Red Hot Election: How Campus Republicans Reacted to Trump victory 

By Cleary Percy
Staff writer
IG: @cleary_percy

Election Day has come and gone, and for the HutchCC Young Republicans Club, it was one to remember.

Donald Trump, the Republican candidate for the presidency, won a resounding victory on Nov. 5, soundly defeating the Democratic candidate Kamala Harris.

I talked to two members of the Young Republican club on campus to get their reactions to Trump’s historic win; club president Samuel Willams and club member Clayton Shingleton.

“Leading up to election day, I was a little worried that Kamala would win,” said Young Republicans Club member Samuel Williams, a Haven sophomore. “When I figured out Trump was going to win, I was pretty excited.”

Club member and South Hutchinson sophomore Clayton Shingleton’s reaction was similar.

“My first reaction was excitement and also a feeling of peace,” Shingleton said. “I know change is coming and I know it’s needed.”

Both members of the Young Republican Club had different responses when asked what they thought helped Trump win.

“I think what helped Trump win was that Biden won (last election),” Willams said.

Williams added, “I think the people took how their life was under Trump in 2016 and compared it to how it was under Biden in 2020.

“The other major thing I can think of is RFK’s (Robert F. Kennedy) endorsement. This showed the people that we can cross over party lines for the greater good.”

Shingleton said that Trump did a good job of “just being a people person”, and “allowing people to see that we haven’t had a great last four years.”

With a new president comes a new administration, and both club members were asked what they hoped to see in the coming months and years.

“I’m really interested in seeing how Trump reacts to the foreign wars that have been going on these past few years and what will change with them,” Williams said. “I’m also looking forward to cheaper grocery store visits if that’s possible.”

Shingleton responded that he looks forward to change in general with a Trump presidency.

“There are many policies that Trump has planned that I’m looking forward to,” Shingleton said.

The reaction to Trump’s election on colleges across America ranged from impromptu celebration across campuses to the canceling of classes the next day, according to The Harvard Crimson.

Samuel and Clayton discussed what their message would be to students who didn’t vote for Trump, or were unsure of a Trump presidency.

“First off, I’d tell them that we have survived through four years of Donald J. Trump before”, Willams said. “We saw great things in the four years under Trump … America united together to elect Donald Trump this election. That has to mean something about the state of America and what Americans think about it.”

Shingleton vocalized what the majority of voters thought.

“Whether you don’t like Trump or just didn’t vote, we needed change,” Shingleton said.

“The world keeps spinning no matter who was elected, and as a country we just have to stay together.”

Trump’s inauguration as the 47th president will take place on Jan. 20, 2025, at 11 a.m.

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