So, at what point did it dawn on you that Kamala Harris not only was probably going to lose but deserved to lose? For me it was probably that moment at her last rally when she held hands aloft with Oprah Winfrey to the cheers of the multitude. "Yes She Can" said Oprah's T-shirt.
Well, No She Couldn't, actually.
The celebrities who are sad today - it's a bad day for Taylor Swift, J-Lo, Beyoncé, the lot - can reflect that their girl's performance has proved one thing: celebrities do not swing elections. They can, however, annoy ordinary voters with their asinine pronouncements.
There was, however, a more obvious reason for the result. Two clips from the BBC (a bad day for them too) two days ago summed up the campaigns, one from Harris, one from Trump. Harris declared: "Being president isn't about who you can bring down; it's about who you can lift up" (cheers). Trump's was shorter: "Are you better off now than four years ago?" ("No!"). There you had it. One candidate wanted you to feel the glow; the other wanted you to be better off. And look who the voters went for.
The meltdown among celebs and the pundits at the result is not, however, confined to America. There was quite the little temper tantrum on the part of Emily Maitlis when she presided over Channel 4's election coverage and used a bad word to describe Trump's rhetoric on immigrants and was correctly taken to task by Krishnan Guru-Murthy, her co-presenter. She also had a go at the former PM, Boris Johnson, for the "Trump-like behaviour" that he "imported here" and got quite snappy when he suggested it might be better to focus, you know, on the US result rather than on him.
Wilfully blind
Denne historien er fra November 07, 2024-utgaven av The London Standard.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent ? Logg på
Denne historien er fra November 07, 2024-utgaven av The London Standard.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
Vamos Rafa! It's time to go for Spain's brave warrior
'Shy and funny' Nadal bows out as sport's ultimate competitor
Does Angeball have a winning future at Spurs?
Head coach divides supporters with his ultra-attacking tactics
The £5bn-a-year tax timebomb that's set to devastate London hospitality
The capital will bear the brunt of Rachel Reeves’s National Insurance raid
Live like a Queen...
...in the house gifted to Anne of Cleves by Henry VIII in 1540 and now onsale for 3.75 million
At home with...Matthew Williamson
The designer’s Belsize Park flatis a grand canvas for his ever-changing colour palette
Hidden London
The first time I made my way to Maison Assouline was with a broken foot, in a tragic boot and crutches.
Jameela Jamil on why New York will always have her heart...
..and her stomach. The actor and activist shares her favourite brunch spot, a secret bar and her brownstone fantasies
My life in bespoke suits
Back in the Eighties, suits were so wide that even the shoulder pads had shoulder pads. Suits back then were boxy, square, and designed to make you look like a quarterback, a bouncer or a tank.
Cher's wild world
The singer's memoir is full of jaw-dropping tales
'I was told I could stay in the UKthen kicked out of my asylum accommodation'
As our appeal hits 1m, we turn the spotlight on an official policy that’s making newly recognised refugees homeless