The first three headlines on Fox News about Trump and Biden candidates are as follows. “Trump threatens Tik Tok.” “Pundits want Biden out of debate.” And “Nancy Pelosi slams Trump’s executive order as an illusion.” On CNN it’s about the same: “Trump thinks he’s been given vast new powers.” “White House reached out about adding Trump to Mount Rushmore” and “what Trump’s executive actions really mean.”
In all these headlines, there is a lot about what other people think about the two candidates and what outlandish thing they have said that day. However, there is not much about what the two candidates themselves actually believe and what they plan to do in the future. Because we have an election coming up soon, this article is dedicated to explaining what the two candidates say they believe in and what they have done in the past.
Let’s begin with branding. How the candidates are marketing themselves to the American people. On Joe Biden’s website, it shows a montage of diverse people cheering for Joe and shaking his hand as he listens intently. On his instagram page, there are many posts dedicated to what Trump has done poorly and outlining what he plans to do about Corona, healthcare, racial justice, economic inequality and various other issues that affect people.
On Trump’s website there is simply a picture of Trump saluting a marine as he walks away from a helicopter. On his instagram there are posts designed to make Joe Biden look incompetent and foolish, as well as posts that celebrate the things he has done. Other posts include quotes from Trump and pictures that prove his devotion to his followers and statistics of his approval ratings. Based on their branding, Biden is focusing on being a progressive and thoughtful candidate and Trump is focusing on looking solid and delivering on his promises to his voters.
As for what they believe in, both candidates have outlined it on their website. However, where Biden has a list of things he plans to do, Trump has lists of things he has already done since he is already president. There is no outline of future plans on his website and much of what he said he would do may or may not be serious so I am going to assume his future plans are to continue on in the path he has already taken thus far. Here are their beliefs and actions compared across four important topics.
Economics
Before the coronavirus caused such damage to the economy, Trump was responsible for a handful of economic actions. Perhaps his most notable are: An executive order that gave more funding to apprenticeship programs, making it easier to have a livable job without college, helping Ivanka create the W-GDP initiative, which advances economic opportunities for women globally. Repealing the Affordable Care Act and cutting taxes. His policies seem to be centered around growth and reestablishing America as the dominant global trading partner.
Biden’s economic plan is laid out in several different categories. He plans on advancing “racial equity” through economic opportunities, providing training for workers so they can adapt to the tech economy, empowering the manufacturing industry by investing in American companies and holding corporations accountable. Each section includes a little essay on why he believes what he believes and a comprehensive plan for how he wants to advance these things. In summary, his plan is about the welfare of workers and protecting them against racism, automation, and corporate greed.
Foreign policy
Trump’s foreign policy is focused on expanding American trade prevalence throughout the world particularly in Asia. He has been in conflict with China over trading policies and has been pushing back against their annexation of Hong Kong. He has ended Obama’s deal with Cuba and has no interest in making them an ally. He has confronted Canada, Mexico and Iran over trade, immigration and Iran’s aggression, which is likely not coincidentally the opposite of what Obama tried to do by making Iran a tentative ally. Trump has also reaffirmed our alliances with Israel, Saudi Arabia, India, Japan and various muslim majority countries in trying to establish good trade relations with countries other than China and fight against terrorism in the the Middle East.
Biden’s foreign policy is focused on reestablishing America as an ethical world power that protects democracy both at home and abroad. He believes in fixing many of America’s domestic problems like corruption, separation of families and voter suppression so America once again has the credibility to hold other countries to a higher standard. This extends into his foreign policy which include leading the world again both economically and militarily. Biden wants to make it harder to ship jobs oversees so the American middle class grows. He also wants invest in technology that we would export to the rest of the world. Militarily, he believes American leadership is necessary to stopping global threats and he wants to increase cooperation with allies and end ongoing middle eastern wars and narrow the focus of American foreign policy to defeating terrorism and checking aggressive countries. He plans on making Iran a tentative ally like Obama and holding Saudi Arabia accountable for the war in Yemen. He also plans on strengthening our connection with NATO unlike Trump who has expressed a lot of negativity towards European bureaucracies like NATO and the EU. Lastly, Biden believes that this increase in diplomacy and improvement of America’s reputation around the world will help America lead the way in combatting climate change, which is a central concern for him.
Racial justice
On Trump’s website there is a list of Coalitions such as “Women for Trump” “Blacks for Trump” “Latinos for Trump” and so on. The overall message seems to be that race is not much of an issue because Trump supporters are united under being American. To that extent, policies that are specific to race don’t seem to be much of a consideration. On Biden’s website however there are several pages dedicated to the improvement of lives for many minority groups that address their problems specifically and how Biden plans to fix them. For the black community specifically, he plans on creating wealth by easing up financial pressures, investing in education and housing, strengthening health care and addressing historically discriminatory policies.
Corona
Since we are still in the middle of the pandemic, Trump’s website has no achievements up about handling the Corona Virus. He claims to have a “perfectly tuned” plan for overcoming corona, but the specifics were hard to find. His focus seems to be on the economy, dealing with congress that is fighting over how to deal with the economic repercussions. As for the scientific aspect the plan is changing pretty regularly. It appears as though his administration is still figuring it out.
Biden’s plan has several clear elements. First, the expansion of free testing so Corona is less of an unknown force. Second, investing in research and respecting what the experts say so that plans can be made based on scientific findings. Third, instituting progressive economic policies (that will probably mean significant debt for the country) so people can be temporarily protected economically until the economy opens up. Lastly, preventing future pandemics by establishing the infrastructure now for better research and communication between scientists and the public. It’s also worth noting that Biden has experience working through pandemics as he was vice president during the Swine flu and Ebola epidemics during the Obama administration.
There are several other important issues to these candidates such as immigration, taxes, healthcare and education that I thought would make this article too long. If you would like to learn more about our candidates’ stances on these issues, please visit the links below.
Bibliography
“Joe's Vision.” Joe Biden for President: Official Campaign Website, 5 Aug. 2020, joebiden.com/joes-vision/.
“Promises Kept: President Donald J. Trump's Accomplishments.” Promises Kept | President Donald J. Trump's Accomplishments, www.promiseskept.com/.
