Opinion: In Spite of the Election, Keep Being You

Posted By Gettysburgian Staff on Nov 9, 2024 | 2 comments

Students watching the 2024 Presidential Election results on Nov. 5, 2024. (William Oehler/The Gettysburgian)

By Michael DeRenzo, Guest Columnist

With the 2024 Presidential Election coming to a close, I had a few thoughts that I would like to share.

I am not a woman. I am not a black person. I am not part of the LGBTQ+ community. I am not a Latino, or an immigrant from outside the United States. Yet my heart aches for these all these communities.

I do not see this election as a matter of left versus right. In fact, there are things about Harris’s campaign I did not side with. I did not like the fact that she was, more or less, an extension of Joe Biden, to whom many people have issues with for various reasons. But what I will say is that, from election night, this is a matter of autocracy versus democracy. And autocracy looks like it’s on the table for Americans.

Rather than make baseless claims about Trump, let me get the facts straight: Donald J. Trump, soon-to-be 47th President of the United States of America, is different. He is not Mitt Romney. He isn’t George W. Bush. He’s a very bizarre candidate. And I say this because I cannot think of any other Presidential candidate who is as radical, violent and outwardly tyrannical as Trump. 

His close associations with Project 2025, vows to hurt women’s rights state-by-state, deep hatred of anyone who disagrees with him and his cult, his close ties to dictatorships such as Russia, his disavowment of Ukraine and the upholding of its people and territorial integrity, and, most jarringly, his calls for violence and disinformation as we got to see since 2020, when he falsely claimed election fraud.

This is the United States we live in. To me, this is not a matter of left-versus-right. The Democrats lost, but it’s more than just a loss. It’s now a matter of acceptance that somebody like Trump can easily seep into the White House and do as he pleases. If he wishes to employ loyalists, destroy federal departments such as the FBI, and falsely label any LGBTQ+ member as a sex offender or pedophile, he may do as he pleases — like how states such as Russia became autocratic through legalities and a cult of personality, I fear, unfortunately, that the very same can happen to the United States.

If I were to compare Trump to the likes of Adolf Hitler or Joseph Stalin, I wish to do so on the grounds of legalities. We saw this with how Hitler — and the Nazi Party — rose into power in Germany. By finding loopholes and ways to manipulate the law system in Germany, Hitler rose to power. With how abusive Trump has been towards the law system here in the United States, who exactly could stop him and his goals?

I am not going to claim election fraud here. I am not going to call for violence, for storming a capitol building or for pleading for someone like Biden to deny a peaceful transition of power. Because we’re better than that. The Democratic Party may have lost, but they did not lose the heart, soul and passion of its supporters. Because even under Trump, LGBTQ+ people will still preside and chant their cause. Women will still fight for their reproductive rights. And minorities, immigrants, and anyone targeted by Republicans should still chant for their voices to be heard. As they should have the power to do so.

I may not be a minority, but I hear and feel for those most affected by this election. We must remain strong in such dark times, especially when it feels like everybody is against you. We are in the moral right as we do not abide by disinformation. Look at those who support MAGA — perhaps your friends, family, and those close to you. Never lay a hand on them, because they have a right to speak their opinions, but feel sorry for them because of their views. Feel sorry for them that they have such radical views — that rather than having love and peace in their heart, they would rather see those around them crumble. They would rather see LGBTQ+ people, women, and minorities having their rights deteriorate. They will boast about American ideals, yet they will go directly against them.

Keep being you. Even if the government, its supporters and those around you may feel otherwise.