Shock, awe, disbelief. The election of Donald Trump magnified these feelings in a historic Republican victory, and this despite the massive media machine that worked in unison to block him at every turn. Some reacted in euphoric amazement, others with dreadful disbelief, but I would say not many thought Trump would actually make it to the White House. But what is it that Trump actually represents?

Some would say that Trump won because he brought to attention people’s anxieties about immigration and globalisation. Others say he won because of the deeply unpopular alternative. Others still will say that the US is simply racist to its core. In all likelihood, all these factors have varying degrees of truth, but the same reasons could be construed in a way to show why the alternative camp lost. However, there is another piece of the puzzle that has mysteriously gone under the radar of major news outlets.

It could be said that Trump’s victory is, at least in part a result of a phenomenon that remains somewhat difficult to define, but that is still a major issue: political correctness.

Indeed, Trump’s victory can be attributed towards his determination to annihilate political correctness. This is an issue that hasn’t yet been emphasised, and it is partly why more and more people are becoming disillusioned by politicians and the supposed watch dogs of society.

There is a growing problem that I have tried to point out (rather unsuccessfully I might add) that constantly seeks to narrow the accepted limits of public discourse.

The degree to which this twisted, morphed, left-wing monstrosity has evolved on college campuses is particularly bad in the US, where the far-left has gained institutional power and uses it to punish people for saying or thinking the wrong thing.

When Trump underlined his dislike for political correctness, he grabbed the attention of disenfranchised students and citizens alike, particularly the dissident, mischievous part of ‘the internet’, and capitalised on it.

The resurgence of what are effectively thought crimes, has had an intense and uneasy chilling effect on those with different views, who rightly fear the repercussions of expressing dissenting opinions as they know this may easily lead to social ostracism and unemployment.

Trump’s victory can be attributed towards his determination to annihilate political correctness

The segment of the electorate who flocked to support Trump did so as he showed himself to be “an icon of mocking resistance to political correctness”. In essence, Trump’s victory is an overt, populist rejection of those entitled, elitist, privileged leftists who are the first to sound the alarm on ordinary citizens who aren’t up to date with the latest requirements for ‘progressive’ society.

For example, a lot of people think that Islam represents a major threat to the very fabric of western civilisation. Maybe this is not the case, maybe those people are all racist, white supremacist, bigoted Islamophobes as is the endless mantra shoved down their throats.

But people think, and some of them think to the extent that they can look passed these ineptly fabricated slurs. Some have posited that political correctness is that force that holds these people in contempt, or that punishes them outright for having unpopular views.

If you are a regressive leftist, you probably think that this is absurd. You probably can’t understand why someone would become so antagonistic when you tell them that their words are mean and hurtful.

You probably think that limiting speech in order to avoid offence giving is not such a terrible thing after all. But it is precisely this failure to acknowledge this miscalculation in thought that has driven the Trump victory.

Social media elected Trump. The ability for ordinary citizens to bypass the leftist media establishment, whose crisis of credibility was brought about by nobody but themselves is a testament to their profound disconnection with ordinary citizen concerns.

Make no mistake, western mainstream media has completely lost touch with its citizens, and Trump’s victory has etched this sentiment into the hearts and minds of people for years to come. We saw this in Brexit, now the same thing has happened in the US, and it will not be the last. For better or worse, Europe is next.

With the election of Trump, political correctness is now on the precipice of its lifespan, and advocates of free speech will rejoice upon its eradication - and the left has only itself to blame. It emphasised identity politics to the point where group think became the norm.

Among the consequences of the regressive leftist rule is that people think less and less for themselves and more as a collective. As a result, depending on where one’s group fell within the victim pyramid, one could expect a degree of social and legal privileges over others.

In addition, the sheer exasperation caused by this departure from sanity by these childish social justice warriors played its part too. People were sick of being called “racist” for not worrying about Halloween costumes. They were sick of the feminists constantly nagging about how evil they were simply because they happened to be white, heterosexual males.

One can’t really blame the people for voting for Trump; I mean, safe spaces? Trigger warnings? New gender pronouns? Getting Muslim student groups to de-platform speakers like Ayaan Hirsi Ali? Was this the cause of a generation?

There is a cost to depriving people of the freedom to speak their mind, be it legal or social. And in this sense, Trump merely bulldozed this infantile generation back to reality.

Christopher Attard is a staunch advocate for free and open inquiry.