Now that the 2024 Presidential election is over, many Lincoln Park students find themselves feeling just as apathetic as before.
“I just verbally said, ‘Oh,’ and I thought, ‘Oh. Okay,’” said freshman music major Sophia Mitrecic from Chippewa.
When The SIREN interviewed Lincoln Park students before the election, there did not seem to be a lot of support for either Vice-President Kamala Harris or former President Donald Trump.
Dante Harris, a sophomore grade health science major from Coraopolis, seemed to speak for many people when he admitted, “I cried. I didn’t want anybody to win.”
Now, after Trump’s victory, there seems to be the same general feeling of disinterest.
Senior music major John Chalupiak from Chippewa said, “I think that people are more upset than they should be, especially people who can’t vote and won’t even be able to vote in four years in the next election.” he told us “It’s not something they really need to care about. There are some valid concerns, but I wouldn’t be too worried. I doubt anything is really gonna happen.”
Some seem torn between apathy and upset, unsure whether it will truly be as bad as some claim. Junior media major Sydney Abel from Bethel Park said, “I feel like it is either going to go by and we aren’t really going to notice anything, or it is going to crash and burn.”
On November 6, Harris officially conceded the election, formally acknowledging former President Trump as the winner. The Republican victor defeated Harris, a Democrat, with 312 votes to her 226 in the Electoral College. President-elect Trump also won the popular vote by about 2 million votes.
Donald Trump previously served a single term as president of the United States, from 2016-2020. This year, he won eight more electoral college votes as well as more of the popular vote when compared to 2016. He also won more electoral college votes than the current president Joe Biden did in the election of 2020.
The response of some Lincoln Park students, like senior writing and publishing major Sage Mateer of Center, was simply to stay home the day after the election. “I was worried about my future and how my life was going to go,” said Mateer.
Freshman music major Arrow Doerschner added, “I believe that a lot of marginalized communities are at very high risk here, and I believe that a lot of them will not be safe here if Trump continues to run the country as he plans to.”
Meanwhile, some students do have strong negative feelings about the upcoming Trump presidency. Sophomore writing and publishing major Renn English from Beaver Falls said, “He is going to fail miserably as our president. Our entire economy is about to have its downfall.”
When Nathan Frederick, a junior pre-law major from Hookstown, was asked about his first reaction to Trump’s win, he simply said, “F***.” When asked about the future of America under a Trump presidency, he said, “It will be a complete mess, with chaos all the way. I expect a new headline daily.”
Some of those headlines have been about Trump’s appointments for his Cabinet. Two appointments in particular stand out.
One is Pete Hegseth, who was nominated for Secretary of Defense, and is a former news host on Fox and Friends. Hegseth served as an Army infantryman in Iraq and Afghanistan as a member of the Minnesota National Guard. He faces allegations that he sexually assaulted a woman in 2017, and then paid her off. Trump spokewoman Karoline Leavitt responded that “the incident was fully investigated, and no charges were filed because police found the allegations to be false.”
The even more controversial appointment was Matt Gaetz, Trump’s first candidate for Attorney General. Gaetz is a former member of Congress who faced controversies involving allegations of having sex with minors and sex trafficking. Gaetz withdrew his name for consideration from the position, and was replaced by former Trump attorney Pam Bondi.
Many Lincoln Park students thought that the election results, though disappointing, were not surprising. A few of our interviewees stated that they did not want Trump to win, but were expecting him to anyway. Sophomore writing and publishing major Makayla Ciminella from Aliquippa said, “If you drive through Pennsylvania or most of the states, there’s a bunch of Donald Trump signs. And from people I’ve talked to, they do not really like Kamala Harris.”
On the other hand, Sam Goodge, a sophomore music major from New Wilmington, said “I think taxes will get better during Trump’s presidency.”
Sophomore media major from Coraopolis Sydney Shanks seemed to agree with Goodge. She told us, “I think there will be tax cuts, and I think there’s going to be more done with health care and lower economic prices. But I also think there’ll be many people who clap back against Trump.”
When questioned what she meant by clapbacks, Shanks answered, “Like riots and protests against him.”
However, Lincoln Park students as a whole seem not to be expecting protests–or much, generally, from America’s next president.
“I feel like it’s just gonna be kinda boring,” said freshman health science major Reagan Williams from Midland. “I feel like nothing’s gonna really change. In a good way, or a bad way.”
What do you think? Leave a comment below about your opinion on the election results!
SIREN reporters Elena Cable, Ambyr Clay, Lily Fortier, Samantha Jones, Evie Lindgren, Demarion Martin, Naomi Menzer, and Veda Poling also contributed to this story.
