Political Roundup: November 11, 2016

BBC News: President-Elect Trump Reacts to Nationwide Protests

After businessman Donald Trump won the 2016 presidential election over former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, people took to the streets in protest in communities across the country. And now, BBC News notes that the President-elect is responding to those signs of disapproval.

On Friday, Trump tweeted, “Love the fact that the small groups of protesters last night have passion for our great country. We will all come together and be proud!” However, on Thursday, he sent a very different message in another tweet reading, “Just had a very open and successful presidential election. Now professional protesters, incited by the media, are protesting. Very unfair!”

Despite protests that blocked roads and stopped traffic in major U.S. cities like New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Oakland, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Portland and Minneapolis, Republican Party leaders are calling on Clinton supporters to accept the results of the election. Even Bernie Sanders, who competed against Clinton for the Democratic presidential nomination, urged protestors to show restraint and focus on the real issues in a tweet.

CBS News: Hillary Clinton’s Shocking Loss Sparks Conversation About the Electoral College

Even though Trump won a seat in the Oval Office, more Americans technically voted for Clinton. And according to CBS News, she’s only the second presidential candidate in modern U.S. history to win the popular vote, but lose the Electoral College.

The last time this happened was back in 2000, when Al Gore lost the election to President George W. Bush. The results initially led to calls for the Electoral College to be abolished. However, those conversations fizzled out with time. But now that Clinton has met the same fate, they’re starting up again. Websites like Change.org and MoveOn.org have even launched petitions for the Electoral College’s decision to be overturned in order to send Clinton to the White House.

There have been multiple calls and movements for the Electoral College to be dismantled in favor of a system that would elect the President based on the popular vote. In fact, the plan has been introduced in 50 state legislatures, and has been approved in 10 states in addition to Washington, D.C. Those states are all traditionally Democratic: California, Illinois, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Maryland, New York, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington state.

But for now, it seems like that plan to become a reality across the country is unlikely. John Hudak, deputy director of the Center for Effective Public Management at the Brookings Institution, told CBS News, “I think if elections continue as they are, I think the Electoral College is here to stay. I think that a couple of elections close together where the popular vote loser is the Electoral College winner, I think you’ll start to see much more movement on that.”

Business Insider: How World Leaders Are Responding to Trump’s Victory

People across the U.S. have had polar opposite reactions to Trump’s presidential victory. While some are celebrating, others are organizing major protests and demonstrations across the country. And now that world leaders have had a chance to send their messages to Trump, it appears that their reactions are also slightly split.

Business Insider rounded up the thoughts that major word leaders have shared following the results of Tuesday’s election. Among the most cautious is Germany—Angela Merkel said, “Germany and America are connected by values of democracy, freedom and respect for the law and the dignity of man, independent of origin, skin color, religion, gender, sexual orientation or political views. I offer the next president of the United States close cooperation on the basis of these values.”

Other countries—like Britain, Russia, Japan and the Phillippines—offered their congratulations and expressed their excitement to work with Trump to strengthen their nations’ relationship with the U.S.

British Prime Minister Theresa May said, “Britain and the United States have an enduring special relationship based on the values of freedom, democracy and enterprise.” She continued, “We are, and will remain, strong and close partners on trade, security, and defense.”