.

In 2021, I wrote a reflection about the Donald Trump presidency and the beginning of Joe Biden’s term. I had hoped we were closing an ugly chapter of American history, but I ended by pointing out that it’s not over. And it’s not. Here we are in 2024, and the American voting public decided to bring Trump back for a second term.

In addition to my warning last time of, “It’s not over,” the headers in my previous reflection included:

• Hubris was One Enemy…
• …and Cowardice was Another
• America’s Institutions Held, but Only Barely

So let’s look at those three items again, along with an important question: What happens now?

Hubris was One Enemy…

Trump got elected the first time largely because a lot of people who could have stopped him thought he was a joke. The Republican party didn’t want him but couldn’t organize a campaign to oppose him. The Democrats simply acted like people would line up to vote for Hillary Clinton, despite her being an unpopular candidate.

Fast forward to 2024, and…we got more of the same. The Republicans ran a crowded field in the primaries, none of whom posed a serious challenge to Trump. As for the Democrats, they backed Biden despite him having a poor approval rating and polling behind Trump the whole way. When Biden dropped out, there was realistically no time to do anything but line up behind Harris, who herself was part of an unpopular administration.

I think Harris ran a pretty good campaign given the constraints she had, but both she and Biden failed to give a compelling reason to believe that they would improve life for the average American. While she did discuss policy, a lot of her time and energy was focused on attacks on Trump. And while “I’m not Donald Trump” should always be a good thing, it’s not enough to move the needle with the average voter who looks at their small paycheck and high rent bill and decides to give the non-incumbent party a try.

Democrats have run against Trump three times thinking that they could get votes simply by not being Trump. It worked for Biden in 2020 when Trump’s mishandling of the pandemic gave Americans a clear appetite for change, but Harris needed something more.

…and Cowardice was Another

As before, the Republican party lined up to enable Trump. By now, they are purely the party of Trump, which is one of the reasons so many people are rightly frightened of what will happen in the next four years.

Nikki Haley, the only other Republican candidate to win a state during the primary, is an excellent example of this situation. She spent her brief presidential campaign denouncing Trump and even said she wouldn’t “kiss the ring” regarding her opponent. But when the Republican National Convention came around, she lined up behind him.

As Harris’ lead in the polls evaporated, those fearing retribution from a second Trump presidency started hedging their bets. Newspapers like the LA Times canceled their endorsement of Harris, likely due to fear of retaliation.

Once again, America needed people of principle to stand for the country over themselves, and once again many of them failed to answer the call.

About America’s Institutions

The rallying cry of so many opposed to Trump was that he is a threat to American democracy. And he is. The problem is that many people don’t hold American democracy up as something sacred and worth prioritizing.

Even for those who didn’t buy into Trump’s lies about the 2020 election being rigged, faith in the American political system is remarkably low. This largely goes back to 2010 when then-Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell specifically sought to obstruct President Obama, reasoning that Americans would get so sick of a non-functional government and vote for his party. And they did…albeit only after McConnell had lost control of said party and yielded it to Trump.

The big story about this election, and many more, is about the American people’s disillusionment with their government. Our institutions have become eroded to the point where people don’t have trust in them anymore. Therefore, many people are willing to back a person who actively disrupts the system.

What Now?

I don’t know what’s going to happen once Trump takes office in 2025. As in 2016, his party controls the House, the Senate, and has conservative judges controlling the Supreme Court. Unlike in 2016, there are fewer Republicans who are willing to break party lines to do what is right, such as when John McCain prevented the death of Obamacare in 2017.

There are going to be civil liberties lost in the next four years. Marginalized people, especially the trans community which seems to be a favorite punching bag by so many, are going to suffer. So first and foremost, be kind to those who need it. If you are in those marginalized groups, show solidarity and support. If, like me, you’re in a position of relative privilege, ask questions, show sympathy, and let people know that you are there for them.

Trump, for all the damage he deals, is probably going to leave office in January 2029. (I can’t say for sure that he won’t find some way to bypass the 22nd amendment that limits presidents to two terms, but it seems unlikely.) His influence on American politics, especially the Republican party, however, will remain. So going forward it’s very important to make the fight about his policies, not him as a person.

A lot of this boils down to language. “Ending Trump-era abortion bans” may be functionally the same as “ensuring bodily autonomy for women,” but the latter phrase is about the future of America rather than focusing on one man.

The fight to keep Trump from going back to the White House has been lost. That does not mean that America is over. Support the people, protect the present, and plan for the future. Offer full-throated opposition to unjust policies and support those people in politics whom you believe capable to putting country over self. And going forward, erase Donald Trump from the conversation. The man has dominated American politics for a decade, and that needs to stop.

From local elections to midterms to the next presidential election in 2028, the people who want to make America better need to articulate how they can make life better for the voting populace rather than letting their actions be defined once again by one man.