Most Dutch hope Harris wins U.S. election, expect riots either way

Most Netherlands residents hope that Kamala Harris will win the United States presidential election today, even people who don’t support her ideas. The vast majority of Dutch also expect riots in the United States no matter who wins, EenVandaag found in a survey of 23,000 members of its opinion panel.

71 percent of respondents said that they hope Harris wins. “Trump is a danger to democracy in the United States and to world peace,” one respondent said. Another said: “Trump only thinks about his own interests, he doesn’t care about the rest.” A poll by Euro Elect even had 87 percent of Dutch voting for Harris, if they could.

20 percent of EenVandaag respondents said they hoped Trump would win. They call him a “strong leader” and “straightforward.”

Either way, 89 percent of respondents expect that the American elections will be anything but peaceful. 36 percent expect minor disruptions like protests or riots, and 53 percent expect big problems like large-scale riots, violence, and chaos.

Netherlands residents expect the chaos in the U.S. will be greater if Harris wins. "Trump has already announced that fraud is being committed and that he can only lose if there are no fair elections," a respondent said. "A large part of his followers believe that, so I'm afraid that the storming of the Capitol will pale in comparison to what happens if he loses again."

If Trump wins, the aftermath chaos will probably be less severe, the Dutch believe. "Democrats will probably believe the result, but they won't be happy about it. I'm afraid that they too will riot if their candidate doesn't win."

Multiple Dutch banks have calculated that, if Donald Trump wins the election, it would result in higher inflation and lower economic growth in the Netherlands.