I’m short on words.

When I lived in Houston from ’01 to ’04, the majority of students at my high school hated Bush. It was a multicultural school, and I had friends from every corner of the world. Sure, there is racism in the States, and sure, there is mysoginy and homophobia, but the American youths around me showed that they could stand up to leaders who seemed to not deserve to rule.

Then they elected their first African-American president. He didn’t live up to the soaring expectations, but he won the election and served until 2016. Then the US legalised gay marriage. The country was moving forward.

Come Trump, who clearly showed he had none of the competence or knowledge to understand how the country is run, much less run it himself, and who threw around so much empty bluster, ignorance, xenophobia, and outright appeals to violence; who openly bragged about having sexually assaulted women; and who openly made up things on the spot only to retract them when criticised… I still had that confidence that the progressive USA, the USA I had lived in and come to love and trust, that it would overcome and throw him out.

After the shock of Brexit, I had a bad feeling in my stomach when I went to bed for the night. I’m going on a hike with a good friend today (thank god), so I went to bed early. I stayed in bed for probably at least an hour with my cat purring soothingly by my side before daring to check the news shortly before 8 AM Norwegian time.

I worry for the sake of the world world, but mostly for the minorities in the USA. Homosexuals, Mexicans, Muslims, African-Americans, and the others Trump has attacked throughout his vicious election campaign. I am shocked and disappointed, and I’m surprised and confused.

I hope the US will pull through, but right now, it seems just as likely that all the progress and then some from recent years will be torn down. I never thought I would say this, but as we all hold our breath, I find myself thinking I would rather have four more years of Bush.

God bless America.