JOIN USJoe Biden’s victory in the US presidential election is historic for many reasons. He has won the largest number of votes ever in the US history. While votes are still being counted in some states, Biden has not only won the popular vote but also a majority in the electoral college. The victory of Biden’s running mate, Kamala Harris, is even more path-breaking as she will be the first woman and the first person of colour in US history to be elected vice-president. Her win signifies the shattering of what were till now impregnable glass ceilings in American elections: gender and race. The Biden-Harris victory is an important milestone in American history as it has brought to an end one of its most controversial periods: the Donald Trump presidency. Under President Trump, the stature of the American presidency, US democratic institutions and values as well as standards of governance and public decency plunged to historic lows. Never before in history has the American president been more ridiculed by American citizens and the world. Millions of Americans will heave a sigh of relief that Trump’s divisive and destructive presidency has finally come to an end. The decency and commitment to democratic and inclusive values that Biden and Harris signified earned them the votes of youth, Blacks and suburban voters. But ultimately, Trump defeated himself; his incompetent leadership especially through the Covid-19 pandemic drove Americans to vote against him in enough numbers to oust him from power.
Biden’s victory is unprecedented for another reason; Trump has refused to concede defeat so far in contrast to the long-standing American tradition of defeated candidates conceding defeat once the result was obvious and even after the most acrimonious campaigns. Trump also continues to question the validity of vote counts, undermining the prestige of the country’s democratic processes. There is concern that his turning to the courts to challenge the electoral verdict and the looming possibility of his supporters unleashing violence will jeopardise peaceful transfer of power, a vital principle of democracy.
Trump has been defeated but not Trumpism, the ideology that defined his governance as president. White supremacist views, xenophobia, crony capitalism, the politics of hate and humiliation and misogyny which defined his views and those of his supporters continues to thrive. Biden has won but Trumpism has not been repudiated robustly enough as evident from the fact that almost half the number of Americans who voted in the presidential election supported Trump. This is reason for alarm as governing a country that is so deeply and bitterly polarised as America is today will not be easy. President-elect Biden faces daunting challenges ahead.