People Before Profit welcomes the defeat of Donald Trump in the US presidential election and reject any ‘conspiracy theory’ that he was not democratically voted out by the American people. Trump was a racist, misogynist, bigot and bully – a billionaire political thug who served the interests of the super rich while falsely presenting himself as a champion of ordinary people. He must go now.
During the Covid pandemic Trump pursued an utterly reckless policy which repeatedly ignored and undermined scientific advice while sacrificing the lives of tens of thousands of ordinary Americans on the altar of profit. As a result America has the highest number of cases and the highest death toll in
the world with 126,833 new cases and 1.031 deaths on Saturday 7 November and no signs of the crisis being brought under control.
From the beginning of his election campaign Trump encouraged racism with his anti-Mexican rhetoric and his ‘Build that Wall!’ slogan. As his Presidency progressed he continued his racist policies with his blanket ban on Muslim immigrants and visitors, his caging of migrants on the border
and his forcible separation of children and their parents. After the blatant police murder of George Ford and many other murders of unarmed black people Trump uncritically defended the police in defiance of the Black Lives Matter movement, while also courting and giving cover to the far right
and fascists.
If Trump had secured re-election his victory would not only have been bad for the American people, it would also have given encouragement to every far right racist and outright fascist element here in Ireland and around the world. Trump’s period in office has already spawned the largest and most
emboldened far right in modern US history. Similarly Trump’s climate change denial and total defence of fossil fuels was endangering not only America’s future but the future if all humanity. His defeat was essential.
Our celebration of Trump’s defeat does not, however, imply endorsement of or support for a Biden presidency. Biden is simply the continuity candidate of the US political establishment. It was the bitterness created by the failures of his and the Democratic Party’s past policies that gave rise to the
Trump phenomenon in the first place and their conservative business- as – usual approach offers no solution to the triple crisis of Covid, the economy and the climate.
We believe that the large mass of the American people urgently need policies and politics that put the needs of ordinary people before the needs of the billionaires and the giant corporations.