It’s a quiet Wednesday night. Frigid winds blow outside, and the occasional siren can be heard screeching down the road. This night, however, is very different from the one before it: this is the time when the US electorate will vote for their president.
The presential election has been in the spotlight of the media for a while now. It is an event steeped in misinformation and maliciousness. Joe Biden and Donald Trump have been tearing at each other’s throats over it for weeks, most famously exemplified by the disastrous debate on the 30th of September in which the two candidates snarked and sniped over various rumours and issues, with a desperate Chris Wallace trying fruitlessly to keep some semblance of control over the situation. But how could a Trump/Biden victory affect us here on the other side of the Atlantic?
The most prominent political issue right now, apart from the handling of COVID-19 by the government, is Brexit. Decided on 4 years ago through a nationwide vote, it vowed to have the UK leave the EU. Trump and Biden have opposing opinions on this: Trump is a Brexit man through and through, even calling himself ‘Mr Brexit’ on Twitter, whereas Biden isn’t as inclined to it. With Brexit comes a need to confer about a new US-UK trade deal - Trump has said that he wants this done quickly, but the event of Biden winning may mean this will happen a little more gradually as he favours relations with the EU.
Our health system is also part of the equation in US-UK relations. Trump stirred up controversy when he tried to put the NHS on the table as part of the trade deal, and still insists that they will pay more for American drugs. Biden’s position on this issue is not set in stone, but given the Democratic approach to trade, may well have a bad effect on the NHS and its patients. For both possibilities, the situation seems grave.
Tomorrow, the world will be waking up to the dawn of a new, or existing, US president. Will the victor be existing president Donald Trump, or presidential hopeful Joe Biden? All will be clear soon enough, and we can only hope that the results are satisfactory.
