In the aftermath of Donald Trump’s loss in the 2020 presidential election, it seemed that his time in the White House was over. A defeated president had not come back from an election loss to retake the nation’s highest office since Grover Cleveland in 1892.
Those of us who rode this train of thought were all wrong.
Trump’s loss and subsequent comeback illustrates the way in which his method of politics has reshaped the Republican party, like Barry Goldwater did in 1964. William F Buckley Jr. captured this idea in a speech in 1964 to the Young Americans for Freedom.
“The point is to win recruits,” Buckley said of Goldwater’s supporters, “whose attention we might never have attracted but for Barry Goldwater; to win them not only for Nov. 3, but for future Novembers: to infuse the conservative spirit in enough people to entitle us to look about, on November 4, not at the ashes of defeat but at the well-planted seeds of hope, which will flower on a great November day in the future.”
2020 was not the end, but rather the planting of the seeds of a new conservative movement — one in Trump’s image. His re-election was its bloom. For some, this new conservative administration is a signal of hope and change, but for others, his re-election seems to have confirmed people’s worst fears about his place in the future of conservatism.
Trump has had a much more aggressive start than his first term, signing over 50 executive orders so far.
He has enacted sweeping executive action to shrink the size of the government bloat that he sees to be in excess; crack down on illegal immigration by increasing deportations and opening a migrant detention facility at Guantanamo Bay; end diversity, equity and inclusion at the federal level; and threaten tariffs on America’s allies and enemies alike. While many of his actions have been considered legally dubious for bypassing Congress, his presidency has had the most aggressive start of any college student’s lifetime.
For such students, these sweeping changes may seem like either the great restructuring of the country or the dismantling of America as we know it.
“It’s simple, the American people voted for exactly what Trump is giving us right now,” said Trent Buffenbarger, president of the UA YAF chapter. “49.8% of voters voted for stronger borders, common borders, common sense social policy and a great America, and he’s delivered on each of those.” He added that though Americans haven’t yet felt the direct effects, the U.S. is on its way to being a “stronger country and economy.”
When asked about Trump’s moves to eliminate the Department of Education, Buffenbarger said that the U.S. was ranked No. 1 in education half a century ago, but those numbers have fallen drastically since then, all under the department.
Buffenbarger echoes the sentiment of many young conservatives at this moment, myself included, who view the America we have grown up in during COVID-19 with state governments telling us how to live our lives, media blurring the line between traditional masculinity and toxic masculinity, and social media companies being told to suppress information with which the government disagrees.
While I agree with Buffenbarger in principle, many college students are rightfully worried about changes to the government as they begin to enter the workforce. Braden Vick, president of UA College Democrats, said, “Nazi oligarch Elon Musk and his clown battalion are taking a hatchet job to crucial federal programs, potentially plunging millions of Americans, including low-income students at UA, into poverty and chaos.”
Musk has been criticized for his support of the German AfD party, which has been labeled an extremist party by the German government – a label it has challenged. Musk was also criticized for making a gesture during an inauguration event that appeared to resemble a Nazi salute. However, he has jokingly dismissed the accusation.
He continued, “The Trump/Musk regime is also directly putting our futures and career opportunities at risk. We know that many students, including some of our members, are being denied priceless research and internship opportunities, including at the National Institutes of Health, because Trump and Musk have frozen spending on federal grants.”
Vick also raised concerns about Trump’s efforts to eliminate the Department of Education and noted how many students at the University voted to elect Kamala Harris last year, saying, “We didn’t ask or vote for this clown show”
Vick’s criticisms of Trump and acknowledgment of the fear and uncertainty he has caused are certainly understandable. Many of us here at the University rely on grants that are now in question and are or will be affected by the hiring freeze on new federal workers. While many of us are willing to make sacrifices for our country, there is no doubt that the changes being made today are going to be painful, for some of us more than others.
To conservatives, I would ask that we remember that Trump’s actions affect people whose lives were altered by the election in 2024. While conservatives celebrate these changes, we must recognize their real impact on fellow students, from changes in grant funding to fewer job opportunities in the government.
