US Election a Nail-Biting Race

The 2020 United States Presidential election has left both Democrats and Republicans on the edges of their seats.

Republican incumbent Donald Trump fought an incredibly close race against former Vice President Joe Biden. Biden was expected to pick up some ‘red states,’ which usually vote Republican, such as Texas and Georgia, however, these states did not end up going to Biden. Despite these election upsets, Biden supporters remained positive on social media. Biden spoke to supporters after these losses were announced, staying optimistic and claiming he was “on track to win the election.”

Trump also managed to win various swing states, which do not heavily lean towards the Republicans or Democrats. Michigan has been a close race, with Democrats waiting for early votes to be counted before they conceded to Trump. Florida and Ohio went to Trump, despite these states being a toss-up between Trump or Biden in previous polling. He also remained strong in historically republican states including the rural areas of Idaho and Wyoming.

It was no surprise throughout the night that Biden kept support in urban Democratic strongholds, such as New York and California.

The 2020 US Presidential Election has been said to be a referendum on Donald Trump’s presidency, one of the most controversial current political leaders in the world. Despite exit polling prioritising containing the coronavirus compared to growing the economy, Trump’s anti-lockdown leadership has spoken to many.

Donald Trump’s Covid-19 response has been criticised by many- so far, over 230,000 lives have been lost due to the pandemic. Trump has been against mask mandates, promised to fire Dr. Anthony Fauci, and even claimed that injecting bleach would be a potential cure for the coronavirus. Biden has promised to ‘listen to the science’ regarding the pandemic.

Issues of racial equity have played a major role in the recent US election, sparked by global Black Lives Matter protests. Trump has refused to unequivocally denounce white supremacy in the debates, creating further division between Democrats and Republicans. Biden and his running mate Senator Kamala Harris do not have a perfect track record when it comes to racial justice. Biden has historically supported increasing police numbers in Delaware to reduce levels of crime, despite the negative impacts this policy has had on minorities. In addition, Biden has called former segregationist Strom Thurmond his ‘greatest friend,’ despite his racist views. In addition, Biden’s running mate Kamala Harris has previously served as a prosecutor, enforcing laws which had disproportionately negative impacts on black people. Biden has promised police reform in his policy platform, unsurprisingly Trump hasn’t.

Throughout election night, Trump and Biden both remained cautiously optimistic about their chances to become president.

Trump was vocal on Twitter throughout the night, claiming he would become the President, but that the Democrats were trying to ‘steal the election’ by counting votes as legitimate after polls had closed.

Trump spoke to his supporters and the press just after 2 AM (Central Time) on election night in The White House with a positive outlook, thanking his voters. The results were called ‘phenomenal’ by an obviously sleep-deprived Donald Trump.

The popular vote does not always indicate the winner of the American Presidency, proved in 2016 when Democrat Hillary Clinton won more votes than President Trump but lost to the Republican incumbent in the electoral college system. States are allocated electors to support candidates based on the population of each state and the results of these states. If a candidate wins by a few votes, a few hundred, or a few thousand in a state, they will win the entirety of the state’s votes in the electoral college. The system has been described as outdated by Clinton supporters in 2016, and by political scientists in the past, but is still being used in the United States, despite its controversy.

The US Presidential Election has been an anxiety-inducing race for supporters of both political sides; many are still waiting for each vote to be counted before celebrating or admitting defeat.