President-Elect Trump Through the Hispanic-American Eye: How He Won People's Trust

"Happy Cinco de Mayo! The best taco bowls are made in Trump Tower Grill. I love Hispanics!" -Trump on 5 de Mayo, 2016

"When Mexico sends its people (to the US)... They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists."

"Jeb Bush is crazy, who cares that he speaks Mexican, this is America... English !!" -Also Trump....................................

A record number of latinos cast ballots in the 2016 presidential election- millions more than in 2012- MILLIONS. One would presume that most of these individuals voted principally out of fear of Trump, what policies he may enact or attempt to enact once in office, etc. But here is the kicker!!! Trump received 18% of all Latino votes cast in the US. Sure, that is overwhelmingly less than the 79% of the Hispanic vote that Clinton received, BUT 18% OF THE MILLIONS OF LATINOS WHO VOTED, VOTED FOR TRUMP- THAT'S A LOT OF PEOPLE, MORE THAN 2.5 MILLION!

The presidential candidate with the ugliest, harshest, most bigoted and xenophobic immigration rhetoric that this nation has literally ever seen- the man who made a plethora of horrific and disturbing comments directed towards Latino immigrants in the US, particularly Mexicans- the man who promised to build an enormous and costly wall between the US and Mexico for which, he arrogantly and ignorantly claimed, the Mexican government would pay for- the man who tweeted a photo of himself eating a cheap taco bowl from his hotel grill wishing that same country a happy 5 de Mayo....... finishing the tweet with "I love Hispanics!", as if all Hispanics are Mexicans that eat cheap nasty Americanized appropriated taco bowls and celebrate this holiday................ Received millions of Hispanic votes. Whoa.

I've been in absolute awe for over a month, at this and at the result of the election in general. What did we miss? Firstly, we cannot just group the Hispanic electorate into one voting clump- there are people from different nations, different cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds, that all voted for different reasons. In other words, not all Latinos were only considering immigration as a political issue when casting their votes this year. After reviewing article upon article on the subject, there is a strong trend as to why millions of Latino-Americans, and other Americans voted Trump:

1. He is not your normal politician- or even a politician at all. One would presume that his total lack of political experience would have turned people off to voting for him, but it seemed to have had quite the opposite effect. "Politician" is a term that has for centuries been directly correlated with corruption. One simply cannot separate one term from the other, as history has helped to solidify the bond between this profession and this concept. Following the election and watching countless interviews of Trump supporters, these individuals absolutely loved that he was not your "Run-of-the-Mill" politician. In their minds, not a politician must have equated to not corrupt or honest, just as Hillary's past experience as a first lady, congresswoman, and the secretary of state (a politician) were equated to corrupt and dishonest (opposite of the Trump effect).

Also worth noting, many, if not most, Latin American immigrants who left their home countries to immigrate to the US did so due to the overwhelming and destructive political corruption wreaking havoc and leading to poverty-stricken, destitute conditions and crime. Politicians are the root of all evil in some of their minds, because politicians were the direct or indirect reason they were forced to decide to uproot their families from their home country in the first place. So, for some, no matter what racist and xenophobic atrocities oozed out of Trump's mouth, his non-political background and promise for positive change due to his not being a politician were enough to earn their votes.

2. One cannot deny, additionally, that Trump had an uncanny and powerful ability to channel a sense of outrage in many Americans who listened to him, no matter their demographic. He focused on issues such as Hillary's secret e-mail account and the Benghazi incident because he knew how angry these topics made people, and if he couldn't appeal to people's sweet or caring sides, he needed to appeal to their bitter and angry sides. And he did, and he did this very, very well.

3. Jobs and the economy. This one is huge, and I believe this is the primary reason Trump earned the votes he did, aside from reason #1 I just discussed. He is a businessman by trade who, time and time again, made enormous promises to millions of people that he'd use his financial expertise and experience to "bring jobs back to America," and get our economy booming. According to the speeches and interviews I listened to, he never provided details as to how he'd accomplish this, but simply reiterated his promises passionately and even loudly, which would be followed by violent cheering and applause by his supporters. I guess if someone promises he will do something for you 5 thousand times, even with insufficient corroborating evidence, you'll believe it. Millions of unemployed Americans, and employed Americans who live below the poverty line/just scrape by, who are Hispanic, white, black, etc, and are vulnerable and comforted by his promises, took them directly to heart, for one reason or another. And this way, Trump managed to gain fans and votes.

There you have it, folks. Honestly, all we could do at this point is pray and hope things get better.