2016 Election Coverage
Electoral Votes
Clinton 218
Trump 289
Donald Trump Elected 45th President of the United States
Editor's note: This story is being updated as more votes are counted and more information is released.
Donald Trump has been elected as the 45th President of the United States of America, according to The Associated Press.
Not all votes have been counted at the time of this publication, but the Republican nominee has already passed the needed 270 electoral votes. Trump currently leads the popular vote as well by just under one million votes.
Trump’s surprise victories in Florida, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania pushed him over the top and secured his presidency.
With many major publications giving Clinton 70 percent or greater chances of winning the presidency when election day started, this will likely be viewed as one of the biggest upsets in modern political history.
Trump ran a controversial campaign, starting with his infamous speech where he declared he would build a wall on the Mexican border and make Mexico pay for it, and continuing with a new scandal almost every week.
The Clinton campaign was consistently affected by controversy as well, mainly stemming from the FBI investigation around her private email server, as well as WikiLeaks releasing emails from her campaign, and questions about her Clinton Foundation.
Trump was counted out of the general election in much the same way as he was counted out of the Republican primary. But in the end, he came out victorious in both.
The Republican party was also able to maintain a majority in the House of Representatives and the Senate.
Clinton declined to speak to her supporters, encouraging them to go home around 2 a.m., before the election had officially been called. She instead called Trump and conceded the election privately.
Trump and his Vice President Mike Pence both spoke to his supporters to celebrate their victory. Trump called for Democrats and Republicans to unite and promised to be a president for all Americans.
After a long and brutal campaign, the 2016 election has finally arrived. The Corsair is here to provide you with all the coverage you need, including analysis of results, the pulse of Los Angeles on election day, and discussion of the election season as a whole. Below you will find live twitter coverage and hyperlinks to our trending election stories of the day.
Election Night At L.A. Democratic HQ Ends In Tears
10:20 p.m.- Close to 20 students have gathered outside of the Cayton Center on the main campus after the election viewing party was shut down before the election was called and the Cayton Center was closed.
Corsairs Live Coverage
The Corsair is Live From The Cayton Center
corsair reporter Caroline Marriott went to the polls to get the thoughts and reactions from voters.
The Corsair is Live from the SMC Election Watch Party in the Cayton Center
Photos Of The Day
A Mid-Election Letter From The Editor
One panicked perspective in the middle of a historic election that isn't going quite as planned
Current Electoral Votes
Hillary- 209 Trump- 232
Hey everyone. Editor-in-Chief of The Corsair here. Trump is starting to run away with this godforsaken election and I’m scared. I can’t stop paying attention because I’m in charge of a media company. So I’m going to distract myself by writing this advice column on what to do and what not to do if and when Donald Trump becomes our next president.
DO: TRY AND THINK ABOUT OTHER STUFF FOR THE NEXT FEW MONTHS
It’s going to be all gloom and doom if the guy from “The Apprentice” defeats the former First Lady of the United States and becomes our 45th president. But here’s an important thing to remember from now until Inauguration Day: Barack Obama is still president right now!
I didn’t really care for Obama’s presidency, but he at least has many redeeming qualities and is probably going to be giving some really entertaining speeches in anticipation of a Trump presidency.
Enjoy normalcy and stability while we still have it. Distract yourself with the basic pleasures of life. Because once Trump moves into The White House, it will be dark times everywhere.
DON’T: BLAME JILL STEIN
I see this happening on Twitter already. It’s stupid. Hillary is losing Florida by over 100,000 votes as I’m writing this, and Jill Stein has only gotten 60,000.
But even if that wasn’t the case, it isn’t Jill Stein’s fault that Hillary and her campaign couldn’t convince people not to vote for Jill Stein in a swing state.
And as always, the burden of responsibility does not fall on the voters, but the candidates. It isn’t the voters’ job to reflexively vote for Clinton. It was Clinton’s job to convince people she is electable. If she loses, it’s because she failed. Not because of the Green Party.
DO: START PLANNING OUR NEXT MOVE
Start planning for the 2018 elections, start planning out effective anti-Trump social activism, and start planning the 2020 Democratic primary. Let’s try to not nominate one of the most unpopular candidates ever this time, yeah?
DON’T: SPEND ENERGY TRYING TO GET TRUMP IMPEACHED
If Trump does something worthy of getting impeached, he’ll get impeached. It’s not going to be some Woodward and Bernstein shit. It’s going to be him slapping Elizabeth Warren on live television or something. He’ll take care of getting impeached on his own.
DO: MAKE JOKES ON TWITTER
There will be people telling you this isn’t an appropriate time to make jokes because the stakes are too high for the country. Twitter isn’t real life and it’s a better experience for everyone if people are making funny jokes. Your serious take on politics probably will be bad anyway. Just say something funny.
DON’T: SAY YOU’RE GOING TO MOVE TO CANADA
It’s not funny and at least 1,000 people are saying it at the same time as you just in a one mile radius. You’re also not going to move to Canada.
DO: MOVE TO CANADA
It seems great up there. Their politics can be a little weird too, but if you are able, it seems like a great life decision.
A Thank You Letter to Donald Trump
I would like to take a moment to thank this year’s Republican candidate for president, Donald Trump, for everything he has done to our country throughout the 2016 election.
A lot of people say he is just a power hungry business man, but he has revived the hateful past of America that we, as a country, have historically tried to change and move on from all in the span of two years. Somewhere in Atlanta, GA, The great Martin Luther King Jr. is turning in his grave.
Who would have thought that one man, with a store-bought tan and an orange toupee to match, would take the world by storm in such a way. For many Americans, he has brought back the discussion of racism, feminism, and social justice back to their dinner tables. Trump, thank you for that.
I will say that if it were not for your campaign announcement speech back on June 16, 2015, I would have never gotten off of my millennial ass and registered myself to vote. What you said about Mexicans being rapists and drug dealing criminals truly moved my Latin soul.
I will never forget that night. My eyes were fixed on my laptop, my mouth was wide open, and my heart was pounding with the words “Mexican rapists” ringing in my ears. For the first time in my life as a Salvadorian, Mexican, and American, I saw the underlying racism of our country in full force that I had grown up thinking no longer existed.
One Google search and mouse click later, I found myself registering to vote. Even my father, a former illegal immigrant from El Salvador, has taken his first steps from being a permanent resident to a life long citizen of our United States. I have you, Trump, to thank for that.
The Chicano and Latino communities had been taking their voices for granted until you decided to call us criminals. Since the last election, the Latino vote has increased. A record breaking 13-14 million Latino voters are anticipated to exercise their voting right, and a projected 79 percent of their votes will not go to you, according to LatinoDecisions.com.
You have reminded us that we do have a voice in the country that promised us the American Dream. Most of the immigrants that have crossed the border built their lives from nothing simply to achieve that dream.
You once suggested that the American Dream is dead. It is not. In the Latino community, it is alive and well. Your blatant racism, disgraceful words, and eternally imaginary wall will not keep the Latino dreamers from believing in it.
There was another chunk of America’s demographic that you just happened to piss off as well throughout your campaign. The females.
I would like to thank you for making it so easy for women to decide who to give their precious vote to. Looking back on your campaign trail, I was not surprised when the “Access Hollywood” tape leaked of you speaking horridly about interacting with women. You brought to light that the oppression my gender has undergone for decades is still our reality today. As much as you did “apologize" and steer the conversation from you to former president Bill Clinton, the majority of the women heard your misogynistic tone loud and clear, as did the multiple women who have been violated by your famous hands and your winning mentality.
Trump, as much as I wanted the godfather of all millennials, Senator Bernie Sanders, to be the candidate to knock you out in the last round, I am proud to say that I will be able to tell my grandchildren about the day I voted for the first woman president and why you made that so important. Not only will my vote be for the first female presidential candidate, but it will be against the idea of our country being lead by a man who sees himself above the opposite sex. It will be for the progression of gender equality and racial justice. My vote will be for the hope of our nation’s future and the upkeep of the American Dream. Trump, your voice has consistently contradicted these patriotic ideals and has rooted me deeper into my vote for Hilary. Thank you “bigly” for that.
I’m a Mexican-American Woman, But I’m Not ‘With Her’
I am tired of having “Vote for Hillary” shoved down my throat. Whether I am logging onto Facebook or Snapchat, or just having a conversation with my best friend, all I see and hear is, “I’m with her!” I understand that the color of my skin and my gender makes people assume I’m a Hillary supporter, but just because I am a Mexican-American woman does not automatically mean I am with her.
Despite Hillary Clinton’s series of scandals, people are still hash tagging "#ImWithHer.” Why exactly are you with her? It seems to me like most people who are voting for Hillary have no idea why they are actually doing it.
No matter who wins this election it’s still the same ball game. Trump and the Clintons are friends in a sense. The Clintons attended Trump’s third wedding in 2005. Trump has been a big supporter of the Clintons for years, before he decided to run for president. So when it comes down to it people are looking at who’s the lesser of the two evils.
Musician Pharrell Williams told Ellen DeGeneres in October 2015 that he supports Hillary Clinton for president, “It’s time for a woman to be in there.” That’s the same message we get over and over: I’m supposed to vote for Hillary Clinton because she is a woman. That’s the only argument people have. Just because Clinton is a female does not mean we have the same views.
Clinton has the privilege to be rich and white, so she will never understand the oppression of people of color. I’ve always had high hopes for Obama to help create policies that will benefit us, people of color, but instead he’s deported more people than any other president in history. With Clinton coming into office, I am certain things won’t change.
I understand that a majority of Latino families are voting for Clinton, but some are actually submitting their ballots for Trump – including members of my own family.
“I voted for Trump because Hillary is a liar. She has blood on her hands, supports Obamacare and should be in jail,” said my aunt Debra Miranda.
Before Clinton’s new policy on immigration on June 17, 2014, Clinton told a reporter: “We have to send a clear message: Just because your child gets across the borders, that doesn’t mean the child gets to stay.” So how can I give her my vote if she changes policies just to gain votes without caring about the cause? Not to mention that she was caught telling Wall Street executives that she has separate private and public policy positions.
Her supporters often refer to Clinton as the most qualified person to ever run for president. In my opinion, Clinton hasn’t accomplished anything that shows she’s qualified to be president. When Clinton was elected senator in New York she promised 200,000 jobs. According to The Washington Post, many of the jobs were never materialized and a few of them migrated to other states as Clinton turned to her first presidential run. After the broken promises as senator, Clinton turned to become Secretary of State where she helped impose her dangerous foreign policy and got herself caught in even more scandal. So tell me why exactly she is qualified to be President?
Coming from such a huge Latino family, we don’t all have the same mentality of who to vote for. My aunt and uncle are voting for Trump, my cousin Anabel isn’t voting at all and another cousin is voting for Hillary. That’s the beauty of America that we can all have our different views on politics. But I’m over being pressured into voting for a candidate who will “fit” my standards based off my gender. I am a Mexican-American woman who #IsNotWithHer.
Editors Pick The Most Bizarre Moments of the 2016 Presidential Election
This Insane Snapchat From Hillary Clinton
By: Jacob Hirsohn, Editor-in-Chief
This election has been politically miserable. It’s been the story of an incredibly uninspiring moderate crushing her opponent by very rightfully attaching his character and personality flaws, while running a severely empty campaign.
What has made the election captivating and enjoyable has been the absurdity of the entire affair.
It started in the primaries. While the Democratic primaries were mainly just depressing, the Republican primaries were complete chaos, with Donald Trump spending every debate making absolute fools out of the various weirdos and morons he shared the stage with. Plus, Ben Carson was a legitimate candidate for a second there, which is completely bonkers.
But that absurdity carried all throughout the general election, mainly via Trump and the wacky group of characters that support him and work alongside him. When thinking of my favorite moment from the election, I thought for sure I would write about something trump did, like his storm of tweets against Paul Ryan, his bizarre debate behavior, or his weird habit of hugging the American flag on stage.
Clinton’s campaign has been absurd as well though. And this amazing Snapchat she sent out captures why people don’t like her on a personal level, why Millennials don’t respond to her, and exactly how the 2016 election became such a weird farce.
This Awkward Fumble at the New Hampshire Republican Presidential Debate
By: September Dawn Bottoms, Digital Editor
I remember when Donald Trump announced that he was running for president. I thought it was a joke. Could the same man who coined the phrase “You’re Fired!” really be the leader of our nation? Is this real life?
And then it was real life, but it still didn’t feel like real life, you know? In fact, the election as a whole STILL doesn’t feel like real life.
Trump has been nothing but a blundering idiot and Hillary has done nothing but try and defend herself against his blunderingly idiotic comments about her. It’s been an empty campaign, with empty discussions and one that holds absolutely no hope for the next four years.
The clip I chose as my favourite moment during the election is an awkwardly embarrassing moment during the New Hampshire Republican Presidential Debate when several candidates, starting with Ben Carson, falter at the simplest task of entering the stage. For some reason, Carson stops mid-stride when his name was announced and instead of entering the stage, stands idly by with clasped hands and blank expression. Donald Trump walks out, takes notice of Carson’s hesitation and follows suit. Poor John Kasich was completely forgotten, and all three candidates podiums were empty as the debate began until the poor announcer re-announced each candidate's names and waited for them to peek shyly from around the corner and take the stage.
I found myself laughing uncontrollably at this painful introduction to the Republican candidates. It perfectly defines and reflects the chaos and confusion that has surrounded the entire election.
Gary Johnson didn’t know what Aleppo was, Donald Trump spews racial hatred and controls his followers with fear and Hillary? Well, Hillary is just “Chillin’ in Cedar Rapids.”
This Ridiculous Twitter Exchange Between Trump & El Chapo
By: Christian Monterrosa, Digital Editor
With so many bizarre and hardly newsworthy events that took place this election season, it is hard to pick one that sticks out from the bunch. However, one moment stood out to me that highlighted the novelty of Donald Trump’s candidacy, the sophistication of the Mexican drug cartel, and the digital age we now live in.
Back in July of 2015, Donald Trump addressed the mexican drug lord, El Chapo, in a tweet saying that as president, he would “kick his ass.”
At the time, Trump’s controversial statements had already been getting him in hot water. This time, his large social media presence landed in the eyes of one Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman.
It is yet to be confirmed it was actually him, but “El Chapo” replied to the now Republican Presidential Candidate via an unverified Twitter account.
“Keep fucking around, and I’ll make you eat all of your goddamn words,” replied El Chapo. Followed by insults that probably had Mr. Trump looking over his shoulder for the next couple of days.
Of course, Donald Trump followed up by reporting the Tweets to the FBI, but my question is: did Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman finally get found and arrested because he asked Sean Penn how to verify his Twitter page?