This historic election is already putting long-held views about presidential power and the Constitution to the test, and a pivotal week in politics will shed light on the decision that Americans will have to make in November.
An important issue involving the Colorado Supreme Court’s decision to remove former president Donald Trump’s name from the ballot due to the 14th Amendment’s prohibition on insurrectionists may be decided by the Supreme Court as soon as Monday.
Meanwhile, after the 15-state GOP primaries on Super Tuesday, Trump is likely to come up very close to securing the Republican nominee for a third consecutive year. The former president is demonstrating that his second term would be even more radical than his first as he seeks an unprecedented return to the White House four years after attempting to reverse the last election.
Meanwhile, two nights later, President Joe Biden would deliver his State of the Union address to a massive television audience. In the midst of worldwide crises and domestic disappointment, the 81-year-old president is doubting his fitness to serve a second term, making this a crucial test for him.
Many Americans, according to polls, fear a rematch between the current president and the former president. With the exception of unexpected health crises or other occurrences, the rematch between Trump and Biden will be the focus of this week’s feature segments. The AWN Poll of Polls average indicates that Biden is extremely susceptible in a contest when there is no apparent front-runner.
The electoral and political systems, the Constitution, and the United States’ precarious national unity are all under increasing strain in the run-up to the November election. One candidate is campaigning on the fraudulent basis that he was unlawfully removed from power and is facing multiple criminal trials; this has never happened in the country before.
No one knows in advance what rulings the Supreme Court will hand down. The Colorado primary is on Super Tuesday, but if the justices rule on the issue before then, everyone will be watching. Ballots that were printed weeks ago will have Trump’s name. Voters who chose Trump may not have their ballots tallied if the courts rule that he is unable to serve, but this is still up in the air.
Last Monday, the Supreme Court set aside time to consider yet another huge issue involving Trump’s assertions of extensive presidential immunity in light of his indictment for alleged efforts to steal the 2020 election. Trump, who wants to extend the ex-president’s trials beyond the 2024 election, celebrated the decision as a victory because it further postponed the federal criminal prosecution against him for election interference.
The constitutionality of the electoral process and the extent to which the president is genuinely subject to the law are fundamental concerns raised by both cases.
In the Democratic primaries held four years ago on Super Tuesday, Biden stunned the political world by making a remarkable comeback, crushing his opponent, Senator Bernie Sanders, and securing the candidature for the party. Trump is hoping to continue his dominance from early state contests and defeat his last surviving opponent, former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley. He is targeting a sweep of key states in this year’s edition. After resigning in disgrace two weeks after a mob of his followers stormed the US Capitol in an effort to block certification of Biden’s election victory, a third nomination for Trump would symbolise an incredible return to power.
Trump is resolute in his desire to challenge the constitutional order and the rule of law in the run-up to the general election. In a campaign rife with some of the most hateful anti-immigrant and authoritarian language in contemporary US history, he is pledging a presidency of “retribution” against his political opponents.
That being said, Thursday night’s House of Representatives speech by Biden will be more than simply a golden opportunity to attract primetime viewers and generate excitement that will reach a far larger audience through social media. It will embody the unspoken message of his campaign, which is that voters should be concerned about the prospect of the oldest president in history serving a second term that would conclude at the age of 86, but they should also be concerned about the possibility of a second Trump presidency, which he claims may destroy democracy.
The support for Trump is increasing.
With his recent caucus wins in Missouri and Idaho, as well as his resounding primary victory in Michigan last week, the former president continued his rapid ascent to the Republican nomination this past weekend.
His projected wins in a string of states with 865 delegates at stake will make him the presumptive GOP nominee in all but name, even if he will not be able to reach the 1,215 delegates necessary to secure the nomination on Tuesday night. Trump has 247 delegates to Haley’s 43, according to the most recent figures from AWN. On Sunday night, she won the Washington, DC, GOP primary, marking her first victory of the campaign.
Trump has been able to rally the party’s congressional leaders around him since he dominated the GOP primaries. Last week, he received the endorsement of John Thune of South Dakota, who is the number two Republican leader in the Senate. Last week, Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell announced his plans to resign soon, further demonstrating the populist and nationalist shift within the party that the former president oversaw. The party had previously been based on fiscal conservatism and globalism.
After suffering a crushing defeat in South Carolina’s primary election last month, Haley promised on Sunday to “keep fighting” against the candidates Trump and Biden, stating that “70% of Americans say they don’t want Donald Trump or Joe Biden.” However, if her opponent completely defeats her on Tuesday, she would face mounting pressure to withdraw from the race.
“At some point, you have got to call it,” said Republican Oklahoma Senator Markwayne Mullin during Sunday’s “State of the Union” interview with AWN’s Dana Bash. After the terrible loss in her own state, I expected her to make the call. With Super Tuesday upon us, Hillary has zero chance of winning any state.
In a campaign that has become inseparable from his defence in his several criminal prosecutions, Trump’s language is getting increasingly wilder as he consolidates his power inside the GOP. Under the guise of a political “dissident,” the former president exaggerates the extent to which the Biden administration persecuted him politically by highlighting the enormous sum of money he was ordered to pay out following multiple unsuccessful civil lawsuits.
Saturday, Trump did what he does best: he cast the blame for Biden’s several criminal charges onto the former president, highlighting the danger that Biden would represent to democratic institutions were he to reclaim the presidency.
At a rally in Greensboro, North Carolina, he accused Biden of leading “a conspiracy to overthrow the United States of America” because to his actions during the southern border issue. “Biden and his accomplices want to collapse the American system, nullify the will of the actual American voters and establish a new base power that gives them control for generations,” he added bluntly.
The remarks made by Trump highlight the critical nature of his argument involving his assertion of nearly universal presidential immunity that is currently pending before the Supreme Court. This case is significant because it hints to his ambitions for unchecked political power following his 2020 election victory, not only because of his intervention with the 2020 election.
Disappointment over Biden’s age persists
With an impending presidential battle with Trump in the near future, Biden is under intense pressure to present a strong and positive image during the State of the Union address. He has to demonstrate his leadership skills and the ability to communicate a vision for the future as president.
Over the weekend, new polls were released that further highlighted the difficulties Biden faces. According to the polls, the majority of Americans are pessimistic about the future of the country as they sit on their hands and wait for the economic rewards of what the government claims is a robust recovery. When asked about his handling of inflation, the US southern border, the war in Ukraine, and the conflict between Israel and Hamas, Biden appears to be at a disadvantage in these polls.
Many Americans are quite concerned about the president’s age and ability, according to new polls by The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times/Siena College. The Times poll found that among those who supported Biden in 2020, the majority now believe he is too elderly to be an effective president. The abilities of the 77-year-old Trump are being questioned less. According to a poll published in the Wall Street Journal, 73 percent of people think Biden is too elderly to seek reelection. Of Trump’s supporters, 52% had this view.
In an effort to redirect attention away from these issues, the president has made jokes about his age in recent weeks. Additionally, following his yearly physical examination, his medical staff certified him as fit to serve last week. Union workers, minorities, and younger voters are among Biden’s most important coalition members, and he has spent the past several weeks trying to win them over. In the aftermath of the Supreme Court’s decision to repeal the right to abortion across the country, Republicans have been supported by conservative judges and state legislators, and Democrats intend to use this to their advantage by blocking their abortion restrictions.
Despite the president’s best efforts, recent polls show that his age remains one of the main factors preventing him from being reelected. This is why his State of the Union speech is expected to rank among the most consequential of the whole century.
It will be a tense moment when the appearance takes place. In order to prevent a government shutdown, another deadline is approaching at the end of the week. Despite a bipartisan funding arrangement, any legislation will face significant challenges due to the small GOP majority in the House. Meanwhile, Biden is facing pressure over his call for a permanent ceasefire in the Israeli-Hamas conflict in Gaza. His hopes in a crucial general election swing state could be jeopardised by the wrath of Arab American and progressive voters, as demonstrated in last week’s Michigan primary. House Speaker Mike Johnson is under pressure from Biden to move a foreign assistance bill that would provide $60 billion in armaments and other assistance to Ukraine.
While Democrats were trying to paint the House majority as radical, Biden successfully silenced heckling Republicans and set up a trap for them in last year’s annual address. The president has cast himself as the highest-ranking Republican capable of preventing the “ultra MAGA” Republicans from going too far. He plans to use this as a foundation for his reelection campaign.
This year, the visual cues that the longest serving president gives about his energy and intelligence might be more consequential than his actual remarks.
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