Rupérez and Portero analyse the US elections

This Tuesday, the Francisco de Vitoria University (UFV) organised a round table to explain the results of the elections held on 3 November in the United States between the current president, Donald Trump, and the Democratic candidate, Joe Biden. It was also observed what the future of the country, where polarisation is still present, may be.

The presentation began with a speech by the moderator, Rafael Barberá, who recalled that Biden had been elected by the Americans as president for the next four years, the House of Representatives continued to be dominated by the Democratic Party and the Senate is controlled by the Republican Party.

Javier Rupérez, who was the first to analyse the election data, stressed that the issue was still "burning" because of the transcendent reality it has entailed, as almost all the countries in the world were awaiting the results and it has enabled citizens to place states such as Wisconsin or Georgia. The ambassador considered that these elections were more of a plebiscite on whether or not Trump should continue in the White House and that American citizens were "doubly" divided compared to the 2016 elections.

Rupérez explained that in these elections society had been able to understand the peculiarities of the US electoral system, as in the early hours of 4 November the vote count showed a favourable trend towards the Republican candidate, and a week later the Democratic candidate had won the election. He added that the change in the results was due to the high turnout in the postal vote and the early vote caused by fear of the spread of the coronavirus. That intervention had been defined by the Democrats and the youth, as Trump's supporters had chosen to go on election day because of their lack of concern about the pandemic.

"Trump has been an unusual character, with behaviour that is harmful to democracy," said Rupérez.

The difference between the candidates was five million votes, making Biden the next to be elected. However, 70 million people have preferred Trump, an increase among his followers, despite an administration defined, according to the expert, by rupturism. "An unusual character, with behaviour that is harmful to democracy," Rupérez said of Trump's continuous disputes with the press and the judicial service, which have caused the United States to lose consistency.

The ambassador also commented on the fact that the current president has yet to accept his defeat as other candidates did at the time (Hillary Clinton, George H. W. Bush and Al Gore) and said that although he continues to spread false rumours, such as the alleged frauds, he will have to leave the White House on 20 January. Furthermore, he considered that when he announced his infection with the coronavirus he was bound to lose.

However, Donald Trump still holds out hope of winning with the following tweet: "We will win!

Florentino Portero followed the analysis by calling the elections the "most relevant and historic". He defined Trump as a man who changed the history of his party because he had understood that the electoral "market" had been modified by globalization and the eight years of the Barack Obama Administration.

The magnate's response to this variation was anti-Republican and achieved the satisfaction of the "victims" of globalisation and the return of the conservative vote. Moreover, through a cohesion of tension between the traditional defenders of the open market and the businessmen who defended protectionism, Trump had further divided citizens. "Either here or there," he said. However, the pandemic caused the possibility of possible re-election to crumble. "Trump's management has been a disaster, and his statements have been even worse," Portero said, comparing him to similar statements by Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro.

"Trump's administration has been a disaster and his statements have been even worse," said Portero.

Portero also examined the new U.S. president, estimating that although Biden was not a great candidate, due to his great experience in politics and because he was very aware of the constitutional mandate, his party had chosen him because of his maximum possibilities of winning. He even stated that, unlike Obama, Biden did know about international politics, which will be a criterion in the coming years, and maintained that, as he is a non-ideological man, he will find it easier to make a pact with the other party.

He also added that Bernie Sanders, another Democratic candidate who is very present among left-wing voters, was aware of this and decided to leave his career to the White House. Furthermore, he considered that one of the future problems of the Democratic Party will be to control the radicalism of the left wing, which has gained a significant number of positions in the House.

Joe Biden tweeted, with Kamala Harris, after his appearance where he accepted his victory: "Let's get to work".