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trump or biden?
trump or biden?
Facts, figures, and more to get you prepared for the 2020 presidential election
BE ADVISED THIS STORY IS OUTDATED
In a year already complete with a deadly pandemic and a sweeping social justice movement, an emotionally charged presidential election is fast approaching. Will it be Joe Biden, the seasoned government veteran with nearly 50 years of political experience, or the norm-defying incumbent Donald Trump, who had never run for any political office before being elected President in 2016? Here’s your expert guide to the 2020 presidential election, set for Tuesday, November 3.
Joe Biden
Joe Biden, the 2020 Democratic nominee, was born on November 20, 1942, in Scranton, Pennsylvania. The Bidens moved to Delaware when Joe was in elementary school. Today, he and his wife, Jill, call Wilmington, DE home. Biden served in the U.S. Senate for 36 years from 1973-2009. Biden then served as Barack Obama’s vice president from 2009-2017. He has run for president two previous times, in 1988 and 2008. In 2020, Biden beat out Bernie Sanders, Pete Buttigieg, Elizabeth Warren, and many other Democratic competitors for the presidential nomination.
Biden’s top priority is making sure the Coronavirus is under control.
"As president, the first step I will take will be to get control of the virus that ruined so many lives," Biden said during his speech at the Democratic National Convention.
Biden plans to attack the virus more aggressively than President Trump. He wants tests to be more widely available and free of charge. Biden claims that he would also listen to scientists on the virus, promising that he would issue a nation-wide mask mandate or shut the country down entirely in order to stop the virus.
Another important issue for Biden is health care. He lost his 30-year old first wife Neilia Hunter and 13-month old daughter Naomi Biden in a car crash in 1972. He also lost his son Beau Biden to brain cancer at age 46 in 2015. Given these tragedies, Joe Biden understands the importance of health care and wants everybody in America to have access to it. Biden supports the Affordable Care Act, better known as Obama Care, which was passed when he was vice president. However, Biden does not support Medicare for All, which is democratic-socialist Bernie Sanders’ idea on health care. This plan, in theory, would use taxes to pay for everyone’s health care. Biden’s plan for health care is to improve upon Obama Care.
Biden’s greatest motivation for running for president is that he believes President Trump will change the course of American history for the worse.
"File:Joe Biden February 2020 crop.jpg" by Gage Skidmore from Peoria, Arizona is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0
“If we give Donald Trump eight years in the White House, he will forever and fundamentally alter the character of this nation, who we are, and I cannot stand by and let that happen,” Biden said to the New York Times.
Donald Trump
Donald Trump, the current president and 2020 Republican nominee, was born June 14, 1946, in Queens, New York. For most of his life, Trump was an entrepreneur and businessman. In the 1970s and 1980s, he invested in hotels, casinos, golf courses, resorts, and more to build his fame and wealth. He suffered huge losses from the economic recession of the early 1990s but rebounded in a big way in the late 1990s and early 2000s. He also started a reality TV show called the Apprentice in 2004. Trump had never run for any political office before running for president and winning in 2016. Trump has been married 3 times and has had five children: Donald Jr., Ivanka, Eric, Tiffany, and Barron. He is currently married to former Slovenian model Melania Trump.
In 2019, Trump became just the third U.S. president to be impeached by the House of Representatives, which was Democrat-led. He was accused of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. However, the Republican-led Senate voted not to remove him from office.
For most of his presidency, Trump has had great effects on the U.S. economy. Before the Coronavirus pandemic struck, the unemployment rate was the lowest it had been since 1969. In addition, 6.7 million jobs had been added since Trump’s swearing in at the beginning of 2017. However, when the Coronavirus crisis began, the economy, the stock market, and the employment rate took a huge hit. They still haven’t fully rebounded.
Trump has been widely criticized for his handling of the virus. In the early months of the pandemic, he often said that it would just disappear. He also allowed states make their own decisions on how to distribute supplies to hospitals and when to reopen, a practice that led to a multitude of infections. Biden believes that Trump reacted too slowly and didn’t take aggressive enough measures to combat the virus.
While in office, Trump has also instituted strict immigration policies. His 2016 campaign promise was to build a wall along the southern border of the United States and have Mexico pay for it. While he hasn’t achieved this yet, he still aspires to do so.
President Trump has also taken advantage of recent openings on federal courts, appointing conservative judges at a record pace.
Trump’s stance on foreign policy is “America first.” In just the last year, he has withdrawn the U.S. from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the Paris agreement, which is a pact made between members of the United Nations on measures to prevent climate change. Since the Coronavirus outbreak, Trump has also withdrawn funding from the World Health Organization because he thinks they gave misinformation about the virus.
Given the current state of the union, Trump thinks that this election will determine whether the “American dream” is achieved or ruined.
"If the left gains power, they will demolish the suburbs, confiscate your guns and appoint justices who will wipe away your Second Amendment and other constitutional freedoms," Trump said. "At no time before have voters faced a clearer choice between two parties, two visions, two philosophies, or two agendas. This election will decide whether we save the American dream, or whether we allow a socialist agenda to demolish our cherished destiny."
Overall
As of September, Biden was leading the polls, although these proved to be inaccurate in 2016 when Trump trailed Hillary Clinton in the poles but defeated her in the actual election. For what it’s worth, Professor Allan Lichtman, who has correctly predicted the winner of every election since 1984, projects Biden will win in 2020. However, with debates still to come, there is no clear favorite just yet. Discerning who will win in November will simply be a matter of time.
Max is in his third year at Edgewood and first on the Edge staff. He enjoys rock climbing, sports, reading, writing, and listening to country music. This year, he hopes to bring some great stories and ideas to The Edge.
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