United States President Joe Biden must face his future opponent at the White House and former president, Donald Trump, during a televised debate this Thursday, June 27, four months before the presidential elections.
A debate eagerly awaited around the world. Neck and neck in the polls, the next two main candidates for the White House, Joe Biden, current President of the United States and his predecessor Donald Trump, must face each other this Thursday during a televised debate, the occasion to reacquaint themselves with an electorate who knows them well.
If they also know each other as much as they hate each other, Democrat Joe Biden, 81, and his 78-year-old Republican predecessor Donald Trump, have a common challenge: to mobilize voters who escape the extreme polarization of American political life and that this return match is repulsive. Once again, the election could be decided by a few tens of thousands of votes in a handful of states.
And to carry out this standoff, the duettists accepted rules intended to prevent this match from turning into a fistfight like their first debate in 2020, during which insults and vulgarities were thrown around.
However, it is customary for White House candidates to wait until the fall to debate, but the Democrat challenged his rival to face him before the summer in order to quickly establish a contrast that, Joe Biden is convinced, will work in his favor in light of the international situation.
Undeniably opposing visions
Whether it is Ukraine, Gaza, China or NATO, foreign policy will have a special place during the televised duel. If the American president has, on numerous occasions, demonstrated his unconditional support for Ukraine, Donald Trump, in the past an admirer of Russian President Vladimir Putin, used his influence over Republicans in Congress to block an envelope for months of 61 billion dollars in military aid for kyiv.
Donald Trump also assured that the attacks perpetrated by Hamas on October 7 in Israel did not happen under his watch. He accuses Joe Biden of having “let go” of the Israeli ally, although the president displays almost unfailing support for Israel. This is even though the Biden administration has expressed certain reservations about the way the war in Gaza is being conducted by the Israeli government.
Both Joe Biden and Donald Trump, both men establish China as the main strategic adversary of the United States. In certain respects, the democrat is even in continuity with his predecessor by applying the same protectionist economic policy. However, the American president pleads for a stabilization of relations with Beijing and “responsible” management of their differences, while Donald Trump advocates a harder line against a country he describes as an enemy.
Same differences on the subject of NATO, on the one hand Joe Biden congratulates himself on having restored the alliances of the United States including within NATO, Donald Trump threatens to withdraw. The American president appears as a convinced Atlanticist and praises a renewed alliance, “stronger than ever”, after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Donald Trump caused an outcry by saying that he would encourage Vladimir Putin to “do what he wants” if a NATO country did not respect its financial commitments to the alliance.
As a reminder, Donald Trump’s presidency was marked by a break with multilateral agreements such as on the climate, the anti-immigration fight with the “wall” on the border with Mexico, the imposition of all-out customs tariffs and singular meetings such as with the North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. Under Joe Biden, it is quite the opposite with the strengthening of alliances, particularly in the Asia-Pacific.
Stick the knife in the wound
To come out on top, both candidates risk using all the means at their disposal to achieve their goal. For Joe Biden, it will be enough to mention the guilty verdict pronounced by a New York jury against the former president, something never seen before.
These are hidden payments to a former porn actress for which Donald Trump is being prosecuted in several other cases, notably linked to the protests and violence following the 2020 election.
On Donald Trump’s side, even if the duettists are only three years apart, the Republican will be able to mention the Americans’ concern regarding the faculties of the president in office, who has undeniably lost in physical presence and oratory fluency, unlike to him, although this Donald Trump often launches into incoherent digressions at meetings.
“He is sleeping, because they want him to be fit. And a little before the debate, he will receive a shot in the ass,” said the Republican during a recent meeting. He had already insinuated that the Democratic president would be “doped” for their meeting.
