Donald Trump is the leader of the free world, come January 20th. Nothing can change that fact.

For all the outburst, slander, and even riots at the result of Trump’s victory, it has given America a bad look. Not a bad look by the man that has been selected to lead this country for at least the next four years, but by the nation he is inheriting.

So, what happened to the polls, projections, and the media blitz that essentially laughed Trump off the stage from day one?

Like many Americans, this election seemed to come down to going out of your comfort zone and finding answers.

How could a businessman, that has never held elected office, flip the entire system on its head, and do so with essentially no relevant big name endorsements or fellow party members to even campaign with him? It is shocking, to say the least, yet it fits the Trump narrative perfectly: Keep defying the odds in this election.

In an America that has consistently been a land of opportunity, starting anew, and having a sense of perspective, many have failed to realize the history that was made on election night.

Perhaps it is the new wave of social media that has connected people in the most divisible of ways than ever before in this nation, but Trump opponents took the news far different than most would expect.

Simply going on-line during the early morning hours following the Trump victory, there was seemingly more negative talk about the President-Elect than ever before by not just voters, but in some instances, the mass media alike.

So much for “going high when they go low”, right?

If this election proved anything to our country, it is that sometimes feelings are going to get hurt, lines are going to be drawn, and verbal, even physical, wars will be waged upon. The only thing to do after these instances is to move on, work towards the next objective or goal, and chase after it.

For a lot of Americans, election night was a rare time they didn’t have an immediate response to go to or even a tweet to fire away when they didn’t get what they wanted – and they weren’t okay with that.

Within 14 hours of the election being called in favor of the Republican, there was a national trending hashtag on Twitter, “#NotMyPresident”. That hashtag, mainly referring to a sort of defiance and non-recognition of Trump, was used in over 1 million different tweets in less than a day.

Many will point to the fact Trump echoed similar remarks during many of his speeches about whether he’d be willing to accept the results from election night. Yet it clearly screams a double standard in the direction of his criticizers, who had always essentially seen themselves as the voice of reason. Instead, many of his critics were rolling in the same trenches of ego, stubbornness, and respect that Trump once did.

The President-Elect, is now the new symbol for not only his party, but for America to come together as a nation, like it or not. Many will say that the country is more divided than it ever has been, but just like the narrative that Trump was a surefire loser of this election, American citizens do not have to buy into that talk.

Instead, they can change the game themselves, not by conforming to a single party’s stance and putting on a front of unity, but instead actually using logic, reason and stopping the need for individual attention. If there was one thing that was learned on election night it is that, contrary to much thinking, their opinion may now simply not matter.

Albert Luna may be reached at [email protected] or by phone- (575)-646-5434