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Trevor Traina, former United States Ambassador to Austria during Donald Trump’s first presidency, spoke on the 2024 presidential election and his former experiences in diplomacy during a Harvard Republican Club event Thursday evening.
Traina identified a disconnect between the Democratic Party and voters in key battleground states as the fundamental reason behind Trump’s second presidential victory in the 2024 election.
“I think the Democratic Party has become increasingly coastal and focused on what CNN, the New York Times, is saying,” Traina said.
“What we’ve seen is that they’re incredibly disconnected from the voters who actually decide elections,” he added.
Traina argued the Kamala Harris campaign did not focus enough on the interests of swing states. “This election was not decided in Texas or Florida or California or New York. It was decided in very big battleground states,” he said.
“I think the Democratic Party lost touch with what the real issues were,” he added.
Traina pointed to the economy as swing voters’ primary concern. “The Democratic Party didn’t understand this election was principally about the cost of basic goods,” he said.
“Everything is way more expensive,” Traina said. “The people who live there have been very badly hurt by the current economy, so for them, economic issues are different than for coastal people.”
Traina, a long-time Trump donor and supporter, described the Trump campaign’s economic message as focused on growth, whereas Harris emphasized redistribution.
Traina saw Harris as focused on “how you divide up a pie” and reallocating tax breaks. “Donald Trump’s message was, let’s just make the pie bigger,” Traina said.
“And that’s always been his message — let’s have more jobs, let’s have less regulation, let’s have cheaper gas, let’s have more opportunities. Let’s just let you do what you want,” Traina said.
Traina also enthusiastically praised Trump’s “ensemble,” particularly Elon Musk, who he described as “the Tony Stark of our times.” “People want the America of Elon Musk,” he said.
Michael Oved ’25, the President of the Harvard Republican Club, said that he hoped events like these appealed to the greater student body.
“Republicans — not just Harvard Republicans, but Republicans — are not a monolith,” Oved said.
“I want to tell all students on campus to be open to hearing different opinions and perspectives,” Oved added. “Be open to widening your horizons, and ultimately, to learning new things.”
