Since the American presidential election last week, I’ve been trying to unscramble my thoughts, feelings, and disappointment.

Not that I’m disappointed in Donald. He doesn’t do disguise or surprise. He is what he is: a sociopathic narcissist. He’s not president-elect in order to serve the people of the United States, or even those who voted for him. Donald doesn’t do ‘serve.’

We know all this because he has been president before. And it was a presidency of chaos, of tantrums, of ignoring conventions, of all caps tweets… It was a king’s court, worthy of a Shakespearean drama, where pleasing the king was the all-pervasive consideration.  

And yet America survived, and will probably do so again.

It seems that Donald, following his political instincts, and aided by significant misinformation campaigns, trumped his opposition by appealing to people’s economic wellbeing. In short, many of the swing voters considered themselves financially worse off in Biden’s presidency than they had been in Trump’s. And other concerns like immigration, like a distrust of Washington’s business-as-usual, like suspicion of a black, female Californian, fed into that. Seemingly.

And the overriding allure of economic wellbeing meant that all personal moral considerations were ignored or shelved. Or, for some, admittedly the self-fixation of Trump’s moral compass might have matched their own.

This is where my biggest disappointment lies. Particularly with that segment of the population – a large segment in the USA - who, like me, have been shaped by the Jesus story. For regardless of denomination, fundamentalist or progressive leanings, Catholic or Protestant or whatever, the Jesus story says that morality matters. How you treat others matters. What you say matters. And what leaders do and say matters.

It is not contentious that Donald purposefully lies, regularly, in order to feed a narrative that suits him. Like the lie of Haitian immigrants eating cats in Springfield, Ohio. And even when lies are exposed as plainly wrong, there is never an apology.

It is clear that he thinks the means justify the ends. And it’s clear that when electing a president not enough people cared that their preferred leader regularly lies to serve his own ends.

It is not contentious that Donald used and will use public office for personal financial gain. Trump has ignored the Emoluments Clause in the US Constitution. In 2019, less than 3 years into his first presidency, the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics reported 2,300 conflicts of interest between his administration and his personal financial interests. There is every reason to think Donald will continue to ignore it in his coming presidency. It almost seems quaint to mention it.

And like bad behaviour anywhere that it is not checked, his followers when taking on a public office will likely emulate it. Watch Elon Musk.

And again, not enough people cared that their preferred leader is using the highest public office in the land, with all its ideals of service, to profit his own ends.

It is not contentious that Donald has sexually assaulted women and boasted of it. Like E. Jean Carroll. Like the 2016 recording of him bragging about kissing and groping women without their consent. While he and his lawyers have done the rich man’s dance with the justice system, and leveraging it for political gain, it is clear that Trump is an offender.

It’s also again, clear that not enough people cared.

So I’m disappointed. It seems morality has been relegated to the backseat, with personal gain in the front. And those of us – particularly those of us shaped by the Jesus story - who do think that morality matters, need to simply encourage and support, for the next four years, those Americans of similar views. And watch. And pray. And plan.

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