An Atypical View Of Why Trump Was Elected

Millions of words have been written, and millions more will be spoken by pundits giving their opinions why Donald Trump defeated Kamala Harris before the twice-impeached, convicted felon again takes the oath of office on Jan. 20, 2025.  

The spoken and writing pundits already have identified reasons why they believe Ms. Harris lost. Opinions range from her running a poor campaign, to not having enough time to introduce herself to the public, to not being to disassociate herself from President Biden to …you name it.

But in my opinion one of the most important reasons for her defeat goes to three people Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas, Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida and Gov. Doug Ducey of Arizona. And they don’t get enough credit or discredit, depending on your viewpoint.

It was their strategy of bussing immigrants to northern cities that generated major media coverage for months and resulted in residents of those cities and nearby suburbs to understand, and in many instances to sympathize with border state residents about the problems caused by the influx of illegal immigrants.

For years before they began bussing illegal immigrants to the north, border states complained that the amount of illegal immigrants were causing an economic burden, and worse, on their states and asked for help from the federal government. Donald Trump took up their cause and since the day he announced for president, in 2015, blamed Democrats for not doing anything about the illegal crossings.

That was not entirely true. Democratic presidents did deport illegal immigrants. President Clinton signed a bill making it easier to deport illegals and President Obama was called “deporter in chief.” But mostly Democrats were quiet about doing so, because they were fearful of losing support with their left-leaning base, essentially conceding the issue to Mr. Trump and providing talking points that resonated with millions of voters, including legal immigrants and other minority groups, who resented the free debit cards, free cell phones and free lodging in hotels for illegal immigrants that in many cases were much better than the apartments where legal immigrants lived.

Although the “army” of illegals crossing the southern border was in the news for many years, and border state GOP governors said their cities and towns couldn’t handle the problem without help from Washington, little help came.

The situation only became major news in northern states when the three GOP border states governors began bussing illegal immigrants to northern cities. It was only then when the northern cities were overwhelmed by the number of illegals that they admitted publicly that there was a problem. 

The bussing of illegal immigrants to cities like New York, Washington, D.C., Chicago, Denver and other cities with Democratic Mayors made headlines for months. People in the nearby suburbs for the first time, as did those who lived in the cities and never sympathized with border state residents, opted for the “not in my backyard” philosophy.

Analysis of voting showed that the vice-president lost because she received fewer votes in Democratic strongholds than did President Biden in 2024, with Democratic voter turnout less in the big cities and nearby suburbs. .

It’s true that people voted their pocketbook. But I believe it was the bussing of illegal immigrants to northern cities that greatly contributed to the Democratic voters boycotting the election. It’s true that Donald Trump gained votes from normally Democratic voters. But if the Democratic turnout remained the same as it did in 2020, President Ksmala Harris would be President-elect Harris and Donald Trump would be spending time in various court houses and looking for a jail to house his presidential library.