A former United States Democratic Party aspirant in New York congressional district, Mr Adetokunbo Pearse, believes Mr Donald Trump won the US presidential election because he focused on what Americans hold as priority – their economy.

He was on our breaksfast programme, Sunrise Daily, on Thursday, analyzing the factors that led to the success of the businessman and rookie politician in the election.

He insisted that Clinton supporters globally should have been cautious in their optimism leading to the election as it was obvious from a long time that either candidates could have won.

In his view, Americans may have wanted more employment opportunities, and forging stronger relations with major power blocks.

“Donald Trump was speaking to the heart of America. The bitter truth is that when he said that he was going to deal with illegal immigrants, (he did) not (say) all immigrants.

“Therefore, what you saw coming out at the election was legal immigrants who themselves don’t want illegal immigrants from their countries voted for him. Its incredible,” he said.

Bernie Sanders Factor

Mr Pearse also agreed with the view that the long-drawn battle for the Democratic ticket between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders which exposed the weakness of the party also contributed to their loss.

He noted that Bernie Sanders was a preferred choice among many Americans because, like Trump, he also addressed issues of economy, education and the youth.

“He was an outsider, not the typical politician who would just go according to what is already established in the country like Mrs Clinton.

“People believe that Bernie Sanders was actually rigged out of the primaries. So I do agree that that has something to do with the problems that Mrs Clinton had  after the primaries.

“She was helped by the Democratic Convention,” he claimed, and that is why “the supporters of Bernie Sanders never came through for Mrs Clinton”.

As far as Mr Pearse is concerned, these issues were only “compounded by the email leaks to show that Mrs Clinton cannot be trusted, and she is a system’s person who knows how to manipulate the system in her favour just to win elections”.

He explained further that the recently held US election was against ‘the system’.

“Don’t forget that Donald Trump is not a member of the Republican formal system. He is an outsider in the Republican Party.”

Anti-Trump Protests

There were protests in cities across the United States on Wednesday against Republican Donald Trump’s surprise presidential election win.

Hilary Clinton may have won the popular votes but that was not enough to take her to the White House, as Mr Donald Trump garnered the required Electoral College votes.

Calm has returned to Washington DC, but the same cannot be said for Los Angeles, Oakland, California, New York, and over 10 other cities where there have been anti-Trump protests.

Mr Pearse, however, believes that this is nothing more than citizens expressing their emotions.

“Trump himself said he would not accept the election result unless he felt that it was fair. So, these people feel that it must not have been fair.

“That is the beauty of democracy, freedom of expression in America. People will protest (on) both sides; this is just normal,” he said.

He further added that the element of surprise in Trump’s victory at the polls is what has led to the protests across the country.