Indian Americans are confused about whether to cast their vote for Trump or Biden in the White House in January 2021.
Trump is in every way facing a difficult time right now. He has a good reputation and assured to get a couple of votes after he visited India in February. However, there are problems when it comes to his popularity polls and public ratings.
This is due to this pandemic, death toll, unemployment, stress in the economy and affected stock markets, it has left nothing for the investors. Everything changed and trump would have never though of this as he left from New Delhi on 26th February.
People have started blaming Trump for the spread of coronavirus and fatalities that stands highest in the world. Instead, they are in thoughts if Biden is a better with handling the Indo-US relations.
According to The Sunday Guardian, Frank Islam, a Democrat supporter and a top Indian American Community member, quoted “President Trump’s handling of the corona pandemic is nothing short of a disaster.”
He says that the US spends enough money on healthcare the best when compared to the other countries in the world with treating infections or winning over fatalities. According to him, a leader deals with this crisis. When Trump ruled in the first three years, he didn’t have to face problems. Trump has been lucky with getting to handle an already well-established economy and he failed at dealing with a real test.
However, Mukesh Aghi, President and CEO of US-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF) feels it is still not a lost battle for Trump.
“A lot can happen between now and November elections,” Aghi told The Sunday Guardian, adding that, “the current crisis is definitely a challenge for the administration, the US and of the world. In every society, the popularity of leaders has shifted—both positive and negative. PM Narendra Modi’s approval rating has gone up to 93% while President Trump’s rating has suffered. US elections are still six months away.”
Along with this problem, US is even getting anti-China because of Trumps views. In a few months we will get to see how will this impact the economy and work in favour of Trump or not.
Further, Aghi says, “The China problem is not just the Trump’s problem—it is a global problem. A regime which is not transparent, stringent, and punishes bearers of bad news will struggle in the long term. China, for the first time since 1979, is facing both an internal crisis and pressures from the global community due to a lack of transparency in regards to the way the pandemic has been handled. The sentiment in the US is that China needs to be accountable and any leader who takes a firm stance against China will be popular.”
Right now, it is tough to understand the health problems America is involved with. They are keen on building a vaccine. Aghi says that until and unless a successful vaccine is not made, economies and health are bound to be affected.
Islam believes that, Trump needs to be a little worried. As he might lose his popularity once Biden comes into the picture after all lockdown restrictions are removed.
Biden has already gained a 10-point advantage over the President Trump and he has chances of wining the elections in January. He is waiting for Corona to get better so that he can pass on his message.
A techie and philanthropist from Silicon Valley and a democrat fund raiser named Ajay Bhutoria says “Biden has an edge over Trump for the latter’s failed handling of the corona pandemic.”
Bhutoria says, “The Trump administration’s abject failure to quickly develop and deploy a workable test resulted in a lost month. Months later, testing remains far below where it needs to be in many parts of the country, and Trump and his administration have been unwilling and unable to get Governors the material and support they need to increase capacity and get tests and rapid results to healthcare workers, first responders, essential employees, and the sick.”
Further he says “Vice President Biden knows that the federal government needs to step up to help those on the front lines of this fight and get our country moving and healthy again, that’s why Biden has called for the creation of a Pandemic Testing Board to coordinate national efforts, and that’s why he’s demanded that Trump finally fully implement the Defense Production Act to ensure that states get the supplies they need to fight the coronavirus.”
According to Islam, for India and the Indian-Americans, Biden is the best. For any Government, now it will be a great challenge to fix the economy and healthcare system.
The last time when the economy was in trouble, Biden was on President Obama’s side and he was a strong support to the American healthcare system through Obamacare. Therefore, it is assumed that he can handle this situation better and bring back the US on track.
Further Aghi believes that this is the best time for India to build connections with the corporate America and convince them with their markets. This political tension between the US and China, helps India and the US to be better with each other.
All in all, there is no surety of who among Trump and Biden will take over. Time has its answers. Let’s wait to see.
