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Wednesday, November 11, 2026Nov 11

Cook: Trump and the repulsed vote

House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wis., left, shows President-elect Donald Trump, his wife Melania and Vice president-elect Mike Pence the view of the inaugural stand that is being built and Pennsylvania Avenue, from the Speaker's Balcony on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Nov. 10, 2016. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wis., left, shows President-elect Donald Trump, his wife Melania and Vice president-elect Mike Pence the view of the inaugural stand that is being built and Pennsylvania Avenue, from the Speaker's Balcony on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Nov. 10, 2016. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon) House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wis., left, shows President-elect Donald Trump, his wife Melania and Vice president-elect Mike Pence the view of the inaugural stand that is being built and Pennsylvania Avenue, from the Speaker's Balcony on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Nov. 10, 2016. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
photo Staff Photo by Ashlee Culverhouse/Chattanooga Times Free Press – June 22, 2012. David Cook

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Many of you voted for Trump. For a proudly racist fringe, doing so was a joy. Yet others? You were disgusted by him. Repulsed.

And yet.

You still voted yes.

You did so furious at Wall Street corporatism and entrenched Clinton cronyism. You did so barely scraping by; minimum wage plus ballooning premiums plus a bone-deep exhaustion. You did so because Trump felt like a middle finger to the establishment, and sometimes that feels good.

But you need to know how this election feels to the rest of us.