As the dust settles on the news that Donald Trump has been elected as the next President of the United States, the world is grappling with the implications of his leadership. Here, Stylist’s acting editor Susan Riley takes a closer look at the repercussions of the vote and explains why #ImNotWithHim.

Why does it feel like an overqualified woman just got beaten by a truly average man? Oh, that’ll be because THAT’S EXACTLY WHAT’S JUST HAPPENED.

But lets park the him-versus-her debate (Susan Sarandon already said quite rightly this week that she doesn’t vote with her vagina, and let’s face it, the #ImWithHer hashtag felt more than a little off) because we’ve got a much bigger problem than that.

America has just voted in a man with openly nationalist, sexist and xenophobic views.

Views and opinions which not only have we given far too much airtime to since Trump went into politics – lets recap: a man with no political expertise or experience is now the leader of the free world – but views and opinions he’s now been voted into office because of rather than in spite of.

That Trump exists at all is sad enough. That enough people identify with his values and ideologies to make him president, or feel like they have no more attractive alternative, is sadder still. And that’s the true tragedy here. We’re not weeping because a woman’s not in the White House; we’re weeping because a caricature’s been allowed in instead.

Real life suddenly has a somewhat cartoonish quality, and nothing seems real or trustworthy.

All this after eight years of Obama… A truly progressive president. It’s like going from the sublime to the ridiculous.  

Obama is living, breathing proof that the hopes of many hinge on the leadership of a chosen few. In order for us to remain hopeful, we need those chosen few to be decent and fair, and measured and well-informed. We do not need them to be bigoted and inflammatory, or happy to trade on fear and resentment. 

Trump has already pledged to “deal fairly with everyone”, yet that promise goes against everything we know of him to date.

“America will no longer settle for anything less than the best,” he continues, not self-aware enough to realise that it already has.

So how does America, and the rest of us, recover from today’s result? By standing firm. Donald Trump might be president but one thing’s for sure: #ImNotWithHim.

I’m not with a man who thinks it’s OK to grab women by the pussy.

I’m not with a man who thinks Mexicans are rapists and criminals.

I’m not with a man who thinks women should be punished for having an abortion.

I’m not with him. We’re not with him. And we never will be.