By Julia Rosier ’18

Republican candidate Donald Trump was elected as the 45th President of the United States over Democrat candidate Hillary Clinton on Nov. 8, 2016. Trump won 279 electoral votes compared to Clinton’s 228 electoral votes. The outcome of the election, both local and presidential, have stirred up debates and shock for Staples students.

Theo Koskoff ’18 supported Clinton in the Primaries because of her knowledge and experience as a politician. “Her loss last night was a surprising and heavy blow, and I’m still having trouble coming to terms with the fact that our nation elected an Assad sympathizer,” Koskoff said. “I was angry as much as I was afraid and saddened; tears were shed.”

Koskoff strongly believes that although his life will not drastically change, he worries for those around the world who may lose their lives.

Spencer Daniels ’17 claims that he is not a Trump supporter, but he is anti-Clinton. “Last night, I was certainly excited to see how Trump changes our country,” Daniels said. “I believe he can make an actual difference being an outsider, instead of just another four years of Obama.”

Zoe Hulina ’18 agrees with Koskoff and Clinton’s policies. “As a woman, I am having trouble coming to terms with the fact that I need to survive four years of Trump’s presidency; he has openly admitted and bragged about sexually assaulting women, called women he doesn’t like fat, ugly pigs, and believes that women who have abortions should be punished,” Hulina said.

Katie Lucas ’18 is happy with the outcome of the election as she is a strong supporter of Trump due to what she saw as his honesty throughout his campaign. “I support Trump because I believe he has what it takes to make America great again. We need a strong, trustworthy leader to do right by us,” Lucas said.

Along with the Presidential Election, Daniels has strong opinions towards the local Connecticut elections. “I support both Himes and Blumenthal because they were kind enough to give me nominations to both USMMA and USMA. Basically they supported me, so I support them, regardless of the party,” Daniels said.

Clinton won the popular vote against Trump by 202,340 votes and Clinton won in Connecticut with 54 percent.

“I’m confident that we will get through this–that the voice of love will be stronger than that of hatred and of violence,” Koskoff said.

Photo used under the Creative Commons license