The 2020 election was filled with anxious shaking, sleepless nights and way too much tweeting. Biden supporters were hoping for a refreshing change by replacing President Trump and tackling the coronavirus and many other issues that face the country. Trump supporters were hoping to maintain a Washington outsider’s power in the White House for another four years and grow the economy. Then, of course, there were a large number of Americans that disliked or were disinterested in both candidates.
By Saturday, battleground states like Pennsylvania were called, and Biden secured the most powerful position in office. Many Democrats and liberals were celebrating in the streets of New York, Miami, Washington D.C. and other cities across the US. There were even celebrations in London and Paris, filled with fireworks and church bells ringing. With the election results, of course, came controversy. President Trump and some of his supporters are claiming there has been voter fraud. Although these claims are unsubstantiated as of now, Trump still plans to take his case to the courts.
Participating in one of the highest voter turnouts ever, FSU students shared their thoughts and opinions on the 2020 election results.
For Biden supporters, the results were an enormous sigh of relief. Tucker Sanford, a Junior at FSU, said, “The feeling of relief overwhelmed me, I was in Publix when I heard and I talked to my cashier about it. He was an elderly black man and I asked if he heard the news and he smiled really wide and said yes and laughed. From that point on I’ve been nothing but proud of my country to vote out that child.” Catherine Allen, Sophomore, stated, “I feel absolutely incredible about the election results. In my eyes, I feel that Biden and Harris’ election is a signal to Americans and the world that we do not stand for bigotry. Also, having a woman in such a high office is inspiring!”
For Trump supporters, this election is far from over. Dillon Cokeneur, Junior, said, “At this point, I think Trump not conceding is the right move due to the mounting evidence of interference arising, but if it all turns out to not be true, he should then concede.” Many supporters of Trump also express frustration with the hypocrisy of the left. Noah Oxley, Junior, said, “I feel like there is a large amount of hypocrisy. There has been widespread criticism of Trump in regards to early declaration of victory and a vast amount of Democrats who said ‘Count all votes’ yet right as Biden took the lead in many states (without all votes counted) declared Biden the victor.” Dustin Batchelor, Junior, expressed, “In a more petty point, Hillary Clinton’s party spent tens of millions of dollars and the better part of three and a half years investigating Donald Trump for election tampering and zero percent of that actually panned out. The Bush/Gore fiasco took what I believe was 30 days. Trump is well within his rights.”
One thing students across the aisle could agree on is the importance of voter turnout. Batchelor said, “In terms of turnout, I couldn’t be happier. If we look down the ballot, the Democrats got destroyed. We [Republicans] were supposed to lose the Senate, and lose even more ground in the house. We gained like 7-12 seats in the house, got a governorship and it looks like we’ll keep the senate.” Allen said, “The voter turnout was so exciting. The youth turnout is expected to be almost 10 percent higher and hopefully, that number will continue to climb.”
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