Don’t believe the hype: no Trump mandate

Over the last few months a powerful mass movement arose to block the bid for power by MAGA and Donald Trump. And while it did not succeed, this movement sparked a powerful democratic upsurge that crystallized in the effort to place Kamala Harris and Tim Walz in the White House. This upsurge was led by women, particularly Black women, union members, and rank-and-file folks from all over the country. It organized millions of volunteers and raised a campaign war chest of over a billion dollars.

Those who participated in the process can celebrate the work done: the new relationships built during canvassing; connections with various organizations; telephone calls made; postcards sent. The campaign managed in 100 days to compete with the Trump campaign's four years worth of organizing and fund raising. It made a huge difference and resulted in millions of votes tallied.

Harris and Walz campaigned for what they called an "opportunity economy." They highlighted abortion, voting, labor, and civil rights and saving the environment. But another issue helped frame the entire race: bourgeois democracy itself. Indeed, driven by widespread concerns voiced even by Trump's former military advisors, fascism seemed almost officially on the ballot by the time the campaign ended.

In this regard, Trump's election was clearly a big setback. Here we repeat what we've said since 2016: Donald Trump is a fascist. Most importantly, the MAGA movement is supported by the most reactionary sections of the ruling class. Its victory is a blow to the fight for peace, environmental justice, and an end to the genocide in Palestine. The GOP's Project 2025-driven agenda is sure to make the lives of all workers and particularly, women, Black, Brown, Asian, Indigenous, and LGBTQ workers, immensely more difficult. In addition to economic hardship, African Americans and Latinos will likely face an increase in police repression and murder. Immigrants will be a special target as plans to deport millions take shape and are implemented. Defending migrants will be the frontline of the fight for democracy in the coming months.

'We will get through this, together, collectively'

In response, people from all walks of life are joining together in mutual support, reaffirming a common determination to continue to regroup and re-build a united mass movement. As Communist Party Co-Chair Joe Sims said, "We will get through this, together, collectively." Yes, the struggle continues!

The capitalist media is advancing all sorts of analyses as to why democracy lost a battle. Much of that analysis claims that the country and the working class have moved to the right. However, it's way too soon to draw such conclusions.

"We need to keep in mind that scientific analysis takes time, and not everything is as obvious as it might at first appear," People's World Managing Editor C.J. Atkins wrote in The morning after: A Marxist analysis of the Trump victory. "Karl Marx put it like this: 'All science would be superfluous if the outward appearance and the essence of things directly coincided.'"

While some workers voted for Trump, a majority of union members voted against him and the organized labor movement put forth a huge effort to defeat the MAGA right. As the tally currently stands, Trump secured some 3 million more votes than in 2020, besting Harris by a slim 1.5 percent. What then is the basis for corporate media's assertion that there's been a massive shift to the right? Why the talk of a national realignment on the basis of one election, when for a number of cycles the trends have been in the opposite direction?

What happened?

On the other hand, it appears that Harris's vote was 5 million less than Biden's in 2020. What happened? Why did some in the anti-MAGA coalition not show up on Election Day? Revulsion from the Gaza genocide, especially among young people, explains part of it, but there are other issues as well. To what extent was voter suppression a factor? Was the campaign's inability to adequately address and provide solutions to the real pain experienced by working-class families the main cause of the loss? Were some former supporters influenced by the anti-immigrant racism and sexism that was central to MAGA's message? Here, it's not enough to simply divide up and parse sections of the electorate. Men may have voted in greater numbers, or women in less amounts, important issues given the role of sexism in the campaign. At the same time a deeper analysis is required. Voter's class backgrounds must also be examined.

This question applies to those who voted for Trump as well. Occupation and unionization rates promise to tell a lot more about voters than whether or not they completed high school or college. The question includes whether or not different cohorts were influenced by the racism and sexism that was central to Trump's campaign. After all, voters of color were impacted by inflationary pain as much if not more than their white counterparts without prompting them to vote for a fascist.

Working class must intervene in spaces of confusion where demagogues thrive

And, of course, there is grievance, anger and discontent. There is a thirst for change in the U.S. today that is without clarity as to what that change looks like or the path that will get us there together. It's precisely in those spaces of confusion that populist demagogues live and thrive.

It is precisely in these spaces that the working-class movement must intervene and provide a clear understanding of where true working-class economic and social self-interest lie. Class consciousness must mean anti-racist, anti-sexist and anti-homophobic consciousness.

In the aftermath of the election, together with others, let's join in workplace, campus and street actions. Let's strike, boycott, write letters, stand up for women and all oppressed communities, stand against the genocide in Palestine.

The election did not represent a mandate for Project 2025. On most issues, majorities oppose the MAGA agenda. The implementation of Project 2025 is not a foregone conclusion; it will depend on the level of organized resistance that the people can sustain. It will depend on what we do. The time is now for a new anti-MAGA resistance. We will not go back!

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