Within four weeks, on 3rd November 2020, Americans will decide the fate of Donald Trump and Joe Biden in the 59th quadrennial US Presidential elections. The national polls have been showing Donald Trump trailing behind the democratic nominee Joe Biden since the novel Covid-19 pandemic hit USA since March 2020. Donald Trump have been one of the most controversial presidents and the third American president to be impeached in the history of America. While he has had certain failures in his tenure, his administration has also accomplished certain achievements among which his staunchly loyal supporters are substantially important
One of the most lasting achievements of Donald Trump have to be the reshaping of federal judiciary where he has appointed 53 judges on the 13 US circuit courts whereas his predecessor Barack Obama was able to appoint a total of 55 judges in eight years of his reign. The establishment of the Space Force for fighting the potential extraterrestrial threats to the plant is another remarkable accomplishment on Trump’s plate. Then he also introduced the tax reform bill slashing the corporate tax from 35% to 21%. He also signed the First Step Act in 2018 which was highly appreciated by activist groups to end mass incarceration of criminals. Under his government, the US military successfully put an end to the ISIS caliphate and killed the terrorist mastermind Abubakr Al-Baghdadi. Despite these achievements, Donald Trump’s reign has had failures who overshadow these successes
His response to the death of a counter protestor in a neo Nazi rally in Virginia and the brutal murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police has been symbolic of his white supremacist and racist attitude. Donald Trump has pushed away USA’s important allies and has defamed America on the global level because of his actions. His intolerant and divisive attitude towards immigrants also adds up to the list of his shortcomings. The failure to curb the Covid-19 pandemic in US has gained him a huge shrinkage in popularity with almost 200,000 total deaths so far.
Donald Trump’s contestant Joe Biden who was initially seen as a very weak presidential nominee, has gained a surge in popularity during the pandemic because the Americans are disappointed of Trump’s mishandling of the disease. They are looking for someone with fresh policies towards managing the spread of the disease. Joe Biden is currently leading Donald Trump in most of the swing states including Florida, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, North Carolina, Arizona and Wisconsin whereas Trump is only leading in one swing state Iowa which has only 6 electoral votes. Although it is a very close and tough call, but the national polls cannot determine the winner with certainty as Hillary Clinton was ahead of Trump in 2016 all throughout the primaries but victory kissed Trump’s forehead in the end
The democratic nominee Biden has certain strengths on his shoulders which can potentially back him for a victory in the elections 2020. The Coronavirus has proved as the most advantageous conjecture for Biden in earning him popularity because Americans need a fresh set of policies for dealing with the pandemic. He is the only democratic nominee left for the fight now as the major contending democrats including Elizabeth Warren, Pete Buttigieg and even Bernie Sanders withdrew from the presidential race in March and April 2020. He has had the advantage of working as vice president for the former president Barack Obama and has a well insight into the true spirit of American presidential strategies. His response to the heinous murder of George Floyd was also emphatic and concerning as compared to the divisive attitude of the president Trump. His Vice president nominee, Kamala Harris is also one of his biggest strengths now as she can gain him the sympathies of the Afro-American and the female voters as well
Joe Biden has his share of weaknesses despite all these strengths on his side. He has made very few public appearances citing the Coronavirus situation and Americans usually like to see their leader on the ground and do not prefer a leader who likes to hide. In case of a victory, Joe Biden has people like Sanders and Pelosi on his team who are socialists and socialism can never go hand in hand with the Americans. His counterpart Donald Trump has always chanted America First whereas Biden is still blaming the notion of America First which shows his lack of prioritization for his country.
Carrying their strengths and weaknesses both Trump and Biden jumped into their first presidential debate on 29th September 2020. Filled with mockery, constant interruptions, talking over each other and shutting each other up this has been regarded as the most ridiculous presidential debate in the US history. Where Trump interrupted Joe Biden for a total of 73 times, Biden shut him up and used humiliating terms such as Idiot and Putin’s Puppy for the president. Bringing in almost 65 million viewers from the whole world, people have thrown their criticisms on America.
China specifically called out to America saying that their authoritarian regime is better than American democracy. People are questioning America’s morals and values. Britain stated that the country that they look up to for leadership qualities is now descended into an ugly brawl.
And just when people were gushing over the presidential debate, the US president Donald Trump tested positive for Coronavirus on Friday 2nd October 2020 along with his wife. His aide Hope Hicks had tested positive on Thursday. He was flown to the Walter Reed National Military Medical Centre Friday afternoon and has been receiving proper medical attention. He had mocked Joe Biden in the debate for wearing mask too much. He totally disregarded the Standard Operating Procedures SOPs in all his rallies and have been receiving a lot of criticism for attending events with no social distancing practices. He also continued his schedule with Hope Hicks despite knowing about her positive Corona test. Six other people from his inner circle have also tested positive for Coronavirus. So far, Donald Trump has released two videos confirming his good health
With four weeks left in the US presidential elections, the US president with a possibly fatal disease, close calls between him and Joe Biden in the swing states and the recent joke of a debate has gathered American elections more popularity than ever before. People from all around the world are awaiting 3rd November anxiously as the whole world’s fate rests on the person leading from the White House.
The author is doing M. Phil in Public Policy and Governance. He is working as a freelancer. Previously worked with HubPages and Washington Post.
An excellent write up
Finally
The moment
For which we all were waiting for