It’s the same country. There has been no radical shift in American minds over the last four years. Even a national health emergency has not been enough to distract American voters from being more engaged in ‘culture wars’ than serious politics.
National pro-Trump propaganda machine Fox News has continued to blast Americans with terrifying stories of 'Antifa' militias using the Black Lives Matter protests. They have become a Republican bogeyman who threaten to eradicate the police force through a 'leftist' agenda. YouTube, Facebook, and the rest of the Internet have pushed right-wing conspiracies into the hands and minds of every person in the country. Membership of QAnon groups on Facebook has swelled by 600% during the coronavirus restrictions. Trump has made little explicit effort to denounce these far-right groups, instead leaving the ambiguity of his opinion towards them to count as implied support. This was shown best in the first Presidential debate when he told the Proud Boys to "stand down and stand by".
The momentum of radical right-wing groups has continued at a steady pace throughout the Trump Presidency.
Pro-Trump supporters have been appealing to their respective states, asking them to destroy ballots that are likely to be pro-Biden. Republican state governments have been challenging votes cast in court; they’ve also been limiting drop boxes for ballots and reducing polling locations. Trump has helped Louis DeJoy become chief of the US Postal Service, and Louis has been using his position to sabotage the efficiency of the service. This will only cause further chaos with this year’s predominantly mail-in ballots.
COVID has brought an increased demand for mail-in voting, a process with Trump has been sure to cast doubt over.
Against this attack on all fronts, against a national atmosphere of fear and division, what has been Joe Biden’s response? Trump is a powerful adversary, and needs to be met by a powerful leader. Joe Biden has only weak policy, a lack of charisma, and a boring ‘Build Back Better’ slogan. This makes him neither ‘powerful’ nor, as we’ll see tomorrow, a leader.
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