GettyWell it’s all over, Donald Trump is set to become the 45th president of the United States. So as the dust settles on what has to be one of the most vitriolic election races in history we examine how Mr Trump managed to win.
Trump managed to beat Clinton with a whopping 276 electoral college votes to her rather paltry 218 after crushing it in a number of vital swing states including Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania, despite polls suggesting they’d vote Hilary.
So how did Mr Trump defy expectations and actually, somehow take the White House from right under Hilary’s nose? Well the BBC believe there’s five reasons why.
GettyTrump’s White Support…
Despite Ohio, Florida and North Carolina voting for the Democratic candidate in the last two elections they swung to the right this year backing Trump all the way.
The Democrats were banking on the support of black and working-class white voters but Donald managed to win the support of the working-class, particularly voters without a college level education.
Trump also had the support of rural voters who felt overlooked by the current government.
You can’t stump The Trump…
GettyRarely has a candidate been as divisive as Mr Trump who while on the campaign trail managed to piss off, Mexican’s, war heroes, immigrants, women, the disabled and Muslims and yet no one seemed to care.
We’ve probably missed some out there but if we wrote a full list of everyone who could have been offended by Trump we’d be here all day.
He was even involved in a high profile sex scandal, an incident for which he publicly apologised, but none of it mattered he always managed to bounce back in the polls.
The Outsider…
GettyDespite having no experience in politics at all Donald managed to defeat not only Hilary but other candidates within the Republican that were far better qualified than him. Why?
Well Donald represented the normal man standing against Washington and his proud independent attitude made him stand out from the rest of the candidates who seemed like they represented the status quo.
The FBI…
GettyDon’t worry we’re not about to get into conspiracy theories but it’s undeniable that the FBI’s investigation into Hilary Clinton helped give Trump a much needed last minute boost.
When the FBI director James Comey announced that the Bureau were reopening their investigation into Hillary Clinton’s private email server Mr Trump saw a sharp rise in support.
True Mr Comey eventually closed that investigation but it allowed Trump to build a base from which to win the race.
Trump genuinely believed he’d win…
GettyWhile it’d be easy to say Trump’s campaign was chaotic and disjointed the bequiffed business man never lost confidence in his ability to win.
And while ‘experts’ who are supposed to know more about the machinations of an election scoffed at his lack of pollsters, continued campaigning in lost states and his stupid hats they were wrong and he was right.
More of a concept than a journalist, Tom Percival was forged in the bowels of Salford University from which he emerged grasping a Masters in journalism.
Since then his rise has been described by himself as ‘meteoric’ rising to the esteemed rank of Social Editor at UNILAD as well as working at the BBC, Manchester Evening News, and ITV.
He credits his success to three core techniques, name repetition, personality mirroring, and never breaking off a handshake.