Presidential campaign clash in battleground state Georgia
War of words over relations between Kim Jong-un and Putin
‘Eastern European Trump’ Hungarian Prime Minister visits US
Meet Trump and “support” him… ‘Biden passing’
President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump, who were virtually confirmed as presidential candidates for the ruling Democratic Party and the opposition Republican Party, respectively, in the November U.S. presidential election, visited Georgia, a major battleground state, on the 9th and held a campaign meeting. They also used abusive language towards each other, calling each other ‘dictators’ and ‘psycho’.
In Atlanta, the state capital, President Biden pointed out the ‘bromance’ (friendship between men) between former President Trump and North Korean State Affairs Commission Chairman Kim Jong-un and criticized, “Trump is a threat to democracy and wants to become a dictator.”
Former President Trump visited Rome, a small city about 113 kilometers from Atlanta, and criticized President Biden’s immigration policy as being overly lenient. This is the district of hard-line Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, known as the ‘female Trump’, and is also close to the hometown of Laken Riley, a female college student who was recently murdered by an illegal immigrant from Venezuela. Former President Trump is also encouraged by the fact that Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, the ‘Trump of Eastern Europe’, visited the United States on the 7th and 8th and only met with him and did not meet President Biden.
Biden campaigns in battleground state Georgia ‘accompanied by wife’ U.S. President Joe Biden (right) brings his wife Jill to the podium during a campaign rally in Atlanta, Georgia on the 9th. During the 2020 presidential election, President Biden defeated former President Donald Trump by just 0.23 percentage points in Georgia and gained momentum to become the owner of the White House. Just like four years ago, it is considered a key battleground in this year’s presidential election. Atlanta = AP NewsisAt a rally in Atlanta on the 9th, President Biden criticized former President Trump for flattering dictators and authoritarian thugs around the world. “He said North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un wrote him a ‘beautiful letter,’ called Chinese President Xi Jinping ‘king,’ and told Russian President Vladimir Putin to ‘do whatever you want to America’s allies.’” He raised his voice. President Biden also repeatedly criticized Trump in an interview with MSNBC that day, saying, “Trump said he respects Kim Jong-un and praises Putin.”
The fact that President Biden is taking issue with former President Trump’s close relationship with strongmen (authoritarian leaders) around the world is interpreted as meaning that he intends to turn this presidential election into a showdown of ‘democracy versus dictatorship.’ Earlier, in his State of the Union address on the 7th, he criticized former President Trump for “bowing down to Putin.” On the 8th, he also criticized the meeting between former President Trump and Prime Minister Orban at a campaign rally in his hometown of Pennsylvania.
Prime Minister Orban did not meet any Biden administration officials during this visit to the United States. He visited the conservative think tank Heritage Foundation in Washington, D.C., on the 7th, and met with former President Trump at the Mar-a-Lago resort a day later. Prime Minister Orbán said, “Only former President Trump’s return to the White House can bring peace. “If he had won the 2020 presidential election, the war in Ukraine would not have occurred,” he said, praising former President Trump.
Former President Trump also said, “The reason Putin threatens with nuclear weapons every day is because he knows that the US President (Biden) is incompetent and a fool,” and added, “If there is a competent president like me, (the US) will be safe.”
The reason that the two current and former presidents held a ‘counter-campaign’ in Georgia on the same day is because the state is considered a region that will determine the situation in this presidential election as well as four years ago. Four years ago, President Biden defeated former President Trump by a 0.23 percentage point gap here after a recount.
At the time, former President Trump urged the secretary of state to “overturn the results of the presidential election,” and for this he was criminally indicted by federal prosecutors last year. Former President Trump said on the 9th, “Riley was murdered because Biden intentionally released illegal immigrants,” and announced that he would enforce hardline immigration policies if he returns to power. On the 8th, he also criticized President Biden on the social media platform ‘Truth Social’ and wrote, “This guy is a PSYCHO!”
President Biden also chose a campaign location with deep ties to former President Trump. The large concert hall in Atlanta he chose, ‘Pullman Yard’, is close to the Fulton County Detention Center, where former President Trump, who was indicted on charges of overturning the 2020 presidential election, appeared in person in August of last year and took a ‘mug shot (photo for identification of the suspect)’.
Washington =
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.