Biden’s victory speech on November 7th of last year: “I sought this office to restore the soul of America. This is the time to heal in America” provided a refreshingly resonant and eloquent rhetoric and a reassurance to many Americans and citizens from all around the world. But is this idea of ‘healing’ a temporarily blighted country the most judicious choice of oratory for the new president?
There are, of course, many basic ways in which Biden will have to restore a sense of order back to the White House - the rule of law itself has to be re-established after Trump's blatant disregard for legislation. The commitment to expertise and negotiation, so rampantly ravaged by Trump’s leadership, for example in his woeful handling of the pandemic, will also have to be renewed, as will the instruments of progressive democracy - honesty, the preparedness to listen, and evidence-based rationality.
While mobs stormed the Capitol on the 6th January, Biden’s plea likely resonated with many Americans, calling for “the restoration of democracy, of decency, of honour, of respect, the rule of law”. The danger though, is that the idea of restoration conveys the comforting but erroneous and deceptive conception that Trump was an aberration, an anomaly in the line of American presidency - a freak patch in the timeline that can fast be smoothed over. As it is, the Trump era can not be deemed a harsh winter which will herald many joyous springs - it reflects the burning divisions among the American public, which was manifested so violently during the events of the 6th January, provoked largely by Trump’s gleeful encouragement of his fanatically faithful followers.
While this notion is tempting, its smugness could prove costly in the future - Biden has the huge task of winning over a demographic of 70 million, because finding a consensus is simply not a choice. There is no reasonable Republican opposition with which Biden can civilly compromise; even after the storming of the Congress, the Republicans and its leaders in the House of Representatives maintained their support for the nullification of the November election, symbolising a very open attempt to turn the US into an authoritarian regime in which elections exist only to enhance the prestige of the demagogue. Even Trump’s chief lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, with the vital role of astutely advising the president, has forcefully advocated Trump’s desire to remain in the White House, election result regardless.
To find evidence that Trump’s presidency is not a mere anomaly, we need look no further than Trump’s most recent Republican precursor, George W Bush, whose ruling was defined by lies, anti-intellectualism and a hubristic tendency to trust in America’s manifest destiny (a faith in the special virtues of America and a desire to recreate the world in its own supposedly democratic image). Elected in 2000 during a hotly contested leadership contest against democrat Al Gore, the result rested on the state of Florida, whose state government was headed by Bush’s brother, Jeb. Even after the acceptance of the narrow win in Florida of 537 votes, there was continued suspicion that the result was a product of voter suppression - measures taken in certain areas to make voting more complicated. Election uncertainty wasn’t the only trait reminiscent of the Trump era - the so-called regime change and ultimate launching of the Iraq war was the catalyst of the destruction of Iraq, whose disbanded yet not disarmed Republican Guard would culminate in the ascendancy of ISIS.
Perhaps the Biden that can reform America is the personal one, the man afflicted by grief, loss and experience - unlike Trump, he is able to empathise with those affected by the US death toll of 400,000, and can utilise his accumulated resilience to begin to rehabilitate America’s faith in science and responsible leadership.
Trump no longer even pretends to occupy his own realm of democracy - he has entirely moved away from its boundaries and constructed himself a kingdom in which America is his despotism. Biden therefore, has to build a rival space with an equally audacious shift - away from the American dream and towards a rousing of inclusion and universal reform. But the swirling masses of the Trump extremists, nostalgic for secure blue collar jobs and white supremacy, will not disappear overnight, and to underestimate their force and popular appeal would be a grave mistake.
Copyright © Bea Wood
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