Chicagoans React To Trump's Surprise Upset In The 2016 Presidential Election

By Rachel Cromidas in News on Nov 9, 2016 6:08PM

Photo by Scott Olsen/Getty Images

A lot of Chicagoans "woke up despondent and went to sleep that way." That's how Mayor Rahm Emanuel put it this morning, following Donald Trump's surprising victory in the 2016 presidential election.

Some Chicago Democrats stuck around Senator-elect Tammy Duckworth's campaign headquarters into the night, hoping for a different outcome than the one that quickly became apparent. Others began organizing on social media for post-election protests and actions. And we're sure that somewhere, in less-familiar networks to us, people are celebrating.

Luis Colon, 32, a lifelong Humboldt Park resident, said he was too nervous to even watch the final results live on Tuesday. “It makes me worried about so many things," Cruz told Chicagoist. "I think about our youth, especially blacks and Hispanics. I think about growing up in Chicago, when this was a not-so-good neighborhood. I feel like we’ve been knocked back 20 years."

"People say love always triumphs; but hate triumphed last night,” he added.

Anthony Cruz, 22, also a neighborhood native, was disillusioned by the result but also the process. “It made my vote feel worthless, this whole electoral college BS," he said. (Hillary Clinton led the popular vote.)

“I’m worried about poor and lower middle-class people, all minority groups" he added. "How fucked are we gonna be?” Cruz said Trump’s win didn’t necessarily make him fear for his or his family’s immediate safety, but “a lot of people think any government assistance is going to get ripped right from under them.”

“He never seemed like he gave a shit about poor people. Now that he’s president, what’s he gonna do?”

A 22-year-old Hermosa resident, who asked not to be identified, lamented the stark fault lines illustrated by the presidential electoral map. “It kinda sucks living in a bubble,” she said, referencing Chicago’s political makeup. “Hopefully the regressive will lead to the progressive. Or maybe it’ll just go further down the toilet."

Chicagoans, current and former, joined the national progressive chorus that mourned for what a Trump presidency could hold for people of color, religious minorities, LGBTQ communities and the countless others who find themselves even more marginalized by Trump's normalization of other-izing.

Brian Jordan, 33, a Chicagoan who works in the Loop, told Chicagoist he went to bed before the election was called for Trump.

"I voted for Hillary. when I saw that she was behind, I assumed by the time I woke up in the morning it was going to be a different story," he said. "I wasn't so surprised when I heard that Trump won, when I look at what we value as a society now, reality TV, everything that really doesn't matter. Although trump seems as unfiltered and ignorant as they come, he is kind of like that vessel to get out whatever motions [some people] feel, and that's why they connected with him as a candidate."

Jordan said that others in his social circle are "shocked" and distraught. "My wife especially, I woke up before her and I told her, and she may have let out a curse word," he said.

"I learned about it at about 3:30 a.m. this morning, my dad was screaming, 'Trump won!'" Renee Schmidlin, 18, of Toledo, Ohio, told Chicagoist. "I'd rather Hillary would have won, but to me it doesn't really matter because everyone is stuck in the same situation in the end, no matter who won everyone has to deal with a new president."

Maureen Cahill, 56, of Park Ridge, told Chicagoist she was "very sad" to learn the news this morning. She said family in Ireland had sent her text messages in the night reacting to the news.

"I was shocked at first. I'm very worried about what's going to happen, but hopefully we'll be unified," she said. "I hope Mr. Trump does the right thing."

Sadly, not all Chicago-tied famous athletes were so clear-minded, as Cubs Jake Arrieta pitcher dropped this flippant bit of nonsense on Wednesday.