Extract from ABC News
Analysis
Donald Trump, pictured days before the election. (Reuters: Jonathan Drake)
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Americans went into this election eyes wide open about Donald J Trump and they have decided to give him his old job back.
On face value, this is an improbable political comeback.
Trump — the convicted felon who has been found liable for sexual abuse, who encouraged his supporters to march on the US Capitol to try to stop the peaceful transfer of power after he lost the 2020 election — will be returned to the most powerful job in the world.
He has outperformed the polls and appears to have broadened his appeal. It's a remarkable victory.
His critics may want to paint his resurrection as an aberration or a sign of electors who aren't paying attention.
While his 2016 victory may have been fuelled by a willingness to take a gamble on a political unknown, this time the American people know exactly what they are getting and they have collectively decided they want him to be their president.
Supporters of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump dance outside the White House in Washington, DC. (AP: Nathan Howard)
How Trump won
Trump is just the second US president to win back the White House after being voted out of office. He's also cemented his position as the most consequential US political figure in decades.
Over the past decade, Trump has up-ended the US political map. He has transformed the Republican party in fundamental ways.
It was once the party of free trade, and its leader now calls "tariffs" the most beautiful word in the English language. The party that once attempted to spread democracy and police the world's trouble spots is now isolationist.
Trump was able to successfully capitalise on discontent with how the country had been run since he left office. Particularly when it came to the economy and immigration.
He appears to have successfully convinced the American public his return will mean lower prices. A welcome concept for a country that suffered through a period of four-decade-high inflation. Unfortunately for Biden and Harris, even though inflation appears to have been steadied, the public has not yet gotten used to the new higher level of prices.
While many of the economy's fundamentals like unemployment and growth are strong, inflation is political poison. Kamala Harris never seemed totally comfortable when discussing the economy.
Immigration may well prove to be the major misstep by the Biden/Harris team. They came to office and overturned many of Trump's hardline immigration policies. They had mocked his plans for a border wall and softened restrictions. Illegal immigration swelled during their term, reaching a monthly high in December last year of nearly 250,000 people
Despite obvious public discontent, Democrats refused to describe the issue as a crisis until earlier this year. After a bi-partisan congressional deal was torpedoed by Trump, Biden finally took unilateral action, using presidential executive power to harden the response.
Crossings across the southern border then dramatically dropped but it seems to have been too late. Exit polls suggest immigration was still a major issue for voters at this election, and that helped Trump sail to victory.
Trump supporters celebrate at a Florida watch party.
How he broadened his appeal
While superficially this election win looks similar to the one against Hillary Clinton in 2016, there has been a substantial change to his support base.
The Republican Party has become the home of white working-class workers who seem to think the flamboyant billionaire understands their plight. But this result also indicates Trump has widened the support base — particularly among black and brown men.
There were expectations that his weakness among women would cost him but it appears to have been more than offset by male turnout.
Trump showed his strength in the south. Not only has he won the swing states of North Carolina and Georgia, but perhaps the most extraordinary result was Florida; over three elections he has taken Florida from a purple state to deep red.
The scandals didn't matter
Trump is a showman who doesn't value staying 'on message' like his counterparts. Nor playing within the confines of what is considered polite politicking.
There were multiple controversies during this race that were seized upon by his political opponents.
In his debate with Harris, he said Haitian immigrants were eating pet cats and dogs in Springfield, Ohio. There's no evidence that's the case — he never apologised.
Then, a comedian at Trump's highly publicised rally at Madison Square Garden used the American territory of Puerto Rico as a punchline, calling it a "floating island of garbage". Democrats seized upon the joke as evidence of Republican disdain for Puerto Ricans.
In the last week of the campaign, he assailed Republican critic Liz Cheney as a war hawk and followed up with "Let's put her with a rifle standing there with nine barrels shooting at her, OK? Let's see how she feels about it. You know, when the guns are trained on her face."
His opponents said the violent imagery was threatening. His campaign denied it was.
None of these scandals seemed to impact his support. Perhaps the public doesn't believe any of them were disqualifying. Perhaps they think other issues like the economy and immigration are more important.
Whatever the case may be, the American people know Donald Trump to a detail that is quite unprecedented. This isn't a vote steeped in ignorance.
After attending many of his rallies over recent months, there is a notable cohort of the population who genuinely adores him, who see him as their nation's saviour.
But they weren't the reason he was able to eke out this victory; there were many people who voted for Donald Trump, who aren't blindly enamoured by him.
They have experienced four years of the alternative and decided he deserved another shot.
Donald Trump elected 47th president of the United States
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