US

Biden seals Democratic nomination as US presidential rematch with Trump looms

President passes number of delegates needed in Georgia primary while Republican rival’s nomination is essentially predetermined

US president Joe Biden has clinched the Democratic nomination to run again. Photograph: Brynn Anderson/AP

Tue Mar 12 2024 - 23:43

US president Joe Biden won enough delegates on Tuesday to seal the Democratic Party’s nomination, with a face-off against former president Donald Trump looming in what would be the first US presidential election rematch in nearly 70 years.

Mr Biden needed 1,968 delegates to win the nomination and Edison Research said he passed that number on Tuesday night as results began to come in from the primary contest in Georgia, ahead of expected results from Mississippi, Washington state, the Northern Mariana Islands and Democrats living abroad.

Mr Trump was expected to clinch the Republican Party’s nomination later on Tuesday as four states held contests, including Georgia, the battleground where he faces criminal charges for his efforts to overturn the state’s 2020 results.

The outcome is essentially predetermined after Mr Trump’s last remaining rival for the Republican nomination, former UN ambassador Nikki Haley, ended her presidential campaign following Mr Trump’s dominant performance last week on Super Tuesday, when he won 14 of 15 state contests.

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Mr Biden, meanwhile, faced only token opposition in the Democratic primary campaign, though liberal activists frustrated by his support for Israel’s war in Gaza have convinced a sizeable minority of Democrats to vote “uncommitted” in protest.

Both men have already turned their attention to the November 5th general election, holding duelling rallies in Georgia on Saturday.

In Rome, Georgia, Mr Trump (77) again repeated his false claim that the 2020 election was fraudulent and accused the Fulton County attorney, Fani Willis, of prosecuting him for political reasons. He also attacked Biden for failing to stem the flow of migrants at the US southern border, an issue he intends to keep front and centre throughout the campaign, as he did in 2020.

The 81-year-old Mr Biden, appearing in Atlanta, sounded the same themes he voiced during his energetic State of the Union speech to Congress on Thursday, warning that Mr Trump poses a danger to US democracy and criticising the former president’s heated rhetoric about migrants.

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The Biden campaign launched a more aggressive phase on Friday, announcing Mr Biden would tour several battleground states amid a $30 million (€27.5 million) ad buy. The campaign said it raised $10 million in the 24 hours after Mr Biden’s State of the Union speech, adding to Democrats’ financial edge over Republicans.

As of Monday, Trump needed 139 additional delegates to reach the 1,215 required to secure the Republican presidential nomination, according to Edison Research. There are 161 delegates at stake on Tuesday in Georgia, Hawaii, Mississippi and Washington state.

– Reuters

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