Joe Biden, for example, had to face discontent regarding his management of the war in the Gaza Strip between Israel and the Palestinian extremist organization Hamas. Donald Trump has easily succeeded in containing his adversaries within the Republican Party, but will have to redouble his efforts to rally a certain part of the electorate to him on November 5. And this, as the first convicted ex-president in the history of the United States.
With primaries in Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, South Dakota and the District of Columbia (for the Democrats), American voters went to the polls on Tuesday for the last time, with the exception of US overseas territories of Guam and the US Virgin Islands, which will still have to choose the Democratic candidate on June 8.
The stakes were no longer very high, since only Joe Biden and Donald Trump were still in the nomination race. However, we waited impatiently to see how the ex-president would fare after, last week, he was found guilty of paying bribes to pornographic actress Stormy Daniels. In the Montana and South Dakota primaries – the only ones where he still had opposition – this conviction did not translate into a greater anti-Trump vote within the Republican Party.
The various primaries nevertheless showed that a certain part of the Republican electorate was lining up against Donald Trump’s clan. Her last opponent in the Republican primaries Nikki Haley had managed to win in the small state of Vermont and in the American capital Washington DC. And, in strategic states like Michigan and North Carolina, she still managed to convince more than one in five Republicans.
Now that the former US ambassador to the United Nations has announced that she will vote for Donald Trump in November, it remains to be seen whether this group of voters will also switch sides and whether the billionaire’s conviction will affect the behavior of independent voters or sceptics.
During the primaries, Joe Biden had to face a particularly strong protest movement against the war in Gaza. In Minnesota, for example, nearly a fifth of voters cast undecided ballots. If we add the votes in favor of Joe Biden’s opponents, Dean Philipps and Marianne Williamson, a total of 30% of voters did not vote for the outgoing candidate.
The latest primaries have also shown that the protest movement can still mobilize. In South Dakota, for example, a quarter of voters who turned out did not choose Joe Biden, which will certainly give us pause. Especially since a little earlier, in the state of Michigan, 20% of voters opposed the Democratic president.
In addition, in insignificant American Samoa, the current tenant of the White House also had to swallow a defeat against the unknown Jason Palmer. A setback above all symbolic in this overseas territory where barely 91 people went to the polls.
With almost all the primaries behind them, Donald Trump and Joe Biden now have 2,242 and 3,748 delegates respectively, according to CNN counts. This is more than enough to be officially invested during the conventions of both parties this summer. It remains to be seen who the Republican billionaire will choose as his running mate. There is no shortage of candidates for the position, including, among others, senator and former opponent in the electoral race Tim Scott, Congresswoman Elise Stefanik, South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem, Senator JD Vance (best known for his book “Hillbilly Elegy”) or controversial talk show host Tucker Carlson.
