After the primary election in the US state of Michigan, the course has been set for both Biden and Trump, says political consultant van de Laar. Both candidates still have to fight for support within their parties.
US President Joe Biden and challenger and former President Donald Trump each won their parties’ primaries in the US state. But both candidates still have a lot of work to do, said political consultant Julius van de Laar in an interview tagesschau24.
The outcome of the Democratic primary should initially be seen as a setback for the incumbent Biden. “If you think about how close the result is for Biden in this state, then he can’t really afford to lose entire groups of voters there. That means he has to give in.”
This refers to the current course of the US government with regard to the situation in the Middle East and Israel’s actions in the Gaza Strip in the fight against the terrorist militia Hamas. According to recent surveys, this prompted around 14 percent of Democratic voters in the US state of Michigan to vote “undecided” on the ballot – in protest. A relatively large number of Muslims live in Michigan.
Large parts of the Republicans are still skeptical
With regard to Trump’s prospects of becoming the Republican Party’s nominee, van de Laar points to recent polls among Republican supporters. According to this, around 35 percent said after the primaries in the US state of South Carolina that “we do not believe that Trump should be president if he were to actually be convicted in one of the upcoming court cases.”
According to van de Laar, this means that Trump does not yet have his party completely on his side – and that also applies to Biden. “That means both candidates still have work to do,” said the political consultant. Also with a view to Super Tuesday on March 5th, when Republican primaries will take place simultaneously in 15 states.