The United States Presidential election was conducted on November 3, 2020, with current President Donald Trump of the Republican Party and Joe Biden of the Democratic Party as presidential candidates. This was quite the event, with the nation divided over Donald Trump’s rule as President and the world in the grips of a pandemic of epic proportions. The 2020 presidential election was the most polarizing election ever in the recent history of the USA.
DONALD TRUMP AND MIKE PENCE
Long before he contested the 2016 Presidential elections and won, Donald Trump was a well-known American personality. His career in politics was preceded by his career as one of the wealthiest businesspersons in the USA and as a television personality. Born and raised in Queens, a borough of New York City, Trump attended Fordham University for two years and received a bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of Pennsylvania. He assumed the mantle of his father’s real-estate business in 1971, becoming its president and changing the name to The Trump Organization. Trump also started a number of side ventures after this by licensing his own name. In fact, Donald Trump is known for putting his name on a number of business ventures that were successes as well as failures. Trump’s political positions have been described as populist, protectionist, and nationalist. He entered the 2016 presidential race as a Republican and was elected in a surprise victory over Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, although he lost the popular vote.
Trump has made a number of false statements during his campaigns and presidency, and many more statements that can be construed as being racist. During his presidency, Trump ordered a travel ban on citizens from several Muslim-majority countries, citing security concerns. He has always been vocal about and followed a nationalist America-first agenda – withdrawing the U.S. from the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade negotiations, the Paris Agreement on climate change, and the Iran nuclear deal. He also imposed trade tariffs which sparked a trade war with China, recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, and withdrew U.S. troops from northern Syria.
Mike Pence is the current Vice President of the USA and Trump’s running mate for the 2020 elections. Pence was born and raised in Columbus, Indiana and graduated from Hanover College and earned a law degree from the Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law before entering private practice. A strong endorser of Republican ideas and conservative politics, he is known for his stance on supporting the National Rifle Association, influencing gun laws and promoting gun ownership, as well siding with industrialists. Pence had stronger connections during the 2016 elections to the politically influential big donors, the Kochs, than Trump did. On November 8, 2016, Pence was elected vice president of the United States as Trump’s running mate. Soon after the election, he was appointed chairman of President-elect Trump’s transition team.
During the transition phase of the Trump administration, Pence was reported as holding a large degree of influence in the administration due to his roles as a mediator between Trump and congressional Republicans, for reassuring conservatives about Trump’s conservative credentials, and his influence in determining Donald Trump’s cabinet. Pence was a key player in the Trump-Ukraine scandal and the Trump impeachment inquiry. Pence had at least two phone conversations and an in-person meeting with Volodymyr Zelensky, President of Ukraine. Pence met with Zelensky in Poland on September 1, 2019, during an unexpected delay in U.S. military aid to Ukraine. Pence later told the press that he did not mention 2020 presidential candidate and former vice president Joe Biden to Zelensky, but raised issues regarding Ukrainian corruption.
JOE BIDEN AND KAMALA HARRIS
Joe Biden served as Vice President of the USA during the Obama administration. Biden was raised in Scranton, Pennsylvania, and New Castle County, Delaware. He studied at the University of Delaware before receiving his law degree from Syracuse University. While clerking for a law firm in 1968, he grew a liking for Republicans since the incumbent Democratic governor’s conservative racial policies irked him, although he did not register as a Republican since he disapproved of Nixon, registering as an independent instead. Tragedy struck when his wife and infant daughter were the casualties of a road accident. His sons, however, survived. For the next 5 years, he did the best he could to take care of his family all by himself as well as carry out his official duties. Biden met his second wife, Jill, in 1975. They married in 1977. During his first years in the Senate, Biden focused on consumer protection and environmental issues and called for greater government accountability.
He ran for president in 1988, but did not win. Soon after the 2008 election, Biden was appointed chairman of president-elect Obama’s transition team. Biden chose veteran Democratic lawyer and aide Ron Klain as his chief of staff and Time Washington bureau chief Jay Carney as his director of communications. Delaware newspaper columnist Harry F. Themal wrote that Biden “occupies the sensible center of the Democratic Party”. Which is exactly what he is basing his campaign on. He actively opposes Trump’s racial rhetoric and antagonism against immigrants, promising a better future for those wishing to achieve the American dream. His running mate, Kamala Harris is a woman of Indian descent – and that makes this election especially important to us Indians. Having an Indian-American in the heart of the American federal administration will hopefully shape American policies in favor of India over the next four years.
Kamala Harris was born to an Indian mother and a Jamaican-American father. Born in Oakland, California, she began her career in the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office, before being recruited to the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office and later the City Attorney of San Francisco’s office. In 2002, she ran for district Attorney of San Francisco, winning by a 56% margin. She served as Attorney General of California for two terms – 2011 and 2014. As District Attorney and Attorney General, Harris has been outspoken against corporations who flaunt environmental safety laws, trans-national criminal organizations and financial groups who prey on the common folk. She also championed consumer protection and privacy rights, criminal justice reform as well as LGBTQ rights.
In February 2016, the California Democratic Party voted at its convention to endorse Harris for the United States Senate, who received nearly eighty percent of the vote. In the November 2016 election, Harris became a US Senator, capturing over sixty percent of the vote. Following her victory, she promised to protect immigrants from the policies of President-elect Donald Trump and announced her intention to remain Attorney General through the end of 2016. As Senator, she actively opposed Trump’s “Muslim ban” policy and voted to convict him on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. As a person and as a politician, Kamala Harris has proven herself time and time again to be leader well deserving of the American people’s support and trust.
THE AMERICAN APPROACH TO FOREIGN RELATIONS UNDER DONALD TRUMP
The Trump administration has been quite erratic and unpredictable in it’s approach to foreign relations, especially with their Central American neighbors.
The Trump administration’s approach towards diplomatic ties with Pakistan can be split into two phases: bilateral relations that were unquestionably tense for the first two years of the administration and, since 2019, a much more positive relationship with cooperation on the Afghan peace process and attempts to boost the bilateral relationship on other fronts. The relationship with Pakistan for the first two years of the administration was marked by a strong focus on U.S. concerns about Pakistani safe havens for the Haqqani Network. The administration said it would cut off all economic ties unless Pakistan took action against militant and terrorist groups. Things went further south in January 2018, when Trump accused Pakistan of “lies and deceit” in their relationship with America, tweeting that it took U.S. aid for nothing in return. The administration cut off $1.3 billion in U.S. security assistance in the aftermath of Trump’s tweet.
Prior to Trump, the US had sought to encourage China to grow into a responsible stakeholder of a rules-based international order. But the Trump administration believes such goodwill engagement has been exploited by China. Trump has taken a hardline approach towards China, treating Chinese relations with the same disdain and reckless abandon that he treats a number of other important issues like immigration, citizenship, taxing the wealthy and protecting the environment. This is a dangerous approach towards a nation that is poised to become a superpower and is already a force to be reckoned with in Asia. The China hawks in the Trump administration now advocate empowering the Chinese people to change the Communist Party’s behaviour, short of calling for a regime change in China.
Under President Donald Trump, the United States’ relations with many of its closest friends have deteriorated drastically. However, India and the US share an extensive and expanding cultural, strategic, military, and economic relationship. Trump and Modi have visited each other in efforts to garner popular support. The USA hosted Modi in 2019 in a high profile event titled “Howdy Modi”. India hosted Trump in another high profile event titled “Namaste Trump”, in 2020, in response to “Howdy Modi”. Both these events were marked by high publicity and a huge turnout. When the pandemic was in its nascent stages and hydroxychloroquine was an accepted treatment for COVID-19, India sent a shipment of this medication to the USA. Key recent developments include the rapid growth of India’s economy, closer ties between the Indian and American industries especially in the Information and communications technology (ICT), engineering and medical (STEM) sectors.
WHAT WILL THE NATION LOOK LIKE UNDER DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY JOE BIDEN AND HIS RUNNING MATE KAMALA HARRIS?
Joe Biden is a personification of the American middle class. He has always stood up for progressive ideals and been a stalwart of the Democratic Party. Biden and President Obama tried to solve the immigration crisis in Central America by raising almost USD 750 million in aid to help stem gang violence, which is the root cause of mass immigration in the northern triangle – Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador. Joe Biden’s immigration policies also claim that he will restore the Dreamer program, which Trump tried to destroy. The Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act, known as the DREAM Act, is a United States legislative proposal to grant temporary conditional residency, with the right to work, to qualifying immigrants who entered the United States as minors. Biden’s policies also claim that foreign students with PhDs in STEM from American universities will be exempt from the cap on Green Cards (the permanent residency program of the USA).
Kamala Harris has been referred to as “the most liberal person in the US”. Her policies reflect her progressive outlook and her actions as Attorney General of California, she has proven that she is more than capable of understanding and navigating the shadowy corridors of American politics and still retain her integrity and uphold the law. Along with President Biden, the two of them have the opportunity to usher in a new golden era of progressive ideals, American cooperation with the EU and Middle East, as well India and Africa.
WHAT THE TRUMP AND BIDEN CAMPAIGNS PROMISED:
The Trump campaign has made the following promises to the American people:
- Bringing a coronavirus vaccine to production stage by the end of 2020
- Bringing a new health plan proposing low insurance premiums and covering all pre-existing conditions
- Blocking illegal immigrants from becoming eligible for welfare schemes
- Mandatory deportation of non-citizen gang members
- Prohibiting American companies from replacing US citizens with lower-cost foreign workers
- Requiring new immigrants to be able to support themselves financially
- Continuing his de-regulatory agenda for energy independence
The Biden campaign has also made several promises to the American people, which include:
- Forcing China to play by the international rules that govern every nation
- Reforming US’s immigration system to welcome immigrants in our communities
- Working towards providing package for main street businesses and entrepreneurs
- Making wearing masks mandatory
- Protecting aged Americans and those at high risk during the pandemic
- Distributing free coronavirus vaccines to all Americans
- Extending COVID-19 crisis unemployment insurance to help those who are out of work
- Abrogating the travel and refugee bans, also referred to as “Muslim bans”
WHAT IS THE ELECTORAL COLLEGE?
When Americans go to the polls in presidential elections they’re actually voting for a group of officials who make up the electoral college. These people are electors and their job is to choose the president and vice-president. The electoral college meets every four years, a few weeks after election day, to carry out that task.
There are a total of 538 electors, with the number of electors being proportional to the population of each state. California leads the country in the number of electors with a total of 55, while some smaller states like Alaska satisfy the minimum requirement of 3. Each elector represents one electoral vote, and a candidate needs to gain a majority of the votes – 270 or more to win the presidential race. Certain states almost always vote the same way, while there are a few swing states which are the grounds for the final battle. These states are called the battleground states, and this is where elections are won or lost. Some battleground states have a lot more electoral college votes as compared to others so candidates often spend a lot more time campaigning in them.
THE 2020 ELECTIONS STATUS
Most news channels like Fox, CNN and the Associated Press called the election on November 7, when the counting in Pennsylvania finally finished. The winner is Joe Biden, who is now the President-elect of the United States of America, on track to become the 46th President of the USA. This was a historic victory – Biden will become the oldest American to ever become a President, Harris will become the first female Vice President in the history of the USA. She will also become the first Vice President of Indian descent to hold office.
Trump has been continuously making false allegations over the legitimacy of mail-in ballots, which have drastically increased in number this year following the pandemic. He has repeatedly called these mail-in ballots illegal, saying that they contribute to voter fraud. In his signature inflammatory and confrontational style, has promised that he will challenge this result in the courts. His personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, has addressed the media in a speech, claiming that several lawsuits are about to follow from Monday.
IN THE AFTERMATH OF THE ELECTIONS
With the most intense and polarizing election in recent history finally over, Joe Biden emerged victorious, ousting Donald Trump. However, Trump has refused to acknowledge defeat, claiming fraud and demanding recounts in every battleground state that he lost. When the winners were called, President-elect Joe Biden released a statement thanking the American people for their faith in him and promising that the real work would begin now. The Trump campaign released a statement claiming that President-elect Biden was too quick to announce his victory and that the election was far from over. He has challenged the fundamental American right to vote repeatedly by calling mail-in votes illegal, demanding that they be stopped from being counted. Trump has implied before that he might refuse to accept the results of the election should he lose. If Trump refuses to leave the White House even after Biden officially becomes the President, he can be charged with trespassing on government property and be forcibly removed by the Secret Service, quite possibly end up in prison too. With a four year term that has been marked by increasing hostility towards immigrants from Latin America and Muslim countries, speeches laced with racist rhetoric and outrageous falsehoods, it might indeed be necessary to forcibly remove a US President from the White House, once again cementing the status of this particular election as one for the history books.
