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NEW YORK. I imagine that many in the world, both leaders and citizens, sigh with relief that Trump’s four years in power will soon be over.
With Joe Biden, the world can take a more normal course. But it cannot fix everything that Trump has managed to destroy.
For me, the turning point came early Thursday morning US time when Joe Biden surpassed Donald Trump in the vote count in Pennsylvania. Even then, it was clear in practice that he would become president because most of the votes that remained to be counted were mail-order votes from strong democratic areas in the big cities.
Trump won the 2016 election by an incredibly small margin in the states of Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania, a total of less than 80,000 votes.
Now the exact same thing happened with the difference that Joe Biden managed to regain these normally democratic states by a narrow margin. The difference is that Biden also wins the total number of votes with four million overweight or more. In 2016, Trump lost “the popular vote” by three million votes to Hillary Clinton.
Therefore, Biden will have greater legitimacy.
The United States also has its first female vice president. With her skin color, she makes the glass ceiling fly in more ways than one. If Biden only sits for four years, she is well positioned to become the Democratic nominee in 2024.
Photo: Carolyn Kaster / TT
Kamala Harris is the first black woman and first vice president.
Donald Trump refuses to realize that he has lost. He continues to spread his baseless allegations of electoral fraud and irregularities. The only thing that happened is that all the votes were counted and that the majority in the wave master states voted for Biden.
Trump will try to have the courts nullify the votes and somehow turn the defeat into a victory. But considering the little evidence that has been presented so far of any form of extensive or organized electoral fraud, I consider that its chances of success are slim.
The rats leave the ship
Hopefully, there are people around Trump who can convince him to throw in the towel. Conservative outlets like Fox News and the New York Post, which have long supported the president, now appear to be taking his hand. We will see more and more prominent Republicans abandon Trump. The rats will leave the sinking ship.
But the ability of Donald Trump to create chaos should not be underestimated. If you continue to fight for the election result for weeks, there is a risk that you will turn on not only your own supporters but also Biden supporters. They can start demonstrating against Trump while supporters want to show their support for him. Then there may be clashes that can end in violence.
It has been fear the entire time and while the election itself was surprisingly smooth, it is not certain that it will continue in the same way.
For those of us who live outside the United States, the hope is that Joe Biden can alleviate the instability in the world that Donald Trump has caused with his unconventional methods.
Biden will restore good relations with his allies in Europe. The United States and Europe will again pull in the same direction and become a stronger force in the world.
The gold rush with dictators and authoritarian leaders like Vladimir Putin and Tayyip Erdogan will end.
Biden will take the pandemic very seriously and will work with the world to reduce its spread.
Photo: JERKER IVARSSON
Biden supporters celebrate in New York.
Photo: JERKER IVARSSON
Biden supporters celebrate in New York.
Photo: JERKER IVARSSON
Biden supporters celebrate in New York.
The climate agreement
Most importantly, the United States will rejoin the Paris Agreement. Biden has made it clear that he sees climate change as an existential threat to humanity and that he wants to work with the world to reduce emissions.
Biden will restore the status of the presidency. Strive to act like a statesman. The outside world won’t have to worry about the nonsense that the American president tweeted overnight.
But Biden can’t change everything Trump has done. It is not possible to completely turn back the clock, for example with respect to the Middle East and, for example, the agreement that would prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.
Much also depends on what happens to power in the United States Congress. The House of Representatives remains in the hands of Democrats. It is not yet clear how it will be with the Senate. Without a majority in the Senate, it will be much more difficult for Biden to pass his policy.
I walked the ten blocks from the hotel to Times Square, where many cheering people gathered immediately after the message. Along the way I meet many who spontaneously shout their joy. Cars honk their horns and some men in their 30s carry a large Biden flag between them and yell “Trump is gone” in the chorus.
Right now there are at least 75 million Americans who are very happy and relieved, but also just over 70 million who are very disappointed.
How Biden manages to balance the two will determine his success as president.
The state-by-state vote count
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