Biden’s train wreck of a debate a sideshow for people outside West
- Whether the White House will be turned into a geriatric ward or a den of crime, whoever wins will pose an even greater danger to the world
A viral political cartoon says it all about the coming presidential election in the United States. On one side is Joe Biden sitting in a wheelchair and attached to a drip, with a nurse standing beside him. On the other is Donald Trump in a prisoner’s uniform, handcuffed to an armed guard.
The first presidential debate may have been terrible optics for Biden and the Democrats. But outside the West, it does not mean much substantial change whoever comes out on top.
Biden has to a large extent inherited the trade and foreign policies of Trump, and added some extra malignancy of his own.
While his predecessor demanded “America First” and launched the first salvo of a trade war against China, Biden has doubled down with protectionism and massive industrial policy – the Inflation Reduction Act and the Chips and Science Act – while forcing European and Asian allies to follow suit.
Trump, against world opinion and America’s own previous policy, recognised Jerusalem as the undivided capital of Israel.
But the Biden administration has almost unconditionally backed Israel’s war in Palestinian territories. Israel now faces accusations of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Trump started no war; Biden is committed to yet another “forever war” in Ukraine.
No wonder more surveys have shown a drastic decline in the positive perception of the US outside the West.
For example, according to the State of Southeast Asia 2024 survey compiled by the Singapore-based ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute, 50.5 per cent of respondents preferred China while 49.5 per cent favoured the US if Asean nations had to pick a side.
It was a great reversal from last year, which showed 38.9 per cent were for China and 61 per cent for the US.
The rest of the world looked on in amusement at the latest train wreck of a presidential debate from last week.
The outcome should not have surprised anyone other than that part of the American political class and media elite who have spent most of Biden’s term pretending their president has not been suffering from a steep mental decline.
They seemed to think they had been successfully fooling everyone, perhaps because only a few fringe characters and media mavericks in the United States dared to play that impudent boy in the children’s tale pointing out the naked emperor is in fact also losing his mind.
For most other people, that was obvious well before the debate. Many of us have had to care for ageing parents in declining health, and recognise the symptoms.
The debate may now put Biden out of his misery as a candidate, and that would be a mercy killing. But some reports are saying the Democrats are doubling down. In that case, you can only pity the old man.
But whether the White House will be turned into a geriatric ward next year or a den of criminal activities, it’s hard to argue we are not witnessing the irreparable decline of the American republic.
Assuming Trump does re-enter the White House, he will be a felon with convictions on 34 counts of falsifying business records. There are at least three other criminal cases against him, at both the state and federal levels.
Is there any reason to think President Trump 2.0 will not pardon himself for whatever criminal convictions he will have accumulated by next year, or that they won’t use the full powers of his office – now that he is much more experienced – to go after his enemies, and protect and promote his own family and supporters?
If this is what US democracy has to offer, the rest of the world may be forgiven to say, no thank you.
There is no question that the US will still maintain its awesome hard power, backed by an unrivalled military, at least for now.
But its so-called soft power is quickly dwindling. That will make it even more dangerous to the world, whoever sits in the White House next year.
