Biden vs. Trump: Historic Rematch Unfolds in US Presidential Race
Joe Biden, the current president, and former President Donald Trump both received their party's nominations on Tuesday, starting the first rematch of American presidential elections in almost 70 years, according to News.ro.
Joe Biden required 1,968 delegates to secure the nomination, and on Tuesday evening, he exceeded this number as the results from the primary competition in Georgia began to emerge, according to Edison Research.
Results from Mississippi, Washington state, the Northern Mariana Islands, and Democrats living abroad also began to come in.
Later, Trump obtained the 1,215 delegates needed to secure the Republican nomination for the presidency, while four states held contests, including Georgia, where Trump faces criminal charges for his attempts to overturn the 2020 results. On Tuesday, 161 delegates were at stake in Georgia, Hawaii, Mississippi, and Washington state.
Biden, 81 years old, issued a statement after securing the Democratic nomination, condemning what he described as "Trump's campaign of resentment, revenge, and reprisals, which threatens the very idea of America."
"Voters now face a choice about the future of this country. Will we stand up and defend our democracy, or will we allow others to destroy it? Will we restore the right to choose and safeguard our freedoms, or will we allow extremists to take them away?" he continued.
The outcome of Tuesday's election was essentially decided after Trump's last remaining rival for the Republican nomination, former UN ambassador Nikki Haley, ended her presidential campaign following Trump's strong performance last week on Super Tuesday, where he won 14 out of 15 state contests.
Meanwhile, Biden encountered only symbolic opposition in the Democratic primary campaign, although liberal activists frustrated with his backing of Israel's war in Gaza persuaded a significant minority of Democrats to vote "uncommitted" in protest.
Both men have already shifted their focus to the general election on November 5, holding simultaneous rallies in Georgia on Saturday.
In Rome, Georgia, 77-year-old Trump reiterated his false claim that the 2020 elections were fraudulent and accused Fulton County prosecutor Fani Willis of politically motivated persecution. He also criticised Biden for failing to halt the flow of migrants at the US southern border, an issue he intends to keep at the forefront throughout the campaign, as he did in 2020.
Biden's campaign entered a more aggressive phase on Friday, announcing that Biden will tour several battleground states amid a $30 million advertising spree. The campaign announced that they raised $10 million in the 24 hours following Biden's State of the Union speech, expanding the Democrats' financial advantage over the Republicans.
The last repeated presidential showdown took place in 1956 when Republican President Dwight Eisenhower defeated former Illinois Governor, Democrat Adlai Stevenson, for the second time.
Translation by Iurie Tataru
