London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Friday, Oct 09, 2026

George Galloway: Has Trump won? Well, as Bill Clinton might say, it depends what you mean by ‘won’...

George Galloway
Donald Trump has ‘won’ the US presidential election because he has not lost it. A classic insurgent trope, he can rightly claim to have been a guerilla president even while often acting like a truculent gorilla.
The might of the American deep state and the unprecedented levels of excoriation, detestation and hate from the liberal classes have failed to break Donald Trump. The four-year Russiagate scam, the phony impeachment and the Mueller Report all tried and failed, too.

His vote has gone UP from 2016. The supposed ‘racist’ appears to have scored more support among ‘communities of colour’ than he did last time. The man who is said to use the N-word and to have thought Black Lives Didn’t Matter Much gained more votes from black men. The vulgar sexist got more votes from women.

The man who ‘caged’ Latino children at the borderlands saw his vote rise amongst Latinos and Latinas. In fact, Trump’s vote is up amongst every demographic of gender and ethnicity except white men – the very people he is imagined to have exclusively appealed to with every Coke-fuelled burp and hamburger-fuelled pump.

Virtually every commentator in America is left with egg on their face. There was no ‘blue wave’.

The president’s party – for that is what it is – won seats in the House and the Democrats’ flipping of the Senate is as flat as a pancake.

President Donald Trump has ‘coat-tails’. Who'd have thunk it?

Even the most noxious of the president’s men – Lindsey Graham and Moscow Mitch McConnell – triumphed, pulled over the line by the circus act that is Trump.

The Democratic gamble of fielding, for the second time running, the only candidate who could lose to Donald Trump has clearly failed, whatever happens next.

Centrism is not the winning hand against right-wing populism, something parties in Europe had better learn fast. In this case, the donkeys in America already knew that, but decided to test Einstein’s law to destruction. Trying the same thing over again and expecting a different result is indeed a definition of madness.

All of the above is true, whatever the final result of the imbroglio.

Trump’s brazen press conference in which he simultaneously claimed victory and fraud was exactly what a right-wing populist would do. And perfectly timed – he was well ahead in the Midwest rust-belt when inexplicable abandonment of counting for the night was the optimal moment to cry-foul. Trump might be a moron, but he certainly ain’t stupid.

He tripled his majority in Florida, and comfortably won Texas and Ohio, where the shattered punditocracy had claimed the opposite would happen. It seems obvious that the liberal-centrists of America don’t know their country at all. The east and west coast political salons – a giant, self-referential bubble – are bust.

The man who has presided over the coronavirus catastrophe, governs a maelstrom of mass unemployment, mass poverty and extreme levels of hunger and homelessness, has somehow won. Even if it depends what you mean by won.

Onwards to the Supreme Court, stuffed to the gills with conservative justices, like a giant Christmas turkey. It’s enough to make a horse laugh.


____________________________
* George Galloway was a member of the British Parliament for nearly 30 years. He presents TV and radio shows. He is a film-maker, writer and a renowned orator. Follow him on Twitter @georgegalloway
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
UK and Germany Finalize Kensington Treaty to Strengthen Defense and Technology Cooperation
Britain Maintains Diplomatic Mission in East Jerusalem Despite Israeli Closure Deadline
English Councils Push Government to Rethink Proposed Funding Cuts
Scottish Homebuilding Falls to Lowest Level in 11 Years
BBC Chief Matt Brittin Defends Restructuring as Staff Challenge Job Cuts
UK Finance Warns High Energy Costs and Bond Yields Are Complicating Fiscal Outlook
UK Adopts All 44 Recommendations on Regulating AI in Healthcare
Chancellor John Healey Prepares Autumn Budget as Borrowing Costs Strain Public Finances
UK Investigators See Strong Indications of Iranian Link After RAF Fairford Security Operation
Laura Trott Pledges Tighter Controls on Political Activism in UK Classrooms
Welsh Ministers Launch Long-Term Review of North Wales and Anglesey Crossings
Welsh Government Orders 18-Month Study of Road Solutions Around Newport
Reform UK MP Sarah Pochin Faces Scrutiny Over £800,000 Second Home Purchase
British Households Grow More Concerned About Fuel and Energy Prices
NHS Leaders Warn of Rising Winter Pressure on Emergency Departments
Kemi Badenoch Proposes £2.3 Billion Employer National Insurance Cut for Young Workers
Middle East Conflict Could Erase UK Fiscal Headroom, Economists Warn
Manchester City Found Guilty of Multiple Premier League Financial Rule Breaches
UK Security Services Find Strong Indications of Iranian Role in RAF Fairford Incident
Costa Coffee Returns to Operating Profit on Iced Drinks and Menu Changes
Asos Warns Customers After Unauthorized Access to Retail App and Data
Kemi Badenoch Puts Growth and Deregulation at Center of Conservative Conference
Campaigners Warn of Deepening Social Care Crisis for Disabled Adults
Study Finds Rising Early-Onset Cancer Rates Among Adults Under 50 in Britain
UK Coach Operators Warn High Diesel Prices Could Force Route Cuts
FCA Opens Independent Review Into Handling of Epstein-Linked Whistleblower Case
Argentina Vows to Block Falkland Islands Offshore Oil Development
UK Chancellor Prepares Fiscal Measures and Welfare Reforms Ahead of Autumn Budget
Sainsbury’s and Morrisons Explore Potential Multi-Billion-Pound Merger
UK Weighs Tariffs on Chinese Electric Vehicles to Align With European Union
UK Threatens Diplomatic Expulsions Over Planned Closure of East Jerusalem Consulate
UK Energy Price Cap Hits Three-Year High as Middle East Conflict Raises Costs
Seventh Arrest Made in Suspected Terror Plot at RAF Fairford
Systemic Education Collapse Sparks Mass Student Uprisings in France
Green Party Faces Backlash Over Resolution Equating Zionism With Racism
Conservatives Debate Scrapping Environmental Rules for New Homes
Cornwall Insight Warns UK Energy Bills Could Approach £2,000 This Winter
UK Coach Operators Warn of Service Cuts as Diesel Prices Exceed £2
Scottish Parliament Approves £68 Billion Budget With New Tax and Property Measures
FCA Opens Independent Review Into Handling of Epstein Whistleblower
UK Government Drops Plan to Suspend Jury Trials in England and Wales
Bank of England Holds Interest Rate at 3.75% as Markets Watch November
Two Iranian Nationals Charged Over Alleged Plot Targeting Manchester Jewish Community
UK Fiscal Headroom Halves to £11 Billion Ahead of Budget, EY Warns
US Bomber Withdrawal From RAF Fairford Prompts UK Security Review
Sarah Wakfer Appointed Chair of Northern Ireland’s Health and Care Regulator
Scotland Housing Completions Fall to 11-Year Low Amid National Shortage
UK Water Companies Face Tougher Oversight and Unannounced Regulatory Inspections
Middle East Conflict Pushes UK Fuel and Wholesale Energy Prices Higher
Andy Burnham Raises Prospect of Second Brexit Referendum in Review of UK-EU Relations
×