The U.S. at a crossroads after Trump’s return

The aftermath of the 2024 presidential election—marked by Donald Trump’s second-term victory over Kamala Harris—reveals more than a setback for the Democratic Party. It exposes a deep-seated failure within American political culture, shattering the enduring myth of the United States as a “shining city on a hill.” This electoral outcome underscores America’s entrenched racism, the myopia of its political elite, and a bipartisan moral blindness that tolerates unspeakable injustices abroad, notably the ongoing genocide in Gaza. Any pretense of enlightened democratic values now flickers dimly, suffocated by hypocrisy and decay.

The Democratic Party’s inability to present a credible alternative to Trump is nothing short of catastrophic. For too long, they relied on Joe Biden, whose visible cognitive decline and age created unease, even among his supporters. When faced with a former president whose tenure was marked by division and authoritarian impulses, one might expect a formidable challenger. Instead, the party clung to an uninspired succession plan, elevating Kamala Harris by default rather than by popular appeal or genuine momentum. This failure highlights the increasing influence of moneyed interests in the party, where policy innovation and moral leadership are too often sacrificed for campaign dollars and corporate endorsements. The result? A party that views voter loyalty as a given rather than something earned through bold and meaningful leadership.

For many Americans, Harris’s campaign lacked resonance, offering little beyond a continuation of the Biden administration and a reliance on identity politics rather than a transformative vision. Her historic status as a woman of color on a major ticket was significant, but it was never sufficient to inspire confidence on its own. Without the charisma or policy depth to engage an electorate disillusioned by an economy that fails to meet their needs, Harris became emblematic of the Democratic Party’s growing detachment from the American public. Where was the decisive leadership required to counter Trump’s populist momentum? Instead of energizing voters with new ideas, the party delivered a predictable, cautious platform that failed to connect with an electorate burdened by economic anxiety and cultural disillusionment.

Adding to this disillusionment is the Democratic Party’s tacit acceptance of endless military spending, which many Americans see as emblematic of a system that prioritizes global conflicts over domestic needs. There are growing numbers in the U.S. who are disillusioned by the trillions of dollars spent in endless wars—whether in Ukraine, Palestine, or maintaining military bases around the world—enriching the military-industrial complex while millions experience poverty, homelessness, inflation, student debt, and collapsing infrastructure. Money is readily available to fund the war in Ukraine and to aid Israel, yet securing funds to assist the poor or repair America’s decaying infrastructure remains a near impossibility. This disconnect between spending priorities and the pressing needs of American citizens only deepened the distrust and alienation even though Trump offered no solutions to these pressing problems.

Trump’s re-election is not an outlier but a searing indictment of the American electorate. His return to office demonstrates an America willing to endorse the ugliest aspects of its character—resurgent nativism, casual xenophobia, and an appeal to authoritarianism that flouts democratic principles. Trump’s victory is not just a political statement but a cultural one, affirming the darkest impulses in American society, rooted in a longstanding cultural and racial rot that has festered unchecked.

This decay is fueled in part by an education system and socialization that extols a false consciousness of American exceptionalism. Generations of Americans have been taught to view the U.S. as a model democracy while remaining insulated from the truth of its historical and ongoing injustices. This myth has bred a form of willful ignorance that blinds voters to the deeper issues plaguing the nation and primes them to support leaders like Trump – figures who offer no real solutions to pressing problems but skillfully exploit this distorted patriotism.

Trump’s victory is overshadowed by an even deeper moral crisis: the bipartisan complicity in supporting Israel’s actions in Gaza—a stance that has alienated progressives and severely damaged America’s moral standing worldwide. For decades, leaders from both major parties have perpetuated the myth of Israel as a democratic ally, even as it enacts policies that systematically dispossess and oppress Palestinians. Here lies a glaring contradiction: the United States, self-styled as the global defender of human rights, remains complicit in actions that blatantly violate these very principles, cloaking its endorsement in the guise of “democratic solidarity.”

This hypocrisy is as brazen as it is corrosive, exposing the rot at the heart of U.S. foreign policy. By championing a rhetoric of freedom while enabling the subjugation of an entire people, American leaders have chosen political expediency over moral integrity. Those few voices within the Democratic Party who dared to challenge this stance were marginalized, leaving progressives and ordinary citizens alike disillusioned and disheartened.

Trump’s re-election exposes the hollowness of the American mythos as a “shining city on a hill.” This image, cherished in American rhetoric, has always been more illusion than reality—now shattered by historical injustices, deepening racial divides, and a foreign policy marred by contradiction. How can a country that elects a leader with contempt for democratic norms and a taste for autocratic allies claim moral leadership on the global stage?

Trump’s second term should compel the liberal establishment to confront its own hypocrisy: a nation that professes democratic ideals yet discards them when they prove inconvenient, both at home and abroad. The rhetoric of freedom now rings hollow against the backdrop of stark inequities, deep-seated racial biases, and a bipartisan disregard for international law. The illusion of American moral superiority no longer withstands global scrutiny; instead, the U.S. must face an uncomfortable truth—it has repeatedly fallen short of its supposed principles, nurturing authoritarian impulses domestically while supporting oppression overseas.

The Democratic Party’s failures are not merely tactical; they reveal a profound disconnect from the electorate. Cloistered in the corridors of Washington, D.C., Democratic leaders presumed that moral posturing and progressive rhetoric would suffice. They failed to grasp that a vast portion of Americans felt abandoned by a party more committed to platitudes than to addressing real grievances.

While the party’s platform superficially addressed social justice issues, it neglected to tackle economic anxiety and social instability—leaving a void Trump readily exploited. Identity politics, though valuable, cannot substitute for a vision of structural change, especially in a nation as divided as the U.S. Yet even more egregious is the party’s implicit support of Israel’s abuses—a stance that has alienated progressives and deepened the Democratic Party’s moral crisis. 

Progressive voters were left politically adrift, feeling abandoned by a Democratic Party that sidelined transformative policies in favor of a tepid, centrist approach under Harris’s candidacy—a strategy that proved disastrously ineffective. Faced with a platform devoid of bold commitments on healthcare, climate change, and economic justice, many progressives grew disillusioned. The absence of genuine vision led some voters to either abstain from the election or to turn toward third-party alternatives, underscoring the chasm between the party’s establishment and the priorities of its grassroots.

The Democratic establishment’s lack of moral courage on Israel’s human rights violations further estranged the left, leaving many progressives unable to support a platform they saw as morally compromised. In clinging to the status quo, the party undermined the very coalition that could have secured its victory.

Trump’s victory represents more than a political comeback; it stands as a sobering warning. America has chosen a leader who embodies some of its most troubling traits—a figurehead of racial animosity, disregard for democratic norms, and populist anti-intellectualism. Yet beyond Trump’s personal allure, this election reveals a nation struggling with its own unaddressed failings and an elite dangerously out of touch with the widening chasm between its rhetoric and the lived realities of ordinary citizens. Domestically and on the world stage, this disconnect signals an urgent need to reconcile American ideals with its actions, especially in foreign policy, where America’s image as a moral leader has eroded.

The unrestrained influence of money in politics, coupled with a deficient education system that perpetuates myths of American exceptionalism, has stymied critical engagement with these deep-seated issues. The political elites seem incapable of confronting these hypocrisies, both domestically and internationally. Acknowledging and rectifying the complicity in Israel’s treatment of Palestinians would be a start. Only by aligning its actions with its professed values can the U.S. hope to achieve some semblance of integrity. Until then, the myth of the “shining city on a hill” will continue to erode, leaving behind a more accurate image: a nation ensnared in moral contradictions, searching for its true role on the world stage.