Of the 80,000 simulations political data pundit Nate Silver ran — which has since become a meme — Kamala Harris won over half. The night began as expected. Donald Trump began with an electoral lead since states that lean Republican are in central and southern regions, where polls close earlier. But while former president Barack Obama said results would take days to trickle in, by the early hours of November 6, a Trump victory was decisive. Trump not only won the electoral college but also won the popular vote. Republicans also won back control of the Senate while control of the House remains in limbo.
In the aftermath of Harris’s defeat, those we spoke to feared backlash against Muslim and Arab Americans, whom some believe — galvanized by the Biden administration’s stance on Gaza — dealt the decisive blow to Democratic aspirations. But the numbers and conversations with political observers and community leaders reveal a far more complex autopsy.