Don’t blame me, I voted for Kamala Harris, who ran a pretty good campaign under tough circumstances, a schedule squeezed by the last-minute swap of candidates. Once that bloodless coup was over, and President Biden somewhat reluctantly stepped aside, she went to work, a candidate for the history books. Black, South Asian and a woman, every one of those categories was a grand first. Yet the vice president got crushed in an election landslide.
Learning the breadth and depth of her defeat, among white working class, Black and Hispanic young men, working women, farmers, cops, factory workers and others, it is hard to avoid the conclusion that she never had a chance. Women decided big, bad Trump was preferable to battle the demons of the economy, immigration and crime, despite Oprah and Taylor Swift, and despite the historic nature of the Harris candidacy.
Donald Trump proved he is in a league of his own, the real Teflon Don. Twice impeached, serially indicted, liable for sexual assault and inflating the value of his properties, he seemed the definition of inappropriate. He was the sore loser who put his grievances ahead of his country, ahead of the Constitution he was sworn to protect and defend, yet he won overwhelmingly.
It is easier to recount what happened than it is to figure why. History is written by the winners. Fans of the president-elect are calling this the Greatest Come Back in History, Bigger than Napoleon’s in 1815. Biggest ever. A significant majority of Americans obviously see something in President Trump that most in the media or living on the coasts do not.
A force of nature, he is supremely confident and strategic. His strategy was twofold. First, to stay out of jail. Assailed by legions of prosecutors and regulatory authorities, he gummed up each proceeding with endless motions and appeals, all the while complaining with cause that his political opponents were waging lawfare, attempting to use courts, judges and juries to defeat him where voters could or would not.
The other major strategic decision was to demonize illegal immigrants, which he did with gusto. He made the undocumented synonymous with rapists and murderers. They were poisoning the blood of the country, vermin, animals, dog and cat eaters from floating islands of garbage. He and his mouthpieces appealed unabashedly to every prejudice and fear of the other. It was wicked effective. He made Americans believe the country we all love was being stolen out from under us.
In response, Vice President Harris and Democrats preached diversity, equity and inclusion. It was a hapless and tone-deaf response totally out of touch with tens of millions of Americans fearful of some dude dressed up like a girl and demanding to play on the girls’ volleyball team or use the Ladies Room.
Trump obliterated wokeness. He made the election an Us versus They/Them, shamelessly exaggerating the modest moves toward gender fluidity until it seemed every inmate in federal prison was lining up to get a taxpayer paid sex change.
It didn’t help that Vice President Harris wasn’t the glibbest of politicians. She didn’t seem able to ad lib answers even in the friendliest venue. She never could articulate how her presidency would differ from Joe Biden’s. Nor did she reassure a tradition-minded nation that she wasn’t going to upend our centuries old norms.
Mainly, she wasn’t Trump, larger than life, powerful, heroic, defiant survivor of assassination attempts, Godzilla in a suit and extra-long necktie, avatar of free enterprise and gaudy realization of the American Dream.
Geraldo Rivera is an author, lawyer, journalist and political commentator who worked with Fox News for more than 20 years. He is the correspondent-at-large with NewsNation.