Why did Trump win and Clinton lose?

(Baonghean.vn) - Contrary to experts' predictions, billionaire Donald Trump unexpectedly won a resounding victory over former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in the US Presidential election that took place on November 9, Vietnam time. According to initial assessments by analysts in the US, there were a number of subjective and objective reasons that led to the convincing victory of this real estate tycoon over the former First Lady.

New US President Donald Trump is an outsider who promises to lead the US on a path of “breakthrough” with a series of unprecedented policies. Photo: Reuters.

Subjectively, first, it was the strong temperament and courage of the Republican candidate, a very successful businessman in the market, that convinced American voters. This was demonstrated in the primary election when Mr. Trump quickly overcame many formidable opponents, even though many people thought he could not even become the official candidate of the Republican Party.

Second, the policies of this reality TV star have hit the psychology of a large segment of American voters who want a change after a long period of economic stagnation in the US due to the impact of the global recession, combined with the decline of America's position in the international arena and increasingly inferior to the rise of powers such as Russia, China... Voters who support Trump do not necessarily love him as a person, but they support him because of concerns such as immigration, jobs, identity... He announced that he would cut support for allies, reduce intervention in hot spots to prioritize resources for national development. This is completely contrary to Mrs. Clinton's "hawkish" policy such as the commitment to step up the military campaign in Syria...

Third, the recent backlash against Trump is similar to the herd mentality in the financial markets. This mentality may be present for a while, but it can also pass very quickly. No matter how shocking and outrageous the leaked videotape of Trump’s lewd comments toward women in 2005 was, it was no worse than what he had said before. The issue that many American voters care about is what this billionaire will do when he becomes President of the United States, rather than what he will do to a married woman.

Contrary to many media predictions, Mrs. Clinton lost to her opponent Trump by a large margin. Photo: Reuters.

Objectively, many American voters have lost faith in Democratic Party candidate Hillary Clinton after the scandal of using a personal email account to handle official business when she was Secretary of State from 2009-2013, believing that she is dishonest. Many people have compared this scandal to the Watergate scandal because it directly threatens US national security. In fact, although FBI Director James Comey affirmed to maintain the conclusion in July 2016 about Mrs. Clinton's email scandal, in reality, this incident has had a profound impact on voters' decisions, especially those who are still undecided about who to vote for.

On the other hand, the influence of the media on American voters was so great that pre-election polls continuously showed the former Secretary of State leading her opponent, sometimes by double digits, giving the strong impression that Mrs. Clinton would definitely win, causing many voters who supported her to not go to the polls because they believed she would definitely win. This caused the number of votes supporting Mrs. Clinton to decrease.

In addition, the role of independent candidates such as Gary Johnson of the Libertarian Party or Jill Stein of the Green Party must also be mentioned. In fact, it was these "spoilers" who "stole" many votes from Mrs. Clinton in some states, especially the swing states.

Ultimately, Clinton's defeat shows that America is not yet ready to have its first female president.

Lan Ha

(According to AFP)