[2024 美 대선]
US presidential election ‘old age-judicial risk’ variable
If Biden is re-elected, he will be president until he is 87… Michelle Obama: “I will not run” as an alternative
Trump suffered a fatal blow when he was found guilty before the presidential election… Meet Musk amid financial difficulties for legal fees
U.S. President Joe Biden and former U.S. President Donald Trump won a landslide victory in the ‘Super Tuesday’ presidential primary between the Democratic and Republican parties on the 5th (local time), effectively confirming the structure of their rematch. The two parties’ presidential candidates will be decided early on, and a long eight-month general election race will be held until the presidential election on November 5. The crisis factors of the current and former presidents are exposed. Biden, the oldest president in U.S. history, is facing doubts about his ability to carry out his duties due to a series of rumors about his health. Former President Trump was criminally indicted on 91 charges in four cases, and faced financial difficulties due to large legal fees. In a situation where there are quite a few so-called ‘double haters’ among American voters who dislike both, the point to watch in this presidential election is how these variables will affect each juncture.
Former President Trump won a landslide victory in 14 of the 15 regions where primaries were held on this day. His biggest variable in the remaining eight months until the presidential election is expected to be judicial risk.
Former President Trump was criminally indicted four times on charges of attempting to overturn his defeat in the 2020 presidential election, inciting his supporters to storm the Capitol in January 2021, taking confidential documents with him when he left office, and giving hush money to a victim of a sexual scandal before taking office. The Manhattan Criminal Court in New York, which handles hush-money charges, will begin trial proceedings on the 25th of this month.
In the United States, it is possible to run for president even if you are convicted. However, it is highly likely that repeated judicial risks will act as an obstacle to targeting moderates in competing states that will determine the outcome of the presidential election. In fact, an exit poll in North Carolina, a major battleground where the primary was held on this day, showed that 31% of Republican voters said, “If he is convicted, he may not be fit to be president.”
The financial difficulties caused by legal fees that have snowballed in the US presidential election, which has a strong ‘war of war’ nature, are also adding to his burden. Former President Trump this year received a total fine of $533.3 million (about 711 billion won) in civil trials, including charges of ‘fraudulent lending’ and defamation of sexual harassment victims.
Bloomberg News predicted that “the accumulated campaign funds will be depleted around July, when Trump is confirmed as the official candidate at the Republican National Convention.” Accordingly, he is pushing his daughter-in-law Lara, who is married to his second son Eric, to become chairman of the Republican National Committee (DNC), which will oversee the management of presidential election funds. On the 3rd, I also met with Tesla CEO Elon Musk, a world-class rich man.
| super tuesday |
| It is the largest event day of the US presidential election, with primary elections held simultaneously in the 17 regions shown on the map above. Both the Democratic and Republican parties allocate more than one-third of their total delegates on this day. |
President Biden won 15 of the 16 state primaries on this day, excluding American Samoa. However, his approval rating is falling due to controversy over high inflation, his response to illegal immigration, and diplomatic failures resulting from two protracted wars. In particular, there are clear signs of a departure of young people, women, and non-white voters, who were the stepping stones to victory in the 2020 presidential election. Even in today’s primary, in Minnesota, a state with a high percentage of Arabs, 18.9% of Democratic voters voted for ‘Uncommitted’ instead of President Biden.
There are still concerns about his age (82 years old) and rumors about his health. If he is re-elected, he will take office next year at the age of 83 and leave office in 2029 at the age of 87, so it may be difficult for him to carry out his duties as president. For this reason, there are constant voices saying that we need to prepare a so-called ‘Plan B’. Some have raised the possibility that former President Barack Obama’s wife, Michelle, can run, but Michelle’s side released a statement today denying it, saying, “She will not run for president.”
President Biden received a regular health checkup at Walter Reed Military Medical Center on the 28th of last month and revealed the results saying he was “fit to perform his duties.” In addition, CNN reported that he plans to dispel the image of a ‘helpless old man’ that has been raised against him through the so-called ‘Trump trigger’ strategy of pushing former President Trump hard and inducing an extreme reaction from him.
| delegate |
| In the United States, local delegates elect each presidential candidate at the Republican Party (July) and Democratic Party (August) national conventions. Primary elections held by region are the process of selecting these representatives. |
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Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.