"Two reasons strike me. First, liberal America totally failed to heed the warnings of the UK's Brexit [UK leaving the EU], and simply failed to realise how disengaged from the Washington model so many Americans feel," Dr. Mark Shanahan, with the University of Reading, UK told Sputnik.
Shanahan pointed to the fact that the actual number of supporters of Donald Trump was a lot larger than what it seemed to be according to pre-election polls.
"… pollsters went only for the noise and vitriol of obvious Trump supporters. They completely missed the likely impact of 'Silent Trumpers', solid conservative-leaners who would not stump for Trump, but equally would never vote Clinton. The combination was lethal," Shanahan said.
Jim Campbell, Distinguished Professor at the University of Buffalo also told Sputnik that US election outcome predictions failed to take into account the fact that many Trump supporters had been left out of various national surveys.
"… the prevailing culture in many areas held Trump in such low regard that many people may have felt embarrassed to admit that they intended to vote for Trump," Campbell said.
In the course of his campaign, Trump has been widely criticized for his controversial statements, including with regard to immigrants, Latin Americans, Muslims, and women.
Trump secured more than the 270 electoral votes needed to win the US presidency, although Clinton won the popular vote with the support of 59.6 million Americans.
