Biden and Trump declared winners: America awaits a rematch

Joe Biden and Donald Trump have built on their success by effectively becoming candidates for a presidential rematch in the 2024 election. The incumbent and ex-president of the United States win almost all the votes in Georgia, Mississippi, Washington and Hawaii.

Both Joe Biden and Donald Trump won the primary elections in Georgia, Mississippi and Washington state on Tuesday, setting up a rematch that most voters are not looking forward to.

Both candidates have won nearly all the votes cast so far in symbolic primaries in several states, along with Democratic primaries overseas and the Republican caucus in Hawaii. Biden also won the Northern Mariana Islands primary Tuesday morning with 11 delegates.

In Georgia, a nascent effort to register opposition to the Biden administration’s support for the Gaza war could not easily be expressed with “no preference” protest votes in Georgia because the ballot does not provide the ability to do so. One woman from Roswell, Georgia, said she voted for Democratic Rep. Dean Phillips, who dropped out last week, as an alternative.

“I voted to protest the war in Gaza because I think it’s terrible and I’m ashamed of my country right now,” said Robin Hocking, 56, a software developer from Roswell. She said she is typically a Republican voter. “I hope that if enough people vote for the not-Biden, he will understand that he will lose this election if he does not cease fire.”

Uchenna Nwosu, a gynecologist, said her decision was simple.

“It’s clear that I couldn’t vote for someone who took away women’s abortion rights in health care, for example,” she said. “I don’t know why Trump should be in the race. I mean, that in itself is a good reason. He doesn’t stand for anything that I stand for. So, that’s it.”

Trump ran unopposed in Georgia, although other names were still on the ballot, drawing some voters, The Guardian notes.

Scott Carpenter of Roswell voted for former Ambassador Nikki Haley because he hates Trump, he said. He voted for Biden in 2020. “I don’t like Trump. I don’t like Biden. I just wanted another choice,” he said.

And Travis Forman, 46, a lawyer from Alpharetta, said he thinks Trump has been good for America and expressed disappointment with the Democratic Party.

“I disagree with this party and some of its core beliefs,” Foreman said, adding that he voted for democracy and independence during his life. “And it’s hard for me, as the son of a preacher from south Georgia, to just agree with some of their core beliefs that they want me to do. The whole gender ideology, the movement – I just have a problem with it. I don’t mind what someone decides to do with their life and how they live their life, but don’t try to force me to accept certain things against my own principles. It just dawned on me that this is problem #1.”

Biden almost immediately won enough delegates in Georgia to win the Democratic nomination, which required 1,968 first-ballot votes to win.

“Four years ago, I ran for president because I believed we were in a fight for the soul of this nation. Thanks to the American people, we won this battle, and I am now honored that a broad coalition of voters representing the rich diversity of the Democratic Party across the country has once again placed their faith in me to lead our party—and our country—at a time when Trump represents is bigger than ever,” the White House chief said in a statement.

Trump is also on track to secure the required 1,215 delegates needed for the Republican nomination.