On March 12, 2024, both President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump secured their parties’ presidential nominations with significant wins in key primaries, setting the stage for a bitter election rematch in November.
President Biden, 81, clinched the Democratic presumptive nomination after winning the presidential primaries in Georgia, surpassing the halfway mark of 3,933 pledged delegates needed to win the Democratic nomination. The nomination will be formally declared at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago in August.
Former President Trump, 77, reached the 1,215 delegates necessary for the Republican nomination with the allocation of delegates from Washington state.
He will officially be nominated at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee in July, leading the party in a third consecutive presidential election.
Biden and Trump (Credits: Politico)
Their rematch, widely anticipated but not necessarily desired by all, is expected to resemble the 2020 campaign, although Trump will run this time under the shadow of 91 felony charges.
Trump is scheduled to be the first former American president to go on trial in a criminal case on March 25 in New York, facing charges including falsifying business records to hide hush money payments to a porn star, plotting to overturn his 2020 election defeat, playing a lead role in the January 6, 2021, insurrection at the US Capitol, and illegally taking classified documents from the White House.
This election will mark the first presidential rematch since 1956 when Republican President Dwight D. Eisenhower defeated Democratic opponent Adlai Stevenson for the second time.
Biden’s victory in the primaries was met with a statement expressing his honor at becoming the presumptive nominee and a warning about another Trump presidency. He emphasized the need for voters to choose between defending democracy and protecting freedoms or allowing extremism to prevail.
Biden and Trump (Credits: KGUN 9)
Vice President Kamala Harris also celebrated Biden’s nomination. He highlighted the contrast between Biden’s agenda and Trump’s, emphasizing Biden’s focus on reducing costs for families, making housing more affordable, raising the minimum wage, restoring nationwide abortion rights, protecting voting rights, and addressing gun violence.
In response, Trump’s campaign posted a video of the former president declaring victory in the nomination race and criticizing Biden, whom he referred to as “crooked Joe Biden,” stating that he must be defeated because he is “the worst president in the history of the country.”
The upcoming election is expected to be a contentious battle between two candidates with starkly different visions for the country, highlighting the deep divisions within American politics.
