Bagging 295 electoral votes and most swing states, Republican Donald Trump raced towards a victory buoyed by issues like immigration and war. Exit polls showed that voters' top concern was also the economy and inflation that spiked under outgoing President Joe Biden in the wake of the Covid pandemic.
The 78-year-old won wider margins than before, despite a criminal conviction, two impeachments while in office and warnings from his former chief of staff that he is a fascist.
America's views on migration changed drastically, with not just the Republican voters but even Democrats and independents moving right owing to a surge in migration along US's south border. Throughout his campaign, Mr Trump painted migrants as a menace and also proposed invoking the centuries-old Alien Enemies Act, garnering support from 57 percent voters over the deportation of immigrants, as per a New York Times/Siena College poll. Over 50 percent also supported a wall along the Mexico border, one of the prime locations of unprecedented migration during President Biden's term.
During his previous term as President and before it, Mr Trump had introduced the policy of taking migrant children from their parents in an attempt to deter family immigration and even invoked a public health emergency to seal the border. Then Mr Biden assumed office in 2020, when people risked border police and death, crossing rivers, cutting through wires and scaling the border to find their way into the US. Citizens, meanwhile, saw growing resentment over the strain this movement put on resources, including affordable housing and food banks.
Unlawful entries into America soared to the highest single month record of all time, over 300,000 in December, leading Mr Trump to swoop in and galvanise support on the issue.
Inflation too was a major concern in these elections, with the Biden administration attempting desperately to pacify citizens plagued by soaring living costs, unemployment and a general economic downturn. The conditions prevailed amid the Covid pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war, both unexpected events. Too bad for the Democrats because in contrast, Trumps' 2016 term saw flourishing stock markets and historically low unemployment levels.
What also possibly dented the share for Democrats was America's sizeable aid to Ukraine and Israel at a time its own citizens were struggling to afford shelter, food and healthcare. Further, in a country that has an Arab-descent minority, the Biden administration unwavering support to Israel, while thousands died and millions were displaced in Gaza, possibly hit the wrong note. Mr Trump's margin in Arab-descent majority Dearborn in Michigan points to a resentment among the minority towards Democrats.
The rural states, which propelled Mr Trump to a victory in 2016, were supported by swing states this year to give an even more decisive mandate to the Republicans. The section was usually ignored or judged adversely by the Democrats, with Hillary Clinton saying during her 2016 campaign that Trump voters are "a basket of deplorables".
Georgia's Baldwin County, with a sizeable chunk of African-American voters, chose a Republican after 2004. Nevada and Arizona, with a considerable Hispanic population also chose the former president. Both metrics indicate that Mr Trump possibly did make inroads with minority communities. "Exit polls showed Trump winning large numbers of Latino men in key battleground states, improving his numbers with that group in Pennsylvania from 27% to 42%. Nationally, Trump's support among Latino men leaped from 36% to 54%," according to TIME magazine.
As per an NBC Newspoll, Mr Trump garnered the support of a remarkable 1 in 3 voters of color, most likely the best performance of any Republican presidential candidate since George W. Bush in his 2004 re-election effort.
Banking on people's anger towards the Biden administration, their fear of a future under the incumbents and suffering amid a flailing economy brought Trump back to the helm. In his victory speech on Wednesday, he vowed to usher in the "golden age of America".
