Clodagh Harrington
By Alice Warner
A senior lecturer in American politics says she still felt stunned and was in disbelief after Donald Trump’s shock US Election win.
Trump, the controversial Republican candidate won 289 of the electoral college seats. His rival, Democrat Hillary Clinton, won 218.
Clodagh Harrington, senior lecturer in American politics at De Montfort University, spoke this morning, hours after the result was declared.
She said: “This morning, at 5.45am, I saw that Trump was winning. I was in disbelief. I had to check five sources. I was stunned, really.
“It is not a good day for the world.”
Clodagh, widely regarded as an expert in American politics, found her services in demand this morning. She spent an hour-and-a-half with BBC Radio Leicester this morning, stopping people on the way to work to see what they thought about the results.
She said: “This morning I was with BBC Leicester who were doing vox pops this morning, and no-one, in an hour and a half, said that they were happy about the result.
“I think it depends on who you ask, but there is a clear division along demographic lines.
“It depends on your education and your upbringing, to how you view this.”
It was around 7am this morning when Trump was officially named as the winner of the election.
And although he won by 71 electoral college votes, he was only 0.1 per cent ahead of Hillary Clinton at the end of the election.
Clodagh said: “It was way too close. It was just like the 2000 election between George W. Bush and Al Gore.”
Hillary Clinton was also supposed to give a concession speech this morning when Trump won. However, she was too upset. She plans to speak to the public at a later date.
A lot of people are feeling let down and disheartened about the vote, said Clodagh. In the UK, people are obviously worried about how it might affect them.
Clodagh said: “If he makes rash decisions, the UK will be impacted.
“When he said he will: ‘Bomb the shit out of ISIS’ he will make a volatile situation worse.
“The three main impacts on UK will be jobs, trades and international situations.
Trump is scheduled to officially become president when Barack Obama’s term has expired on Friday, January 20, 2017.
Trump has vowed to get to work and deliver on his policies from day one, but only time will tell.
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