Trump’s victory and why shy voters still won’t speak their minds

On November 7, 2024By Littum

We were told it could go either way. Then Donald Trump won in a landslide.

The decisive result of the US presidential election – which saw Trump win several battleground states – has shocked Americans across the political spectrum, who were told by poll after poll that the results would be tight, essentially a coin toss where both candidates win by a slim margin.

It didn’t happen.

Now people are wondering on social media, as they did in 2016: Did the result have to do with supposedly “shy” Trump voters, those who keep their support for him a secret? And how do these people feel about the results? Justified? relieved? Or on guard even though the election went their way?

“Just as there is a range of human experiences, I’m sure there are also a range of reactions,” psychotherapist Stephanie Sarkis says. “It will be interesting to see if people are more open about that, about voting for him because the election has become more polarized over time… We have more at stake when we reveal what we voted for because there is become a great divide.”

Why would anyone be secretive about their vote?

The concept of the “secret Trump voter” is complicated. In many ways, experts say, people have less reason to be shy about publicly supporting Trump than ever before: He has already served one term as president and will now serve another. He has become more mainstream in popular culture. He survived an assassination attempt and provided support.

But in some places, saying you intend to vote for Trump still carries great social risks, especially in liberal societies. That’s true for larger cities in swing states, where voters may have felt more comfortable casting a vote for Trump privately than telling their friends about it.

But who were these voters? Well, that depends on who you ask.

“Suburban Moms and Wives Are the New Shy Trump Voter – LISTEN TO THEM,” wrote an X user. In response to a tweet about white suburban women voting for Trump, Fox News contributor Guy Benson writes wrote X: “A bunch of them were shy Trump voters who probably lied not to their husbands but to their judgmental leftist girlfriends.” Another X user insisted that the secretive Trump voters this time were not women, but young men: “They may be the closest thing to the ‘shy Trump voters’ that could explain the extent of Trump’s victory this time”

In reality, shy Trump voters likely encompass a range of identities and backgrounds. They were also likely to be quiet about their support for Trump for various reasons. Some may not have wanted to catch fire from liberal neighbors. Others may feel really conflicted about voting for Trump.

For those in the latter camp, Sarkis says, their “shyness” can be an opportunity for introspection. That goes for shy Kamala Harris voters, too.

“Is there a reason you feel uncomfortable with the candidates?” she says. “Are we not sharing who we voted for because it’s our fundamental right, or is it that we have some cognitive dissonance that means our beliefs and values don’t necessarily align with the candidate? And maybe we don’t necessarily want to be it. aligned with that candidate, but we may have had reasons for voting for them that we don’t want to get into.”

In addition to feeling conflicted, people may not have wanted to speak publicly about their voice because they are simply tired. For both Republicans and Democrats, it may not have been out of shame to be shy about their vote, but out of exhaustion at having to justify their views.

“A lot of people are now at the point where they’d rather not discuss politics because it’s become so polarized,” Sarkis says. “We can also be surprised by who voted for whom, and we all have different reasons for that. It can be belief system. It can be party affiliation. There are all kinds of different reasons.”

Plus, even though Trump is more popular, he’s still polarizing. Many know the strong reactions his name alone can evoke, and regardless of how they voted, they choose to avoid him as a topic of conversation altogether.

“Trumpism has become kind of an epithet, hasn’t it?” Matthew Dalleka historian and professor of political leadership at George Washington University, says. “I imagine there are some Trump voters who are reluctant to admit or openly acknowledge their support for Trump.”

How are the ‘shy Trump voters’ feeling right now?

Something to keep in mind is that not all shy Trump voters are likely to be elated right now. Many are probably happy, but others may be just as stressed and anxious as some of their liberal colleagues. Just because the election went their way doesn’t mean they think the future is bright.

“As humans, we have a hard time with ambiguity,” says Sarkis. “There may still be some questions about what’s going to happen. There’s what he said he was going to do and what’s actually going to happen. . . . There are questions on both sides.”

And as long as the political climate remains furious, many people will remain shy about their votes, no matter who they cast them for.