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On Saturday, Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden was named the winner of the 2020 US presidential election. US expert Hilmar Mjelde says Barack Obama pulled Biden off the political rubbish heap.
– Without President Obama, without President Biden. Biden failed as a presidential candidate in 1988 and 2008. But when Obama elected him vice president, Biden immediately got a springboard to the presidency, Mjelde tells Dagbladet.
Pile of political junk
Hilmar Mjelde is a Senior Researcher at the NORCE Research Center. He notes that Biden will be the 15th president of the United States who previously served as vice president.
– Trump said it was Obama who pulled Biden off the political rubbish heap. It wasn’t that nice said, but it was pretty correct.
In Trump’s throat
The 44th President of the United States, Barack Obama, launched into the election campaign in earnest when he held an election campaign event in late October in Philadelphia, which is in the important tilted state of Pennsylvania.
Dagbladet was present when Obama launched a frontal attack on President Donald Trump. This is Obama’s clearest attack on his successor during Trump’s four years in the White House.
– He has used the presidency as a reality show to get attention, Obama said, continuing:
– This is not a reality show. This is the reality.
Among other things, Obama pointed to Trump’s lies, accused him of planning and criticized his handling of the corona pandemic.
– I’m angry. I’ve been frustrated. But I have not lost hope, he said.
– Huge appeal
Dagbladet political editor Geir Ramnefjell also says Obama’s contribution to Biden’s election campaign has been significant.
– It is clear that Obama has great appeal. That he launched into the electoral campaign when it was coming to an end has probably had a lot to say. Obama probably mobilized many of the voters who were very enthusiastic about him during his tenure as president.
Ramnefjell says Obama means a lot to many Americans, especially minority groups.
– Historically, Obama is a popular president. At the same time, he has many opponents, so I also think that Biden’s own candidacy and his own figure as a kind of unifying figure who has managed to build a very broad coalition, has been equally crucial. Of course, this has been more crucial than Obama’s contribution.
Congratulations
On Saturday, Obama declared that he could not have been more proud to congratulate Joe and Jill Biden as the new president and first lady of the United States. He also congratulated Kamla Harris, who will be the first female vice president of the United States.
“In this election, Americans came together in a way we’ve never seen before, in circumstances we’ve never experienced before,” Obama said, adding:
– When you enter the White House in January, you face extraordinary challenges that no other newly elected president has faced: a devastating pandemic, a justice system and an economy marked by inequality, a democracy in peril and a climate under pressure.
