The United States Presidential Election takes place on November 3. It will be a unique election, taking place in what has been an eventful year in the USA.
The Commander-in-chief is arguably the most powerful person in the world. The United States of America is the most powerful nation on Earth. On the 20th of January, either Donald Trump or Joe Biden will begin a four year term with access to the nuclear button.
In 2016, Trump was viewed as an outsider. He had never held public office and was best known for hosting The Apprentice. Many believed he would never ascend to the presidency. He bullied his way through the Republican primaries to become Republican nominee, and went on to defeat Hillary Clinton, in a result that shocked many.
In contrast, Joe Biden was elected as a senator from Delaware at the age of 30, becoming the sixth youngest senator in U.S. history. He was sworn in just three weeks after the tragic death of his wife and daughter in car accident. He became known as “Amtrak Joe”, as he commuted between his Delaware home to Washington, D.C. in a journey that took 90 minutes each way. He did this just to see his sons every day. Biden was re-elected six times and held the seat until he ascended to the Vice Presidency in 2009. This also is not the first time he has ran for the Presidency. He initially ran in 1988 but was forced to pull out for plagiarizing a speech by the then-British Labour Party leader, Neil Kinnock. His 2008 campaign was lacklustre and was dwarfed by those of then-Senators Hilary Clinton and eventual frontrunner, Barrack Obama. Biden is reported not to have run in 2016 due to the tragic death of his son, Beau.
President Trump has turned the United States away from Obama-era policies. Trump has attempted to kill off Obama’s flagship policy, the Affordable Healthcare Act. He has left the Paris Agreement, which was signed by Obama in 2016. This is a landmark accord to strengthen the global response to the threat of climate change. Trump has called it a “bad deal”. He has also withdrawn from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, commonly known as the Iran nuclear deal. Another four years of Trump may also lead to the demise of NATO. His former National Security Advisor, John Bolton, has said that a “political guardrail” was the only thing stopping the US from pulling out during his first term. The President pulling out could jeopardise NATO as the USA contributes nearly 70 percent of NATO’s funding. In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, Trump moved to pull the US out of the World Health Organization. Democrats claim that Trump’s mishandling of the COVID crisis has led to 300,000 ‘excess deaths’. He infamously claimed that injecting hydroxychloroquine could help treat the virus, which he then claimed was a sarcastic statement. He also mocked Biden for wearing a mask, which came back to haunt him when he, and many other senior White House and Republican figures contracted COVID-19. The White House has also accused Dr Anthony Fauci of “playing politics”. Trump has suggested he will sack him if re-elected.
Trump has made many infamous remarks. In response to the 2018 Charlottesville riots, “there were very fine people, on both sides”, referring to the alt-right. "With those words, the president of the United States assigned a moral equivalence between those spreading hate and those with the courage to stand against it," Biden said. He cites these comments as the tipping point that caused him to run for the presidency. However, Biden is also controversial for his friendship with Strom Thurmond. Thurmond was a segregationist, who died in 2003. He had a career in congress spanning almost fifty years, where he initially sat as a Southern Democrat, before becoming a Republican in 1964. This was due to his opposition to the Civil Rights Act. Biden spoke the eulogy at his funeral and described him as having been a “close friend”. This year, the United States has experienced heightened racial tensions. Trump has faced criticism following the murder of George Floyd. When asked why black people are “still dying at the hands of law enforcement”, he responded by stating it was a “terrible question to ask”.
Biden, like Trump, has also been accused of sexual harassment. He also is accused of mishandling Anita Hill’s 1992 sexual harassment hearing against then-Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas. He has expressed regret that he “couldn’t come up with a way to get her the kind of hearing she deserved.” He has said he owes his accuser “an apology”. Rudy Giuliani, the former mayor of New York has accused Biden’s only living son, Hunter, of illicit business activities in Ukraine and China. Democrats claim this is false.
This is also the first election where both major candidates are over 70. Both will be the oldest President by the end of their term. Biden is seen by many to be geriatric and would be 86 by the end of a potential second term. Trump is also rumoured to have had a series of mini strokes, which he has denied. He also has suffered from COVID-19 and is clinically obese. Biden has signalled that he would only serve one term as President. Potential Vice-President Kamala Harris could potentially be the Democrat candidate for 2024. If elected, she would be the first female President of the United States of America. Trump and Biden aren’t the only candidates on the ballot paper. The Green Party has nominated Howie Hawkins and the Libertarian candidate is Jo Jorgensen. Kanye West is also running, having announced his memorable campaign on Twitter.
This election is unique. A record number of voters have already voted by post, due to limitations put in place by COVID-19. Both mainstream candidates in this election are very different. The United States is at a pivotal moment in its history. Trump has led the nation through an eventful year, experiencing a crisis in Iran, COVID-19, and increased racial tensions following the death of George Floyd. The next President will lead an increasingly divided nation through a period of recovery. Both Trump and Biden claim they will be President for everyone. Both have been accused of running smear campaigns, with both debates widely being seen has unpresidential. To win the election, a candidate must secure 270 votes in the electoral college. This election is rumoured to be very tight. Many polls show Joe Biden to be ahead of Donald Trump. However, the media incorrectly predicted a Clinton win in 2016. The result of this election will define politics across the world. As of yet, Trump has not committed to a peaceful transition of power if Biden is victorious, which may lead to a situation similar to that of 2000. The outcome of this unique election may not be known for weeks.
