Donald Trump: Why is the world so surprised?

I was lambasted, dressed-down by my peers and told that I was insane a week ago. All I said was that I personally felt nervous that he just might win. I mean, this guy threatened to fire Fed Chairwomen Janet Yellen and tear up trade treaties when he gets into office. So when I crawled out of bed at 4 a.m. and saw headlines of panic stricken markets in Asia, I wasn’t that surprised. It was the way he did it, which was so incredible.

During his campaign, he had no problem extending his proverbial middle finger at his critics. Then, just to make sure they got the message he would wave it around provocatively, tweeting in defiance at all those horrendous scandals that were meant to destroy his campaign. He made teflon look sticky.

He should never have been so successful. He did everything wrong, lost every televised debate and spouted cringe-worthy and often offensive comments at every opportune moment. He revelled in the outrage that he caused by what he said and dismissed his self-proclaimed pussy-grabbing tendencies as nothing more than “locker room talk”.

He loved to defy his critics and casually brushed aside any wise and sage advice offered. He made a complete mockery of the pundits, the campaign strategists and the political establishment.

What Donald Trump did instead was give the masses what they wanted. He offered populist politics that rejected the political consensus and promoted a form of anti-elitism against the old political order. It was an act that many ordinary people respected him for doing. He sensed what a large swath of the electorate wanted, fed them what they wanted to hear and did so much to the annoyance of the old Republican core.

The path Donald Trump took towards the White House seemed breathtakingly impossible and he knew it. Nevertheless, he didn’t care, he took the gamble and he made it.

During his campaign, his rise was often proclaimed to be nothing more than a brutal manipulation of xenophobic resentment across a large section of American society. It’s a popular view, but in fairness far too simplistic.

His Islamophobic tirades and ludicrous idea of a Mexican-paid border fence were not the main methods he used to draw support. In this election it was something much more powerful that helped him draw in the masses. It was his relentless use of social media.

Donald Trump mastered the dark art, revelled in his success at it and used it to propel his ascendency. He used Twitter like a gigantic political megaphone. With over 12 million followers, he could get his messages out fast and to the point, whipping up support when he wanted and antagonising his opposition for absolutely free. He saved tens of million in campaign costs and even once bragged that he was “the Ernest Hemingway of 140 characters”.

In this election, the time-tested and well-respected traditions of the fact-checking media were well and truly trumped. They fell victim to Chinese-whispered retweets of the loyal Trump masses who were willing to mix their personal stories and facts into a narrative that rejected large institutions and mainstream media outlets. He used Twitter with breathtaking efficiency to galvanise support and run-over his critics. The New York Times even published a hit-list of Donald Trump’s tweets.

Donald Trump’s social media influence actually stretched far beyond the Twittersphere with a strong presence also felt on Facebook, YouTube, Vine, Periscope and Instagram. His 15-second Instagram film shorts were legendary. Cheap, short and to the point, they were lapped up by media outlets and aired on mainstream television. With a YouTube channel of over 20 million views, he knew how to use video content effectively.

You can love him or hate, but you have to admit the way he won is fascinating, if not a little frightening.

The face of US politics will never be the same again.