The Dragon’s Back: China, US Foreign Policy and the 2020 Election

Foreign policy is often said to be something that does not win elections, but in certain scenarios it can help lose them. Both Republican nominee Donald Trump and Democratic nominee Joseph Biden have focused on presenting different visions in relation to domestic policy, but they also have both made points… Continue reading

Old Dog, Old Tricks: America’s Exhaustion with Donald Trump’s Divisive Rhetoric

  In an interview with the journalist Bob Woodward during his 2016 presidential campaign, Donald Trump admitted that he inspired rage in the American people. “I don’t know if that’s an asset or a liability,” he claimed, “but whatever it is, I do.”[i] Trump possessed—and continues to possess—a power unlike… Continue reading

From Trinity to Trump: The Politics of Nuclear Memory in the 2020 Election

The 75th anniversaries of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombings in 2020, while having low-key, in-person gatherings on account of COVID-19, still resonated through a range of electronic and broadcast media, as did the controversies surrounding them, whether historic or current, including reflections on ongoing nuclear policies.[i] Existing academic studies… Continue reading

Mom-in-Chief: Jill Biden, Melania Trump and the Rhetoric of Motherhood in First Lady Campaigning

Since the 1950’s and the emergence of the post-war suburban housewife demographic embodied by Mamie Eisenhower and Pat Nixon, first ladies have been identified as a national matriarchal figurehead, often reinforcing stereotypical gender roles. Despite the notion of the traditional housewife now being largely outdated, the 2020 election has been… Continue reading

Political Identity in the Crossroads of America: Swing States, Campaign Presence, and Presidential Outcomes

‘The reality of recent United States presidential elections is that there are only about ten states which are the object of attention for candidates and campaigns,’ Stacey Hunter Hecht and David Schultz wrote in 2015.[i] In the five presidential elections between 2000 and 2016, thirty-eight of the fifty American states… Continue reading

Trump and the Republican Party—Precessors and Limits

This article examines Donald Trump’s roots in the Republican Party, both in the popular backlash against immigration as well as more broadly. It also challenges the idea that Trump has developed an unusual degree of control over the GOP. Trumpism is both less new and less dominant than many narratives… Continue reading

“I’d Rather Vote for a Tuna Fish Sandwich”: Never Trumpers and the 2020 Presidential Election

“The man is categorically unfit to be president,” declares Bardon from Kentucky. Todd from Oregon agrees, arguing that “Trump’s daily tweet storms and fragile ego show he is dangerously incompetent.” Meanwhile, Dianne in Utah is concerned that “Trump cares about his image more than he cares about saving lives.” You… Continue reading

MAGA, White Evangelicals, and the Objection to Kamala Harris

Trump established his political career with the Obama birther conspiracy, which alleged that President Obama was not a natural-born citizen of the US and was, therefore, an illegitimate president. Since then, discrediting Black and Brown people’s full human standing, particularly women’s, has been a central feature of his presidency, as… Continue reading

Election Series 2020

The United States is approaching an historic presidential election. With the country facing multiple crises, both Democrats and Republicans are arguing that the election of their counterparts would lead to the end of America as their constituents envision it. Uncertain of their prospects, President Trump and the Republican Party are… Continue reading

“Born in the USA”: Birtherism and the US Presidency

Following the Democratic Party’s nomination of Senator Kamala Harris as their Vice-Presidential candidate in the 2020 election, President Donald Trump claimed in a White House briefing, “I heard it today that she doesn’t meet the requirements.” His comments hinged on a racist birther claim that Harris is not a natural-born… Continue reading