Americans have elected a new head of state. After a four-year hiatus, Republican candidate Donald Trump is returning to the Oval Office in the White House. Across the Atlantic Ocean, the Slovak community also cast their votes on Tuesday. Agnesa Marikovská Spišáková, who has lived abroad for almost two decades, told us about how it looked on election day in New Jersey, how Americans react when someone comes to vote for the first time and what resonated most from Trump’s first speech.
Staron’s US president will be businessman Donald Trump, who was convicted a few years ago of falsifying business records and also faces charges of sexual violence. When he lost the last election in 2020, he did not want to accept the result and manipulated the crowd that later attacked the United States Capitol building.
In the pre-election battle with Democratic representative Kamala Harris, he won after four years, won four of the seven key states and already has 277 of the necessary 270 electoral votes.
News behind the scenes
In the town of Old Bridge, where Agnesa, a Slovak and now also an American citizen, lives with her family, there was a calm atmosphere on November 5, which only changed at night. She watched the voting across the states online during the day and did not vote with her family until the early evening after work.
The polling station assigned to her was located in the school gymnasium. However, she did not encounter long lines such as those in Pennsylvania, where people waited for up to two hours in some places. “This did not happen here. We voted within ten minutes,” explained Pravda.
Several surprises awaited her in the polling station. At first, it was a stricter voter verification, then she found out that this time, instead of on paper sheets, she would fill in her favorites electronically on large monitors. The third surprise was the shared joy of voters and staff that her 18-year-old daughter came to exercise her right to vote for the first time.
“Personally, I really liked that when we went in to vote – it was so typical American, but everyone started chanting, clapping and shouting that we have a first-time female voter here. The whole room, the whole gym clapped and chanted,” explained the Slovakian woman who grew up in Moldava nad Bodvou. The same favor was given to her daughter when she went to vote for Plenta.
At night, she was woken up by cannons
Agnes and her family watched the election online at home, the peaceful atmosphere of the election day was only disturbed by the night celebrations of Trump’s victory.
“I was surprised that at two in the morning I woke up to strong gunfire. Some people were already celebrating at night and it was a bit disturbing,” she described the events after the first results, when Trump was leading in key states, but it was still not decided definitively. “In the morning, when I got up around five, it was already obvious that he was going to win,” she continued.
According to Agnesa, Trump’s first speech was not at all surprising, everyone knew what to expect from him. In it, he sovereignly promised the Americans that he would fix the United States, which would once again become the best country in the world.
“We will help our state heal. We have a country that needs help, and it needs help very urgently. It will truly be America’s golden age, that’s what we need to have. It is a magnificent victory for the American people that will allow us to make America great again. We will have to close the borders. We want people to come to our country, but they have to come legally,” declared the newly elected American president.
According to Agnesy, Trump’s words about how the United States will have to close the borders probably resonated the most. “Which I agree with, he said he wants immigrants to come to the US, but legally, which I think is a positive message from him. I think that a lot of people also because the Democrats did not handle this situation on the southern border a little bit, so I think it was a big advantage for Donald Trump,” said Agnesa.
According to her, Trump’s popularity is due to the fact that he usually keeps what he promises. This is also why he thinks that his priority after taking over the Oval Office will be changes on the southern border. She is much more skeptical about his statements about the sudden end of the war in Ukraine. At first he wanted to reach him before the inauguration in January, then he cut it off for three days. “Maybe it would be like that, but I have a little doubt,” she commented.
What will change for expats in the US?
Agnes did not want to predict whether something will change in the Slovak community in New Jersey. “Maybe those people who are in the immigration process may start to worry that they won’t get what they need and maybe some illegal immigrants will be afraid that they will be deported,” believes the Slovak.
According to Agnesy, on the morning after the election, it was also hot on social networks, where sympathizers of the winning party were happy that “prices will go down immediately and taxes will be lower.” Supporters of the defeated candidate Kamala Harris did not hide their disappointment.
“I’ve seen various posts saying that America is once again facing a time when women’s rights are not recognized, when minority rights are not recognized. There is definitely a sense of disappointment. I also saw a post where people are happy that the campaign is over, that they have had enough, and they are very happy that they will no longer have to watch political ads,” added Agnesa, known as Slovenka za mlákou.
Photo: Archive A. Marikovská Spišáková
Agnesa Marikovská Spišáková, US elections, Trump, Harris Agnesa Marikovská Spišáková has lived in the USA for almost 20 years.
Source: spravy.pravda.sk
