At the end of the second presidential term, Biden will turn 86 years old
We begin our tour with the British newspapers published this Saturday morning from The Guardian, and an article by writer Jonathan Friedland about the chances of US President Joe Biden in the upcoming presidential elections.
Friedland believes that Biden’s tragedy lies in his advanced age in the eyes of voters, the fragility of his structure, and the weakness of the numbers produced by opinion polls.
While these voters miss the most important aspect of the whole matter, from the writer’s point of view, which is that Biden’s presidency represents a radical transformation. In less than three years, Biden has built an impressive record that unites American progressives, including those on the far left.
Biden was also able, according to the author, to develop an inspiring economic model for social democratic parties around the world, including Britain.
But the bad news for Biden is that politics is one thing and governance is another. Building a record of good governance during a presidential term alone is not enough to succeed in the elections and secure a second presidential term.
When casting their votes, voters do not look to the past, but rather look to the future, according to the writer, who referred to an opinion poll conducted a few days ago that stated that 76 percent of Americans believe that Biden has become old to the point that he is less able to lead the country.
At the end of the second term, Biden turns 86.
The author of the article turned to Biden’s strongest competitor in the upcoming presidential elections, Donald Trump, who, although he is only three years younger than Biden, has a strong presence and a remarkable ability to display that strength in a way that Biden cannot match.
The writer believes that this simple fact strongly affects the vision of the Biden administration.
The challenge for Democrats, over the 14 months remaining until the elections, is to overcome that fact and try to explain to voters the seriousness and magnitude of the price that the United States and the entire world will pay if Trump returns to the White House. Fortunately, this task is not difficult, according to the author of the article.
Why does the world need the G20?
We turn to the Financial Times, which published an editorial about the G20 summit hosted by the Indian capital, Delhi, and about the extent of the world’s need for that summit.
The newspaper brought back memories of April 2009 and the G20 Summit, which marked a turning point in the global financial crisis. When the leaders agreed to joint initiatives and measures worth approximately $1.1 billion in order to support trade and faltering economies.
The role of the group, made up of 19 countries plus the European Union, has been praised as a forum for economic cooperation that can replace the Western-dominated G8.
image copyright Reuters
The Indian capital, Delhi, will host the G20 summit on Saturday and Sunday
But the current reality prevents the G20 from continuing to play this desired role, according to the newspaper, in light of the state of global division and growing tensions between the United States and China, in addition to the Russian-Ukrainian war and the resulting depletion of the G20’s forces despite the growing need for them.
The newspaper pointed out that Russian President Vladimir Putin failed to attend the summit in Delhi.
While this is Putin’s second consecutive absence from the G20 summit, Chinese President Xi Jinping is absent from that summit for the first time.
Not to mention the widening of the differences over the war in Ukraine, and what all of this portends about the failure of the summit – as never before – to agree on a joint final statement.
This does not prevent us from saying that progress has been achieved at a number of levels, including the pursuit of the African Union to obtain membership in the G20, ensuring the expansion of the developing world’s participation in that group.
In addition, there is important work accomplished under the Indian presidency with regard to introducing reforms to multilateral development banks, financing activities to combat climate change, and addressing the debts of developing countries.
Regarding the reasons for the Chinese President’s absence from the Delhi summit, the newspaper pointed to border disputes between China and India, as well as Beijing’s dissatisfaction with India’s aspirations to establish itself as the leader of emerging economies, which is the same role that China aspires to.
However, this absence on the part of the Chinese President would open a great gateway for his American counterpart and for other leaders of Western countries to appear as committed to supporting the developing world – it is an opportunity that they will not miss.
The newspaper added, “In an era of conflict between new global powers, and in light of the existential threat posed by climate change, it is in the world’s interest for the leaders of major countries – often economically hostile – to sit down for dialogue.”
The Financial Times concluded by saying, “The G20 has many flaws and shortcomings, but, especially in light of the functional paralysis that the United Nations suffers from, it is the best forum organized in the world.”
Immigrant crisis in New York
We conclude our tour of The Sun newspaper with an article by writer Douglas Murray about what he described as the immigrant crisis in New York City.
Murray pointed out that politicians affiliated with the Democratic left have been boasting for years that New York City has become a “haven” for immigrants.
image copyright GettyImages
New York City is facing a migrant crisis
The writer pointed out that New York, above all else, was built on the shoulders of immigrants, pointing out that between 1892 and 1954, about 12 million immigrants came to Ellis Island, where they all passed by the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor.
The writer noted that Democratic politicians in New York wanted the state not to be like other American states that try to enforce the law with a strictness that “borders on racism” with illegal immigrants, such as Arizona and Texas.
The author of the article believed that these politicians, including New York Mayor Eric Adams, had thus opened the door wide for these immigrants.
Over the past year, the Republican governors of the border states have punished the mayor of New York, sending illegal immigrants upon their arrival in their southern states towards New York in the north via trucks.
As one truck after another arrived loaded with illegal immigrants into New York, the city began to suffer as the number of these immigrants reached thousands.
As homeless shelters ran out, city authorities began housing immigrants in luxury hotels that ordinary New Yorkers could not afford to stay in.
It was not long before the city’s hotels began to run out of vacant places.
According to the author of the article, the number of these illegal immigrants in New York now exceeds 112,000 immigrants, leaving the city groaning under the burden of the costs of absorbing them, which amounted to nearly ten billion dollars this year.
