Is change of leadership in the US necessary?
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Continued criticism of such media against Trump may not have a significant impact on the results of the forthcoming US Presidential election.
With the US Presidential election only a few months away, a substantial section of US citizens must have made up their mind now about casting their vote in favour of Joe Biden or Donald Trump.
Normally, before the US Presidential election, there would be a considerable wrangle about the choice of Presidential candidate by both the principal parties. However, this time, the Democratic party chose Biden as it’s a candidate without much of debate and Republican party too decided in favour of Trump as its candidate without much of debate. The usual excitement that would be associated with the nomination of a Presidential candidate has been missing this time, causing disappointment for the curious observers.
Even before the last Presidential election, the section of print and visual media in the US carried out vituperative criticism against Donald Trump and the severity of such criticism has not tapered down during the Presidency of Trump. Therefore, people in the US are aware of the views and prejudices of the section of media against Trump and, therefore, continued criticism against Trump may not have a significant impact on the results of the forthcoming US Presidential election.
Two recent unhappy events namely COVID-19 crisis and the death of George Floyd by white policeman are bound to become an electoral issue in the coming election, with the opposition parties, a section of media and sworn critics holding Trump responsible for these two unhappy problems confronting the US.
However, the discerning observers amongst citizens who do not hold any particular view for or against Trump would introspect deeper before casting their votes. The votes of these unprejudiced citizens are likely to be the deciding factor in the choice of next US President.
Many impartial observers refuse to blame President Trump for COVID-19 crisis in the US and any criticism that Trump did not take preventive steps to avoid COVID-19 crisis cannot stand independent scrutiny. No country in the world anticipated such magnitude of the COVID-19 problem and the fact that China concealed the information to the world when it occurred in Wuhan and WHO colluded with China in concealing the information is believed by many people to be correct.
President Trump left it to the Governors to handle the COVID-19 crisis and this is what it should be. It is true that Trump underestimated the seriousness of COVID-19 crisis earlier, which is a matter of judgement and the benefit of the doubt should be given to him. Several governments in Europe and other countries reacted in the same way as the US did.
In the case of George Floyd's death, it would be extremely unfair to blame President Trump for this and he lost no time in condemning it. When the violent prone protestors took law into their own hands and destroyed public properties, President Trump had no alternative other than issuing a warning to put down such violence by force. No government can afford to remain as a spectator when the protestors indulge in violence, whatever may be the cause.
The critics and opposition party exploiting the above two unhappy events to discredit President Trump and spoil his public image may not cut ice amongst many discerning people.
The basic approach of President Trump in defending the American business interests and stating clearly “America first” is certainly recognised and applauded by many people. His decision to confront China is a matter of absolute need and he has taken the bull by the horn in dealing with China, with no other US President having done so before.
The fact that the American economy has done reasonably well during Trump’s tenure and the steps he has taken to revive the economy after the COVID-19 crisis will not go unnoticed even by the worst critics.
Many would wonder whether the Democratic party candidate would go soft on China if he were to be the next President. No American would want this.
Former President Obama campaigning for Biden may not help his electoral prospects significantly. Many people would still remember that President Obama suddenly visited a mosque and asked the African Americans to defend their rights before the last Presidential election, which inevitably gave an impression that Obama was trying to please a section of people by appeasing them for the sake of votes. Considering the fact that Obama himself is not a white person, many may ask as to what he did to enhance the status of blacks in America during his Presidentship.
Obama was not tough against China and this became very clear when he received the respected Tibetan leader the Dalai Lama through the backdoors of White House so that Chinese government would not be annoyed by his entertaining the Dalai Lama. By this process, many think that Obama insulted the Dalai Lama.
As of now, the US Presidential election campaigning is still open and it would become more bitter as the days go on. But, the discerning observers amongst US citizens would not be guided by rhetorics and media views.
(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)