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Media around the world praised Joe Biden’s defeat over Donald Trump in the US presidential election, but attention quickly turned to the consequences for American politics.
The international press also focused on the feat of Kamala Harris, Biden’s running mate who will become the first woman and first black vice president of the United States.
“A New Dawn for America,” read The Independent’s headline in Britain, showing a photo of Biden standing next to Harris and signaling his historic achievement.
The Sunday Times published a photo of a black woman draped in the American flag and the headline: “Sleepy Joe Wakes America Up,” poking fun at Trump with his own derogatory nickname for Biden.
And the left-leaning Observer simply said “It’s Joe” over an image of the smiling Democrat.
– ‘Heavy load’ –
Germany’s mass market newspaper Bild published a photo of Trump with the headline: “Exit without decency.”
“What a release, what a relief,” said the left-wing newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung.
But he noted that Biden “inherits a heavy burden” unlike any his predecessors faced, and cautioned that accepting Trump’s defeat was “unthinkable.”
In Australia, the Daily Telegraph tabloid, owned by Rupert Murdoch’s media empire, also focused on Trump’s expected defiance against “an enemy he perceived as weak and hardly worth showing up to fight.”
– ‘No more lessons in democracy’ –
Iran’s ultra-conservative newspapers celebrated the downfall of Trump, a leader who has applied “maximum pressure” and punitive sanctions since withdrawing in 2018 from a landmark nuclear deal.
Still, they reserved little warmth for Biden. “The enemy without a mask has left, the masked enemy has arrived,” warned the conservative publication Resalat.
Another issue was the false claim of election fraud with the ultra-conservative Vatan-e Emrooz, apparently before Biden’s victory was announced, titled “The Graveyard of Democracy” and centered on false accusations.
Similarly, the Egyptian government daily al-Akhbar used a lengthy editorial to focus on the – unfounded – “violations” of the fraudulent vote, saying that “it is time for the United States to stop teaching us democracy lessons.”
– ‘Trump went to play golf’ –
In Saudi Arabia, the only Gulf country that has yet to comment on the outcome, the pro-government online newspaper Okaz wondered if Biden would persist in Trump’s close ties with the kingdom.
The kingdom’s pan-Arab Asharq al-Awsat newspaper urged Biden to continue a “period of economic prosperity and security stability” for the Middle East.
Turkey’s main newspapers were silenced. The major Hurriyet newspaper ran a short front page story about the result, along with an article titled: “Trump went golfing.”
A pro-government newspaper, Sabah, didn’t even report on Biden’s victory until page 10, and an opposition newspaper also ran a short front-page election story.
– Warnings for populism –
Brazil’s mainstream media reported Trump’s defeat in the context of its own populist leader, Jair Bolsonaro, who has likewise sought to diminish democratic institutions and reject science-based facts.
“Trump’s defeat punishes attacks against civilization, it is a lesson for Bolsonaro,” wrote Folha de Sao Paulo, one of Brazil’s main daily newspapers.
“Let Brazil’s leaders seize the spirit of the age, or die, like Trump.”
Spanish center-right newspaper El Mundo said Biden’s victory was a farewell to Trump’s populism and described Harris as a “symbol of renewal.”
– ‘Fight to heal’ –
Sweden’s leading daily, Dagens Nyheter, titled its editorial op-ed: “Bittersweet Victory: Biden Will Fight to Heal America.”
He described Biden’s vow to return to normalcy as a “mission impossible” in a “deeply divided country.”
Conservative Svenska Dagbladet warned daily of the dangers posed by the millions of Americans who will continue to believe Trump’s rhetoric of a stolen election.
“The elections are over, but the conflict continues,” read the headline.
On a lighter note, the Ayrshire Daily News, whose patch covers the Trump Turnberry golf course in Scotland, examined the result more locally.
“South Ayrshire Golf Club Owner Loses 2020 Presidential Election,” read its headline.
bur-kma / gle / rbu / tgb / wdb
