The great American political story is coming to an end. Democrat Joe Biden was only 30 years old when he entered the Senate. Now 81, he is slowly winding down his career as the oldest US president. Today, Biden decided to withdraw from the fight for re-election, but he still has one last fight ahead of him. With his step, he wants to contribute to preventing Republican Donald Trump, whom he considers a threat to American democracy, from moving into the White House again after November 5.
Photo: SITA/AP, Manuel Balce Ceneta
US President Joe Biden with his wife Jill.
Biden’s Talk
For weeks, the ruler of the Oval Office has faced mounting calls to end his presidential campaign. Everything was started by a televised debate on June 27. In it, the democrat appeared tired and several times got lost in his own thoughts when answering. Although his opponent Donald Trump (78) also did not give any dazzling performance and traditionally invented almost constantly, he looked more energetic on the screens.
That was enough for the American media and, gradually, more and more Democrats to start writing Biden’s political obituary.
“The reason we got to see that debate at all was because the president wanted to allay concerns about his age. But instead he confirmed them in the worst possible way on the biggest stage possible. No amount of reasonably successful interviews or follow-up press conferences could undo that. back,” political science professor Steven Greene from North Carolina State University responded to Pravda.
Not even the NATO summit that took place in Washington from July 9 to 11 saved Biden. Initially, it went smoothly for the American president and world leaders praised him, but at the very end of the summit, Biden scored two goals of his own.
First, he introduced Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as Vladimir Putin, that is, the head of the Kremlin, which launched a major invasion against Ukraine on February 24. Shortly after that, Biden said at another event that Trump is his vice president, although, of course, Kamala Harris is in that capacity.
“It has been my greatest honor to serve as your president. And while it has been my intention to seek re-election, I believe it is in the best interest of my party and country that I step down and focus solely on fulfilling my duties as president for the remainder of my term,” Biden said in a statement today.
In it, the democratic president recalled the achievements of his government. “Over the past three and a half years, we’ve made great progress as a nation. Today, America has the strongest economy in the world. We’ve made historic investments to rebuild our country, lower prescription drug costs for seniors, and expand affordable health care for a record number of Americans. . We appointed the first African-American woman to the Supreme Court. And we passed the most important climate legislation in history. I know that none of this would be possible without you, the American people,” the White House chief emphasized.
At the time Biden decided to withdraw from the campaign, Trump was leading him 43.5 percent to 40.2 percent, according to an analysis of polls by Fivethirtyeight.com. It’s not that big of a difference, but it was obvious that the Democrat was losing to his opponent, even though the election is more than 100 days away.
The Republican was also helped by an assassination attempt when 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks tried to shoot him at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania on July 13. Trump escaped with only an ear injury, but one person was killed and two others were injured.
“The chances of a Republican winning the election are quite high these days. But it’s not because Trump’s popularity has somehow increased, or because people support his political principles. But after the shooting, he won the sympathy of voters and Democrats are divided. The assassination contributed to the fact that people now see the ex-president as a victim of violent rhetoric, although he has been spreading it for years. The events of January 6, 2021 are just one example (a fanatical crowd of Trump supporters then attacked Congress, editor’s note). He also threatened the possibility of civil war and other acts of violence by his supporters, which he said could happen if he did not win the election. It’s why so much hate and polarization is part of our political dialogue right now. But people don’t understand it that way now, since Trump has become the target of a gunman,” political communication expert Tammy Vigilová from Boston University explained to Pravda.
Who will the Democrats nominate?
How do Democrats want to reverse this trend? After withdrawing from the campaign, Biden endorsed his vice president, Harris, to take over from him. He called on his party to send her into the race for the White House.
“My very first decision as the party’s nominee in 2020 was to choose Kamala Harris as vice president. And it was the best decision I’ve ever made. Today I want to offer my full support and support for Kamala to be our party’s nominee this year. Democrats — it’s time to come together and defeat Trump,” Biden declared.
However, this process is unlikely to be so straightforward. According to US media, after Biden’s announcement, the Democratic National Committee met to decide what to do next. It seems that many of its leaders would like to see some sort of snap primaries.
“Democrats don’t have many alternatives. Harris has weak support in the polls. California Governor Gavin Newsom has a mixed political record in his home state, but at least he is well known across the country. Michelle Obama has already rejected a possible nomination, because although she was the first lady, she has no formal executive or legislative experience,” American politics expert Robert Busby from Liverpool Hope University told Pravda.
“Trump is politically vulnerable because most voters don’t like him. For example, polls show that candidates like Sen. Mark Kelly (Arizona), Gov. Wes Moore (Maryland), Gov. Josh Shapiro (Pennsylvania), Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (Michigan) and Gov. Gavin Newsom (California), and possibly several others, could beat the Republican . Vice President Harris could also be the nominee, as several studies have shown that she too could win over Trump. But I doubt that,” said political scientist Kenneth Warren from Saint Louis University in Missouri for Pravda.
Source: spravy.pravda.sk
