For the Record's Week in Review: Coming to terms with Trump

When we started For the Record more than a year ago, we had no idea how this week would go. Sure, we figured it would be a close election. But at that point, Jeb Bush was still the favored GOP candidate.

Jeb Bush, people.

Let’s take a few minutes to recap what we’ve done.

ELECTION NIGHT: FROM SURE THING TO WAIT, WHAT?

Everyone was predicting a Hillary Clinton win. Well, everyone except that one LA Times poll. Some models had Clinton winning with more than 300 electoral votes – even after polls in the first states had closed. But that changed quickly as results streamed in – so quickly that Election Night broadcasters hardly knew what to say. CNN’s Wolf Blitzer about lost his ever-lovin’ mind on air.

Clinton remains ahead in the popular vote. But that’s not how we elect presidents. We do it via the Electoral College, which technically hasn’t voted yet, but barring a slew of rogue electors, is on track to award more than 300 votes to Trump (he needed 270 to win).

SO, WHAT HAPPENED?

Patience, grasshopper. The votes are still being counted in some states. But here are a few interesting nuggets from exit polling (which you can take with a big grain of salt, because exit polls are reliably unreliable): Men tended to vote for Trump and women tended to vote for Clinton. But education matters. Women without college degrees chose Trump resoundingly over Clinton. Working-class whites overall were a huge boon for Trump, while Clinton failed to capture as much of the Black, Latino and Millennial vote as Obama did in 2012.

THE DAYS AFTER: WE’RE MAD AT DEMOCRACY

Though Trump made a big stink about rigged elections, he made good on his promise to accept the results if he won. But that didn’t stop protesters – thousands of them in multiple cities – from taking to the streets. So what if some of them had no idea what they were protesting? They were mad that Trump won, darn it, and apparently using that little furrowed-brow emoji on Facebook wasn’t enough to make them feel better.

Clinton needed some time to collect herself, too. She called Trump to congratulate him as his victory became apparent but waited until the next morning to make her concession speech – one, ironically, that many observers said was the best of her career. Clinton called for unity, saying “Donald Trump is going to be our president. We owe him an open mind and the chance to lead.” Then she went for a walk in the woods.

OBAMA AND TRUMP: AWKWARD

President Obama also wished Trump success before meeting with him at the White House to talk about a smooth transfer of power. Both were polite – but their body language suggested it was office-party polite, where you go through the motions because you have to be there but secretly hope there’s an emergency text from home so you can leave.

Trump also met with House Speaker Paul Ryan, who after the Republican National Convention basically told Trump he was on his own, and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who said he would make Trump’s promised repeal of Obamacare a priority. Aaaand then crap got real for a bunch of folks.

IS TRUMP REALLY GOING TO DO ALL THAT?

Weeks before he was elected, Trump outlined his first 100 days as president during a speech at Gettysburg. It was mostly ignored – until McConnell said the Senate would get right on a health-care law repeal. Then everyone pulled out the plan and began wondering if Trump really was serious about all that stuff, or if it was just campaign bluster. Time will tell, but NPR’s annotated version of Trump’s Gettysburg speech is worth a read for the context it gives Trump’s plans to renegotiate NAFTA and nix deferred deportation for “dreamers,” among others.

MORE ABOUT MOVING FORWARD:

• Spokesman says Trump doesn’t want to ban “all” Muslims from entering the U.S., though that language remains on his website (Paste BN)
• Where Joe Biden was just sort of there, Mike Pence may have a LOT to do as veep (Indianapolis Star)
• Could an 84-year-old sheriff charged with criminal contempt be Trump’s Homeland Security chief? (Arizona Republic)
• Trump’s back on Twitter after his campaign staff banned him, railing about protesters and the media (Paste BN)
• Oh, there’s a Republican coming back to the White House. No need to stock up on guns and ammo anymore (Yahoo Finance)
• Charles Koch vs. Trump? If there’s a new feud brewing, it’ll be over government spending and trade (Paste BN)

AN ANSWER FOR THE AGES

Because it’s the weekend and we don’t want to talk about the election anymore, we leave you with the answer to a question we know you all seek, courtesy of Reddit: How to evenly cook two or more Hot Pockets in a microwave. Don’t say we never give you news you can use.