My View – Americans in Athens React to the Election

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Tyler Boersen, Anthropologist and Communications Strategist from East Lansing, Michigan, living in Athens

Trump’s dark campaign laced with violent imagery cannot be explained merely as a communications strategy. His win Tuesday night suggests we are living a revolutionary event that has been brewing for decades, which stems from centuries old religious traumas and a peculiarly American fascination with the End Times. There are many variations of this story across the US heartland: from the Mormons in Utah to the Calvinists in Michigan where Trump has three times held the closing rally of his presidential campaigns. Those communities were regarded as minority groups before the 1980s. After September 11, they offered a repudiation on the Cold War narrative – the one lightly adapted for Obama’s “Hope” and Harris’s “Freedom” – in which the combination of national citizenship and participation in global humanitarianism are the source of individual salvation. Trump represents the worldview developed in those now vast and powerful religious communities that offer quite different tactics for both survival and salvation. We can see them on display in the quiet violence of bro culture and the influencers who surround Trump who are policing their communities while providing tips for wellbeing. My own key to understanding this shift is “Angels in America,” the play written in 1991 and made into an excellent HBO series in 2003. It contains clues to the Trump “charisma” and the eschatological reading of the American experience that has allowed half of Americans to overlook the violent threat to democracy on January 6.

Trisha Panse, Medical Student on semester abroad. From Arizona, studying in Athens

As an American studying abroad in Greece, I have been asked many times about my political views leading up to the election. Back at home, this question has become a sensitive one that people tend to avoid or only ask in their close circles because of how polarized American society has become. This is especially surprising since the 2024 election was crucial because of the issues at hand, especially regarding the climate crisis, women’s reproductive rights, and public safety. After not receiving my mail-in ballot on time, and running around Croatia trying to find a post office to mail it in, I felt immense pride once I could finally send it in. Ever since I was little, I have been baffled that America has yet to have a female president. So with this election being the first time I could vote, I was incredibly proud to vote for Kamala Harris. But obviously, this goes beyond just fulfilling the dreams of little girls; this is about our future. Although on election night, voting felt like a personal triumph for me, the election results highlighted that our country faces many challenges ahead. The President of the United States is the most respected position in the country or at least, it was – before the American people chose to reelect a man even after he has been indicted on criminal charges, made publicly racist remarks, and infringed on women’s basic human rights. I know that despite the results of this election, my generation will continue to fight for green energy policies, universal reproductive healthcare access, and gun safety to name a few. While we do this, I hope that one day, all Americans can engage in amicable discourse about politics just like I have been able to over the last few months in Greece.

Courtney Rennicke, Clinical Psychologist from NYC living in Athens

Beyond the gut wrenching impact of these election results, I am trying to resist the naive urge to be shocked by my fellow citizens. This is America. I want to stare headlong into the shadows of my country and our myriad of unhealed, deeper wounds, and perceived grievances. I am terrified for the physical safety of women, immigrants, the LGBTQ+ community and people of color in the months and years to come. Having an anti-democratic, fascist, misogynist and racist residing in the White House again feels shameful and seems part of a tsunami of reactivity to change and disruption in power in America and elsewhere. I hope after we’ve allowed our despair to be expressed, we use our outrage and shame productively and start strengthening our coalitions for the next election cycle in 2026.

Madeline Moye, Communications Major at Furman University. From Georgia, studying in Athens

It’s hard to put into words how I felt when I woke up on November 5th, 2024. I glanced at my phone to see the dreaded news: Donald Trump was projected to be the 47th president of the United States. My heart dropped. It was as though I was living the same nightmare I experienced 8 years ago. As a 20-year-old American living in Greece, this was the first presidential election in which I had been eligible to vote. Unfortunately, voting was ridiculously difficult for me; my ballot
was lost in the mail and never made it to my home swing state of Georgia. Still, I held on to hope that the American people would elect Kamala Harris, who would be our first female president. Instead, my people chose a man who famously incited an attack on our Capitol, was found guilty on 34 felony counts, has made a vast amount of discriminatory comments, and threatens the existence of American democracy. I’m incredibly disturbed, appalled, and upset. As a young woman and member of the LGBTQ+ community, I fear for my rights as a human being. I am deeply concerned about all of the discrimination, hatred, and division that will ensue under a second Trump administration. Despite my fear and disappointment, I hope that things will change. America is full of so many resilient people who will not give in to injustice and hatred. Over the past several years, we have all watched as millions of people, especially members of Generation Z, have fought for change. Growing up in political turbulence and uncertainty, young Americans like me have not stopped advocating for equality, environmental protection, gun reform, and so much more. That will not change any time soon. We will persevere. We will be strong through the next four years. We will keep advocating for change. We will not give up hope. This is not the end.