What Republicans learned from the Harris and Trump campaigns

Votes are still being counted, but the writing is on the wall.

President Donald Trump has won the election and will be the 47th president of the United States. Now he is doing what he does, making promises.

“Will govern by a simple motto: promises made, promises kept. We’re gonna keep our promises. Nothing will stop me from keeping my word to you, the people. We will make America safe, strong, prosperous, powerful and free again,” said Trump.

Now it’s up to Trump to keep those promises and to focus on the lessons learned during the campaign.

In just 107 days, the Harris campaign gained massive support and raised record amounts of money, but still lost.

There was no sign of Donald Trump in West Palm Beach on Wednesday, but Congressman Byron Donalds spoke to WINK News anchor Claire Galt about being on the campaign trail with Donald Trump and watching the Harris campaign.

With Trump flags flying high and signs staked in his grass, Eddie Ferguson sent Donald Trump a message from his home across the water that faces Mar-a-lago.

“Congratulations. I’m backing you 100%,” said Ferguson.

Ferguson is unabashed in his support for the 47th president-elect.

It’s not just Trump’s bold supporters who showed up for him in this election; Congressman Byron Donalds said Trump won big because his message resonates with all Americans.

“They want to secure a country. All Americans don’t care about your race or your class. They don’t want massive inflation taking away their purchasing power. And I think that what happened to the Democrats is they got too happy with their own personal political agendas and ignored what the working men and women of our country want and need for a successful America.”

Donalds spent the last weeks of the campaign touring the nation with Trump, speaking at rallies and leading town halls.

“We went into urban areas. We went into those places that they said, ‘You know you’re not allowed to go,’ or ‘That’s not where Republicans go,'” said Doanlds.

The congressman told WINK what he saw from the Harris campaign and Democratic in Florida and nationwide is that they banked on identity politics, not understanding that voters put their own well-being first.

“Great economy, protecting American jobs, bringing companies here, and securing our southern border, and, yes, deporting illegal aliens. That is the Trump mandate. It is overwhelming,” said Donalds.

When Donald Trump delivered his 3 a.m. “Thank you speech” to his packed watch party, he promised to keep his promises.

“I will not let you down,” Trump said.

That presumedly includes conducting the biggest mass deportation in American history, ending two wars on day one, eliminating the tax on tips and lowering the cost of living, among many other things.

WINK News asked Congressman Mario Diaz Balart: Is the Trump to-do list possible?

“If we control the three parts, the House, Senate and the White House, we can do it,” said Diaz-Balart. “If we don’t control the house, it’s going to be a lot more difficult again for the Trump, for Mr. President Trump, to get his agenda across. But I’m pretty optimistic.”

“We don’t know for sure who’s going to have the majority in the house; you need 218 Republicans are close, but there are a number of races still undecided, and particularly there’s several in California that could be many days,” said political scientist Aubrey Jewett.

Jewett told WINK that even if the GOP does not control the house, that does not mean Trump’s mandate to fix the economy and secure the border won’t get done.

“He could perhaps claim, under the powers that the president has as chief executive, that he has the authority to deport people who are in the country legally and that he can set up camps or places for them to go as a temporary stopgap until they can actually be returned to whatever country they initially came from. So there are ways,” said Jewett.

Diaz-Balart doesn’t see that; he and Congressman Byron Donalds believe Democrats will work with Republicans or risk the wrath of the voters.

“It is overwhelming. Whether you’re talking about Black voters, Hispanic voters, independent voters, young voters, working-class people all through our country, that’s the coalition,” said Donalds.

On Wednesday, the networks and the major newspapers speculated that Donalds could be in line for a job in the Trump administration. Claire Galt asked him about it, and he didn’t say yes, but he didn’t say no.