Trump the unexpected unifier in deeply polarised nation

His 2016 win was powered by white voters, but this time he has successfully diversified

- Bhagyashree Garekar

Florida Georgia and North Carolina had yielded a pleasant and early surprise for former president Donald Trump. Next up was the largest swing state of Pennsylvania, and a hush fell over the crowd of Trump supporters.

A murmur rippled: Trump was in a bad mood. He had cancelled his plan to come down to the Palm Beach County Convention Centre where they were lingering in anticipation of his arrival to make a speech as votes were being counted in the Nov 5 election.

Men, women, young, old, black, white and brown gathered there had all agreed that Democrats would once again "steal" the election, and they would have to relive the consequences of the 2020 election, which Trump has never conceded to losing.

But what a night, what a comeback! They would soon break into celebration as Trump took Pennsylvania - the state that offers the largest share of votes in the Electoral College of the seven battleground states expected to determine the outcome.

But who would have thought that Trump would emerge as the great unifier in a hotly contested election in a dramatically polarised nation?

That he would end up as the "DEI" or diversity candidate of this election?

His first victory in 2016 was powered almost exclusively by white voters, but this time he diversified with great success.

According to exit polls, nearly one in five Trump voters was non-white. In 2016, that figure stood at only about 13 per cent.

Although Trump did not win a majority of either black or hispanic communities, the shift was significant. He won support from about 13 per cent of black voters nationally and 45 per cent of hispanic voters, according to CNN exit polls.

In the 2020 election, he was the choice of 8 per cent of black voters and 32 per cent of hispanics.

A convincing example is right here in Florida, where the billionaire real estate mogul from New York maintains a residence and where his campaign headquarters is located.