American Democrats in Malaga after Donald Trump's victory: 'We have a lot to think about'

“It breaks my heart to think about Ukraine, about young women, about immigrants.” With this message and tears in her eyes, Laurie Levin bursts into the headquarters of Democrats Abroad (supporters of the US Democratic Party) in Malaga, located in a beautiful house in the eastern part of the city. There, 25 people have gathered to watch election night, which has turned into a breakfast gathering with the TV on in the background. Most of them moved to the Costa del Sol after retirement. However, they remain politically engaged, committed, and about a year ago they formed this Democratic cell in the province to mobilise the expatriate vote. They were convinced that this election was historic, crucial for US democracy and for the world as a whole. And on this Wednesday after the first Tuesday of November, when the elections take place in their country every four years, a sombre atmosphere prevailed as they watched state after state turn red – the colour of the Republicans – contrary to the “blue wave” (the Democrats’ colour) they had hoped for, especially since Kamala Harris succeeded Joe Biden as the presidential candidate four months ago. Although Carey Ramos, the group’s most visible leader, acknowledges: “We haven’t processed the results yet. We have a lot to think about.”

Not only the Democrats Abroad in Malaga, but the entire Democratic Party is feeling the shock. Those in the province believe that if Biden had remained the presidential candidate, the outcome might have been worse; yet they wonder what might have happened if the outgoing president had announced a couple of years ago that he would not run, as that would have opened a primary process that could have been contentious. In this campaign, however, there has been a strong unity across all Democratic factions around Harris’s candidacy. Indeed, the group inviting SUR to share breakfast and “election night” makes no recriminations toward the party and sees no flaws in the Democratic strategy: “It was honest and transparent, a lot of effort went into educating voters,” says Myriam Juarbe. “I don’t know what Harris could have done differently,” adds Stephen Isacoff.

Ethel Kurland says she hasn’t slept all night watching CNN: “By four in the morning, I already knew Kamala Harris had lost. With Pennsylvania, we might have had a chance, but everything else — Georgia, North Carolina... it was all going to Trump, who also takes the Congress and the Senate. Money, the economy — which people mistakenly think will improve with Trump—immigration, abortion, and the fact that men aren’t ready to vote for a woman, especially a woman of colour... are all behind the result,” explains Kurland, who protests: “Are we in the 1950s or what? We’re going backward instead of moving forward.” “Once you open the door to losing rights, they can start slipping away little by little,” warns Ethel Kurland.

Laurie Levin recalls one of her best friends, who has worked with Afghan women and now lives in Alabama expecting a child: “Pregnant women there no longer receive healthcare.” She warns of how women’s rights have declined in her country. She’s not only thinking about the consequences Trump’s victory might have for the US but for the whole world: “The United States has harmed the whole world today; because of the role our country plays internationally, we have a lot of responsibility, and we haven’t fulfilled it—we’ve failed,” Levin laments. Another woman, Jan Baskin, adds that she fears Trump’s international alliances: “The whole world order changed today.”

They fear the implications Trump’s victory could have for the American system. Terry Adams, an African American and retired senior military officer, says: “This is the beginning of the end of democracy as we know it. Donald Trump has an authoritarian profile, similar to the ‘strongmen’ who have governed Central American countries. The United States could start to look like Russia, which is a formal democracy, but where Vladimir Putin controls all.” As an African American, he also doesn’t understand how minorities could support Trump, who has promised mass deportations. “Many people voted against their own interests, including minorities,” summarises Stephen Isacoff, who anticipates that many will regret their vote. And not only because of immigration policy, one of the key issues in Trump’s strategy, but also because of the economy: “The new administration will raise tariffs, which will increase inflation in the US, impacting not only consumers but also businesses.” They warn that if people voted against the Democrats because of rising prices in recent years, they will face the same with the Republican leader.

But Donald Trump has already governed, and the world didn’t end, one might think. To this, Isacoff responds: “In 2016, he didn’t expect to win, he had no plans, and he surrounded himself with people who held him back, but now that whole team is gone.” He fears that the United States, under the new administration, may distance itself from Nato, abandon climate agreements, and forsake Ukraine, invaded by Russia.

Another international conflict is also said to have hampered Harris’s ability to mobilise her base, especially young people, who feel that Biden’s administration — Harris being his outgoing vice president — has not been forceful enough against Netanyahu’s government and its siege of Gaza. “Politically, it’s very difficult to address. Some areas of the United States are very pro-Israel. But that country has no excuses: it has to fight terrorism, but not attack the population en masse,” summarises Stephan Isacoff. Ethel Kurland, who is Jewish and the daughter of Holocaust survivors, states: “What the people of Gaza are suffering is the same as what my family suffered during World War II. I don’t like Netanyahu; he’s like Trump.” She then adds: “There’s nothing that can be done to stop Netanyahu. Palestinians in America thought it wasn’t good to vote for Biden or Harris, but with Trump, it’s going to be worse.”

They argue that many Americans have voted against their interests because they’ve been poisoned by propaganda, as Myriam Juarbe describes: “The election result has been very disappointing; that so many voted for Trump after all the illegal acts he’s committed. But I’m from New York, which is a very progressive state. Maybe we live in a bubble where we think everyone is well-informed. But I see MAGA (Make America Great Again) as poisoned people. It’s true that in the Eastern and Midwestern US, people are very anti-abortion, very evangelical, and the Republican campaign knew that and promoted those values.” “People believed fake news,“ adds Judy Rust, noting, however, that the groundwork for Trump’s victory and his agenda was laid a long time ago: “The US has always thought it’s superior in everything. The common people don’t know how our country has intervened abroad. Even the most progressive media depict Europe and its social model as something in decline. They haven’t shown that life can be different. They can’t conceive how life could be.” Rust, who lived in Belgium between 1989 and 2016, explains that when she returned to the US for visits, she was very surprised by how the American press covered European news.

Today, Democrats Abroad in Málaga allow themselves confusion, disappointment, and even sadness, but not defeatism: “Now, we are the resistance,” says Laurie Levin, making a nod to Europe’s anti-fascist history.