Saudi Press

Saudi Arabia and the world
Friday, Aug 22, 2025

Biden's 'I'm no Trump' campaign is not enough to govern

Biden's 'I'm no Trump' campaign is not enough to govern

Biden claims a mandate to govern but he has offered little vision and said nothing about policy.

“The Only Good Thing About Donald Trump Is All His Policies.” So proclaimed an opinion column headline in 2018. The converse might be said of President-elect Joe Biden. He may be likable but he offered little vision and said nothing about policy in his Saturday-night victory speech — nor much during his entire campaign.

Biden, so far, is defined by who he is not: Donald Trump.

Biden’s election is notable for several things. The much-anticipated “blue wave” did not materialize; there were razor-thin margins in several battleground states that were projected to be cakewalks for Biden. The most remarkable thing was the vacuousness of Biden’s platform; his message consisted almost exclusively of a still-life image of safe sequester in a well-disclosed secure basement location.

Biden claims a mandate, but his prime raison d’etre will depart 1700 Pennsylvania Ave. on Jan. 20. Then what?

Organizing a coronavirus task force is not a policy, nor is mask-wearing. The coronavirus is spiking across the entire Western world with little variation by differences in government policy. It will continue untamed until the arrival of an effective vaccine. Trump pursued a fast-track vaccine policy, Operation Warp Speed, which took a process that normally runs in sequence — first, vaccine development; then, production and deployment — and runs the two stages in parallel. The administration encouraged and funded a broad field of vaccine candidates, with several now in late-stage clinical trials. It will be impossible for Biden to attach his name to this visionary strategy.

Similarly, it will be difficult for Biden to unshackle himself from the rioting, looting and violence unleashed by his tolerating or ignoring ongoing street protests, many of which have been anything but peaceful. Amid charges of systemic racism and calls to “defund” the police, Biden and many Democrats have maligned and delegitimized law enforcement, with a consequential rise in crime and homicide rates.

The problem, of course, is that violence and lawlessness beget more of the same. Maybe Biden thinks this will end with his election. Yet, the night after Election Day, protesters in Portland, Ore., carried one banner reading “The vote is over, The fight goes on,” and another, “We don’t want Biden. We want revenge,” emblazoned over the image of an AK-47. Democrat-run Portland in Democrat-run Oregon has been besieged by daily protests for more than five months. Trump offered repeatedly to send in the National Guard but was rebuffed by Oregon Democrats; Biden was silent. Now he owns severely alienated police forces across the land who voted almost unanimously for Trump.

Biden’s economic policy consists of massive trillion-dollar tax increases to fund socialistic programs of free college, expanded government-financed health care, etc. Make no mistake, the replacement of private-sector activity with government programs is socialism, no matter how appealing government handouts may be to people struggling to afford college and health care. His energy policy is opaque, with vacillating positions on fracking and only nominal opposition to the Green New Deal.

On foreign policy, we know far less about what Biden has promised to do, or will do, than we know about what Trump actually has done.

Trump confronted China and kept the world relatively at peace. There have been no disastrous interventional U.S. wars, as with George W. Bush, nor any premature troops withdrawals allowing the emergence of murderous caliphates like ISIS, as with Barack Obama — not to mention any unenforced Obama-esque “red lines” or world apology tours.

Trump reversed President Obama’s hope-and-change agreements with sworn enemies such as Iran. The first limit under Obama’s 2015 Iran nuclear deal expires in just four years, most others in six years, and the remainder in just ten years. Over the last half-decade, the hoped-for change in Iran’s behavior — renouncement of its sponsorship of terrorism — never materialized.

Nor did Trump continue Obama’s participation in the Paris Accord on climate, which allows China to increase its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions through 2030 — China, which produces about 40 percent of global GHGs. The U.S. produces just 20 percent and has been reducing its absolute amounts of GHG emissions for a decade, primarily by replacing coal with natural gas produced by fracking. Under the Paris Accord, the U.S. would be obligated to contribute yearly to the $100 billion that developed nations promised to underdeveloped countries — including, inexplicably, China. Biden, of course, wants to rejoin this agreement under which the U.S. subsidizes the world’s biggest polluter and our No. 1 rival on every stage.

Charitable Trump supporters will afford a President Biden a honeymoon period — not out of respect for the man but, rather, out of respect for fellow citizens who voted for him. Never mind that Democrats did not extend the same respect to Trump or his supporters, post-election or during the nearly four years of his administration.

But a Biden honeymoon may be short-lived, in part because Biden will govern without a mandate. Mandates go to candidates who win based upon compelling positions on important issues. Biden has expressed none.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Saudi Press
0:00
0:00
Close
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Miles Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
Cristiano Ronaldo Makes Surprise Stop at New Hong Kong Museum
Zelenskyy to Visit Washington after Trump–Putin Summit Yields No Agreement
High-Stakes Trump-Putin Summit on Ukraine Underway in Alaska
Iranian Protection Offers Chinese Vehicle Shipments a Cost Advantage over Japanese and Korean Makers
Saudi Arabia accelerates renewables to curb domestic oil use
Cristiano Ronaldo and Georgina Rodríguez announce engagement
Asia-Pacific dominates world’s busiest flight routes, with South Korea’s Jeju–Seoul corridor leading global rankings
Private Welsh island with 19th-century fort listed for sale at over £3 million
Sam Altman challenges Elon Musk with plans for Neuralink rival
Australia to Recognize the State of Palestine at UN Assembly
The Collapse of the Programmer Dream: AI Experts Now the Real High-Earners
Armenia and Azerbaijan to Sign US-Brokered Framework Agreement for Nakhchivan Corridor
British Labour Government Utilizes Counter-Terrorism Tools for Social Media Monitoring Against Legitimate Critics
WhatsApp Deletes 6.8 Million Scam Accounts Amid Rising Global Fraud
Nine people have been hospitalized and dozens of salmonella cases have been reported after an outbreak of infections linked to certain brands of pistachios and pistachio-containing products, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada
Texas Residents Face Water Restrictions While AI Data Centers Consume Millions of Gallons
Tariffs, AI, and the Shifting U.S. Macro Landscape: Navigating a New Economic Regime
India Rejects U.S. Tariff Threat, Defends Russian Oil Purchases
United States Establishes Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and Digital Asset Stockpile
Thousands of Private ChatGPT Conversations Accidentally Indexed by Google
China Tightens Mineral Controls, Curtailing Critical Inputs for Western Defence Contractors
OpenAI’s Bold Bet: Teaching AI to Think, Not Just Chat
BP’s Largest Oil and Gas Find in 25 Years Uncovered Offshore Brazil
JPMorgan and Coinbase Unveil Partnership to Let Chase Cardholders Buy Crypto Directly
British Tourist Dies Following Hair Transplant in Turkey, Police Investigate
WhatsApp Users Targeted in New Scam Involving Account Takeovers
Trump Deploys Nuclear Submarines After Threats from Former Russian President Medvedev
Germany’s Economic Breakdown and the Return of Militarization: From Industrial Collapse to a New Offensive Strategy
IMF Upgrades Global Growth Forecast as Weaker Dollar Supports Outlook
Politics is a good business: Barack Obama’s Reported Net Worth Growth, 1990–2025
"Crazy Thing": OpenAI's Sam Altman Warns Of AI Voice Fraud Crisis In Banking
Japanese Prime Minister Vows to Stay After Coalition Loses Upper House Majority
President Trump Diagnosed with Chronic Venous Insufficiency After Leg Swelling
Man Dies After Being Pulled Into MRI Machine Due to Metal Chain in New York Clinic
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
"Can You Hit Moscow?" Trump Asked Zelensky To Make Putin "Feel The Pain"
Nvidia Becomes World’s First Four‑Trillion‑Dollar Company Amid AI Boom
Iranian President Reportedly Injured During Israeli Strike on Secret Facility
Kurdistan Workers Party Takes Symbolic Step Towards Peace in Northern Iraq
BRICS Expands Membership with Indonesia and Ten New Partner Countries
Elon Musk Founds a Party Following a Poll on X: "You Wanted It – You Got It!"
AI Raises Alarms Over Long-Term Job Security
Saudi Arabia Maintains Ties with Iran Despite Israel Conflict
Russia Formally Recognizes Taliban Government in Afghanistan
×