Editorial: Tiresome rematch

Most Americans are tired of witnessing the contest between Biden and Trump, given the bitter polarisation that characterised the previous election

There seems to be a sense of weariness and fatigue among American voters as the stage is set for an election rematch between President Joe Biden and his predecessor Donald Trump in November after they comfortably secured their parties’ presidential nominations in key primaries earlier this week. It is a contest that most Americans are tired of witnessing, given the bitter polarisation that characterised the previous election. This would be the first rematch election in almost seven decades. The latest nationwide poll has put Trump ahead of his Democratic Party rival by six percentage points but, more importantly, it revealed that nearly 67% of the respondents were tired of seeing the same candidates in presidential elections and want someone new. At 81, Biden is the oldest-ever presidential candidate from a major party, breaking his own record set in 2020, and his alleged failing memory and incoherent public speeches have provided fodder for his political rivals. Despite the ignominy of being the first American president to go on trial in criminal cases, Trump has surprisingly retained his hold over his loyal fan base. Trump’s legal battles are set to run parallel to his electoral campaign and he will leave no stone unturned to play the victim card to consolidate his vote bank. Ironically, the criminal charges have strengthened his position among the die-hard followers. A divisive figure whose presidential legacy was marked by moral and political indiscretions, Trump was graceless in his defeat in 2020.

Trump was indicted for conspiracy to defraud the country in a case pertaining to the attack on the US Capitol by his riotous supporters on January 6, 2021. A Manhattan grand jury had also indicted him with more than 30 counts of fraud, including falsification of payment records in a case involving payment of hush money to a porn star. In all, he faces 91 felony charges but the unrepentant Republican leader has been on a counter-offensive, dubbing the cases as conspiracy of the left-wing establishment. On his part, Biden is battling a perception battle; he is seen as a weak, frail and unassertive leader who is losing grip over the development narrative. Despite performing better than most Western leaders, his popularity rating has been slipping. He will be formally declared the party’s candidate during the Democratic National Convention in Chicago in August, while Trump will be officially nominated at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee in July. The eight-month-long campaign is bound to be bitter and brutal; an eerily familiar collision of diagonally opposite versions of the idea of America and democratic governance. The Democratic Party has cast Trump as a threat to the very foundations of American democracy while the Republican leader has dubbed Biden as enfeebled and surrounded by ‘fascists and communists’ and incapable of performing the basic tasks of the presidency.

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