In the US, 2 World Views

Biden and Trump represent two different perceptions of the country and the world, and the triumph of one may affect what happens on the rest of the planet.

The United States is preparing for what is likely to be a difficult, unpleasant and no doubt consequential election year.

The election pits Joe Biden, a sitting president with a traditional liberal ideology, against former President Donald Trump, the egocentric leader of a populist right-wing movement. One is 81 years old, the other 77.

But, beyond that obvious difference, they represent two different visions of the country and the world, and the triumph of one may affect what happens to the rest of the planet.

The good and bad thing is that Americans would prefer other candidates. Both have negative personal images. Biden, because of his age, his apparent physical weakness, and because he is seemingly facing problems related to how the economy and immigration seem to be getting out of hand. His honesty is under attack by the Republican ultra-right, and although they have not shown any evidence, those Republicans are putting together an impeachment in which they hope that that Hunter Biden’s problems will reflect poorly on his father.

Such an impeachment trial has no future. If the House of Representatives, which will determine whether to approve articles of impeachment, is controlled by a rickety Republican majority. The Senate, which will decide to convict or acquit Biden on impeachment charges, is in the hands of a slim Democratic majority.

Trump, for his part, is known as a con man, a man who makes up his own truth and faces at least four criminal indictments on charges ranging from tax fraud to interfering with the results of the 2020 election. All that lets him present as a victim of political persecution.

The real estate tycoon heads a coalition of nationalist and religious right-wind groups and offers a heavy-handed approach to undocumented immigrants, minorities and officials who oppose his policies. People think he has the ambitions of a dictator.

One leader seeks to maintain the U.S. as a world hegemon and guardian of its political and ideological foundation: liberal democracy and trade. He is considered a promoter of internationalism.

During his 2016-2020 term of office, the other sought to diminish his country’s international commitments, especially with respect to defense and trade, and tried to abandon the role his country has played since the end of World War II and settle with its competitors for world supremacy. People regard him as an isolationist.

The former leader, however, won the presidency thanks to a coalition of ethnic, religious, and sexual minorities, which he hopes to maintain in fighting the consequences of the Trump administration, limitations on abortion rights, and a reluctant fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

“It’s basically a judgment on the work of two presidents,”* commented Bill Schneider, a professor emeritus at George Mason University and author of the book How America Became Ungovernable.

*Editor’s note: Although accurately translated, this quote was unable to be sourced.