COMMENT | Trump casts long shadow over Biden White House
COMMENT | When Joe Biden takes the oath of office on Jan 20 as the new US president, he enters the White House under a cloud. Although he was unanimously acclaimed as the winner of the November general election, he would find it tough to fight off accusations that his victory came through fraud.
The charges hurled by outgoing President Donald Trump will stick to the Biden presidency like a leech. Try as much as he can, Biden cannot dodge from questions about the legitimacy of his term in office.
Trump may not have solid proof that voter fraud had been committed in the presidential election but he, nevertheless, raised the possibility, however remote, that the whole exercise was seriously flawed.
It is not so much the integrity of Biden being called into question but the fact that the US, a vociferous critic of fraudulent elections wherever they may occur, is now getting a taste of its own medicine.
The US has been the leading advocate of fair and just elections and would promptly condemn countries that rigged the polling booths. Through US...
COMMENT | When Joe Biden takes the oath of office on Jan 20 as the new US president, he enters the White House under a cloud. Although he was unanimously acclaimed as the winner of the November general election, he would find it tough to fight off accusations that his victory came through fraud.
The charges hurled by outgoing President Donald Trump will stick to the Biden presidency like a leech. Try as much as he can, Biden cannot dodge from questions about the legitimacy of his term in office.
Trump may not have solid proof that voter fraud had been committed in the presidential election but he, nevertheless, raised the possibility, however remote, that the whole exercise was seriously flawed.
It is not so much the integrity of Biden being called into question but the fact that the US, a vociferous critic of fraudulent elections wherever they may occur, is now getting a taste of its own medicine.
The US has been the leading advocate of fair and just elections and would promptly condemn countries that rigged the polling booths. Through US lens, sham elections are mostly found in the Third World, and not in this beacon of democracy.
But now countries in the Third World will be thumbing their nose at the leader of the free world for preaching democracy when its own electoral process did not quite live up to high expectations.
What can Biden do if leaders in the Third World were to cheat on their elections? He cannot chastise them because now even a country as advanced and enlightened as the US is not free of allegations of rigging.
When Trump makes his exit, he is unlikely to keep quiet and let Biden enjoy the fruits of his victory. He will continue to harp on the conspiracy theory that the whole country had ganged up on him to ensure his defeat.
If he is campaigning for Republican candidates for House or Senate seats at the federal level, the chances are he will revive the spectre of election fraud to smite Biden. "They stole our election" will be his persistent mantra for as long as he is around.
Trump would probably rally his supporters to "invade" Capitol Hill again or some other sacred institutions, just so to remind America and the world that the new administration is not really democratically elected.
In the next four years, he might also influence "brave" Republican congressmen and women to try and reopen investigations into his claims of widespread election irregularities.
Or the Republican Party itself might make life hell for Biden as he tries to get bipartisan backing for crucial policies through the treacherous waters of Congress.
For Trump, his "incredible journey" has just started - to keep the "insurrection" burning among his fanatical supporters until America acknowledges that the election was stolen from him.
Throughout his first term, Biden would have to work doubly hard to restore the tattered image of the US after the bruising election. Like it or not, the arsenal of democracy has joined the ranks of countries where the general elections are riddled with suspicion of fraudulent practices.
Every US presidential election now will be conducted against the background of possible electoral fraud. Republicans and Democrats will forever be crying "foul" at each other at the slightest hint or wisp of cheating.
For now, while Biden rebuilds trust in the American system of government, he must hold back his fire at reports of tampered general elections from any country, friend or foe.
The moment he bellows "fraud" from the high pulpit of his office, all the leaders - democrats, despots, dictators, tyrants, authoritarians, megalomaniacs - from the four corners of the earth will holler back: "Look at your own backyard!"
PHLIP RODRIGUES is a member of Malaysiakini Team.
The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.
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