Taipei, Taiwan — The news of U.S. President Joe Biden’s decision to end his re-election campaign quickly became a trending topic on Chinese social media platforms Monday.

In a statement released on Sunday afternoon U.S. time, Biden announced his decision to not run for a second term and vowed to focus his energy on fulfilling his duties as president.

So far, the Chinese government has remained tight lipped about the decision. At a regular press briefing on Monday, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning declined to comment, and said the “presidential election is an internal affair of the United States.”

Online, however, the entry “Biden withdrew from the election” attracted more than 400 million views on the China’s microblogging site Weibo and tens of thousands of comments.

Other topics went viral as well. Topics such as “Zelensky respects Biden’s decision to withdraw from the election,” “Harris praised Biden,” and “Trump thinks Harris is easier to beat” were all in the top 20 searches Monday on Weibo, which is similar to the social media site X.

Several major media outlets in China, including the state-run Xinhua News Agency, People’s Daily, and the Global Times, covered Biden’s withdrawal from the race extensively.

Many Chinese netizens expressed the view that Biden’s decision ensures that Trump will win the election in November while some said things have suddenly changed for Ukraine, referring to Trump’s repeated criticism of U.S. military aid to Ukraine. “Tonight will be a sleepless night for Zelensky,” Chinese netizen “Yo-Huai-To-Bi” from northeastern Shandong province wrote on Weibo.

Other Chinese netizens argued that the United States will continue to compete with China and try to contain the country’s rise regardless of who wins the election in November.

“We shouldn’t be too happy about this news because Trump will likely continue Biden’s strategies toward China and he might roll out harsher measures,” a netizen called “BIGTREE33” from China’s southeastern Fujian Province wrote on Weibo.

Some Chinese commentators said the Democratic Party will have very little chance of winning the presidential election in November without Biden.

“No faction in the Democratic Party can rebuild a campaign that can challenge Trump within a short time, so after Biden withdrew from the race, the Democrats will return to a very divided situation,” Jia Min, an affiliated researcher at Shanghai Development Research Foundation, told Shanghai Morning News in a video.

Hu Xijin, the former editor-in-chief of China’s state-run tabloid Global Times, wrote on X that whoever becomes the Democratic Party’s presidential candidate will make little difference to the presidential race in November.

“Because Trump’s personality is so outstanding, American voters are now divided into two groups: Trump lovers & Trump haters,” he wrote, adding that November’s election will be a choice between Trump or “anyone.”

Harris vs. Trump

After Biden endorsed U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris to be the presidential candidate for the Democratic Party and Harris vowed to win the Democratic Party’s nomination, the entry “Could Harris defeat Trump” quickly became a trending topic on Weibo. 

More Chinese netizens seem to believe Harris has very little chance of beating Trump in the presidential election. “If Hillary Clinton couldn’t beat Trump back then, Harris would just be a joke,” a netizen named “Falling in Love with Jia-tze-hu” from Shandong Province wrote on Weibo.

Some Chinese analysts said Harris lacks the experience and achievement to serve as the next president of the United States.

“Looking at Harris’s overall track record, her performance as vice president has not been particularly outstanding, and she has not achieved satisfactory results,” Sun Chenghao, a fellow at the Center for International Security and Strategy at Tsinghua University, told Chinese online media outlet the Paper. 

Beijing-Washington rivalry to continue

While Biden’s decision to pull out of the presidential race will likely shape the development of the U.S. presidential election, some analysts say the Chinese government may think that these developments won’t change the fact that Beijing and Washington are engaged in an intense competition.

“Beijing’s view is that the U.S. and China are in this rivalry, and it will continue no matter who runs in the election,” Ian Chong, a political scientist at the National University of Singapore, told VOA by phone.

Other experts say the Chinese government may not have clear expectations about how different candidates may focus on issues related to China.

“Despite being the vice president, Harris hasn’t said that much on foreign policy, especially compared to the known track records of both Biden and Trump,” said Timothy Rich, a political scientist at Western Kentucky University.

“So, a known Trump, however erratic, may be easier [for Beijing] to prepare for than Harris,” he told VOA in a written response.

If November’s election becomes a race between Trump and Harris, Rich thinks a potential Trump victory would mean more tariffs on Chinese commodities and a more explicit view of trade as a zero-sum game. A potential Harris administration, he adds, may adopt a more nuanced approach to address Washington’s trade relationship with China.

On the issue of Taiwan, Rich said the fact that the Republican National Committee excluded Taiwan from the party platform may suggest Trump is “thinking transactionally about how cutting off support for Taiwan could lead to some big trade agreement with China.”

“In contrast, I can’t see a Harris administration deviating on support for Taiwan much from her predecessor,” he told VOA.
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WASHINGTON — Momentum appeared to be on the side of U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris on Monday, as a groundswell of Democratic lawmakers, governors and financial donors expressed their support for her to be the party’s presidential nominee in the November election after President Joe Biden dropped out of the race.

Biden followed his surprise announcement Sunday by issuing his own endorsement of Harris to face former President Donald Trump, the Republican Party’s nominee.

Harris, who is 59, quickly announced that she would seek the nomination. She was a senator from the country’s most populous state, California, when Biden picked her in 2020 as his running mate after Harris’ challenge to Biden and other primary contenders fell apart.

Her approval ratings in national surveys have largely reflected the president’s, but some surveys of likely voters show Harris faring slightly better than Biden against Trump and, in a few, she has polled ahead of Trump.

Harris said in a statement that Biden, by withdrawing from the race against Trump, “is doing what he has done throughout his life of service: putting the American people and our country above everything else.”

“I will do everything in my power to unite the Democratic Party – and unite our nation – to defeat Donald Trump,” she said. “We have 107 days until Election Day. Together, we will fight. And together, we will win.”

ActBlue, a leading Democratic fundraising platform, said late Sunday it had collected $46.7 million in small-dollar donations for the Harris campaign on Sunday alone. That stood in contrast to weeks of waning support for Biden, particularly among top donors, following his performance in a late June debate against Trump.

The Association of State Democratic Committees said in a statement that an “overwhelming majority” of state party leaders backed Harris as the party’s nominee, with several abstaining for procedural reasons.

Sunday’s outpouring of support for Harris also included at least one Biden Cabinet member, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who said he would do “all I can” to help elect Harris.

If Harris is accepted by the party to replace Biden, she would be the first Black woman and South Asian major party presidential nominee in the 248-year history of the United States. 

Biden’s announcement Sunday followed a rising chorus within the Democratic Party urging him to “pass the torch” amid his declining national poll numbers and concerns raised by his debate performance.  During the debate, the 81-year-old president often appeared to lose his train of thought, failed to forcefully press his case against the 78-year-old Trump or defend his own tenure in the White House. 

Biden persevered, insisting he would not quit the race unless “the Lord Almighty” asked him to or if he was shown polling numbers that he could not beat Trump a second time or advised by his doctors he was not physically able to continue.

“I believe it is in the best interest of my party and the country for me to stand down and to focus solely on fulfilling my duties as president for the remainder of my term,” he said in a statement Sunday. His term ends in January.

Biden said he plans to address the nation about his decision later this week.

Trump responded to the announcement by assailing both Biden and Harris.

“Crooked Joe Biden was not fit to run for President, and is certainly not fit to serve – And never was!” Trump posted on social media, adding that Harris was just as bad as Biden.

“Harris will be easier to beat than Joe Biden would have been,” Trump told CNN.

Many Republicans reacted by calling for Biden to resign as president.

House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson, who is second in the presidential line of succession behind Harris, called on Biden to step down, claiming if he is unfit to keep his candidacy alive for another four-year term, he is also unfit to remain as president until Jan. 20.

If Biden were to resign, Harris would immediately be sworn in as president, at least until the inauguration for the victor of November’s election.

Names of other prominent Democrats have been floated as potential candidates other than Harris, including several state governors: Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan, Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania, J.B. Pritzker of Illinois and Gavin Newsom of California. Shapiro and Newsom endorsed Harris on Sunday.

Former President Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton, who served as secretary of State under President Barack Obama, endorsed Harris in a statement. Obama, whom Biden served with as vice president for eight years, thanked Biden for his patriotism, but did not indicate whether he was supporting Harris or any other potential contender.

Media reports in the hours following Biden’s withdrawal quoted sources close to Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia, now an independent, saying he was considering rejoining the Democratic Party to try to replace the president at the top of the party’s ticket.

There are two ways for Democrats to replace Biden as the party’s standard-bearer. 

One would be a virtual vote among delegates to the Democratic National Convention next month in Chicago that would lock in a new nominee in early August. Chances are this process would favor Harris, avoiding conflict at the Aug. 19-22 convention in front of a national television audience.

The other way Democrats could pick a new nominee would be an “open” convention in which several candidates, including Harris, would seek the presidential nomination, a scenario the party hasn’t experienced since 1968, when President Lyndon Johnson dropped his plans to run for reelection in face of widespread opposition to his handling of America’s war against North Vietnam.

Some Democrats are suggesting the party quickly hold a “mini primary” to allow Harris and anyone else to openly compete.

Biden has no public events on his schedule for Monday. The White House said details on his schedule for the rest of the week will be forthcoming. He had been set to meet with visiting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, according to officials in Israel.

Some material for this article came from The Associated Press and Reuters.
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WASHINGTON — At 1:45 p.m. Sunday, President Joe Biden’s senior staff was notified that he was stepping away from the 2024 race. At 1:46 p.m., that message was made public.

It was never Biden’s intention to leave the race: Up until he decided to step aside Sunday, he was all in.

His campaign was planning fundraisers and events and setting up travel over the next few weeks. But even as Biden was publicly dug in and insisting he was staying in the race, he was quietly reflecting on the disaster of the past few weeks, on the past three years of his presidency and on the scope of his half-century career in politics.

In the end, it was the president’s decision alone, and he made it quietly, from his vacation home in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, sick with COVID-19, the first lady with him as he talked it through with a small circle of people who have been with him for decades.

“This has got to be one of the hardest decisions he’s ever made,” said Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., the president’s closest ally in Congress, who spoke with him Sunday. “I know he wanted to fight and keep going and show that he could beat Donald Trump again, but as he heard more and more input, I think he was wrestling with what would be the best for the country,” Coons said in an interview with The Associated Press.

This story is based on interviews with more than a dozen people familiar with the president’s thinking over the past few weeks, days and hours as he made his decision. They spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity to talk about private discussions.

Deciding to leave the race

It wasn’t until Saturday evening that Biden began to come to the conclusion that he would not run for reelection. He started writing a letter to the American people.

Biden had been off the campaign trail for a few days, isolated because of COVID-19, when it all started to deeply sink in — his worsening chances of being able to defeat Donald Trump with so much of his party in open rebellion, seeking to push him out of the race — not to mention the persistent voter concerns about his age that were only exacerbated by the catastrophic debate.

Biden was at his beach home with some of his and Jill Biden’s closest aides: chief strategist Mike Donilon, counselor to the president Steve Ricchetti, White House deputy chief of staff Annie Tomasini, and Anthony Bernal, senior adviser to the first lady.

By Sunday, his decision crystalized. He spoke multiple times with Vice President Kamala Harris, whom he would endorse. He informed White House chief of staff Jeff Zients, and his longtime aide and campaign chairwoman Jen O’Malley Dillon.

A small group of senior advisers from both the campaign and the White House were assembled for the 1:45 p.m. call to relay Biden’s decision, while his campaign staff released the social media announcement one minute later.

“It has been the greatest honor of my life to serve as your President. And while it has been my intention to seek reelection, I believe it is in the best interest of my party and the country for me to stand down and to focus solely on fulfilling my duties as President for the remainder of my term,” Biden wrote.

Just about a half-hour later came his public vote of support for Harris. It was a carefully choreographed strategy meant to give the president’s initial statement full weight, and to put a period on the moment before launching forward into the next step.

“Today I want to offer my full support and endorsement for Kamala to be the nominee of our party this year,” Biden said in another post on X. “Democrats — it’s time to come together and beat Trump.”

About that debate

It’s not like things had been going great before the June 27 debate. In an August 2023 poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, fully 77% of U.S. adults said Biden was too old to be effective for four more years. Not only did 89% of Republicans say that, but so did 69% of Democrats.

And it hadn’t gotten any better by April, when more than half of U.S. adults thought Biden’s presidency hurt the country on issues like the cost of living and immigration.

But Biden had insisted — to himself, to the nation, to his supporters — that he would be able to bring voters around if he got out there, told people about his record, explained it to them. Talked to them. Looked them in the eye.

He had a lifetime of experience that told him that if he stuck to it, he’d overcome. His campaign was so confident, in fact, that they arranged to go around the Commission on Presidential Debates to set up a series of faceoffs with Trump under a new set of rules.

That produced the June 27 debate that set Biden’s downfall in motion. Biden gave nonsensical answers, trailed off mid-sentence and appeared to stare blankly in front of an audience of 51 million people. Perhaps most distressing to other Democrats, Biden didn’t go after Trump’s myriad falsehoods about his involvement in the violence around the insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021, abortion rights or immigration.

Biden and his team blamed the night on so many different things. He had a cold. He was jet-lagged. He needed to get more sleep. That night opened the door for his party to push him out.

A slow acceptance

Publicly and privately Biden was fighting to stay in the race. He was working to convince voters that he was up for the task for another four years. He was frustrated by the Democrats coming out publicly against him, but even angrier about the leaks and anonymous sources relaying how even former President Barack Obama and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi were working to get him to drop out.

It looked like he’d won out a couple times; the chorus of naysayers seemed to die down. He had some well-received speeches mixed with so-so TV interviews and a day featuring an extended news conference in which he displayed a nuanced grasp of policy but also committed a few gasp-inducing gaffes.

But the doubts didn’t go away.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer eventually invited top Biden staff to a meeting on July 11 to talk about their concerns. It didn’t go well. Senators expressed their concerns, and almost none of them said they had confidence in the president. But even afterward, Schumer was worried it wasn’t getting to Biden.

Following the meeting, Schumer called Democratic House Leader Hakeem Jeffries, former Speaker Nancy Pelosi and former President Obama. Schumer decided that day to request a meeting with Biden.

At a July 13 meeting in Rehoboth, Schumer told Biden he was there out of love and affection. And he delivered a personal appeal focused on Biden’s legacy, the country’s future and the impact the top of the ticket could have on congressional races — and how that could potentially affect the Supreme Court. That same day came the attempted assassination of Donald Trump.

Schumer told the president he didn’t expect him to make an immediate decision, but he hoped Biden would think about what he said, according to a person familiar with the conversation.

Biden responded, “I need another week,” and the two men hugged.

Sunday’s decision

It was full steam ahead until Biden pulled the emergency brake.

The president had lost his voice, but he was recovering well and his doctor had sent an update to the public shortly before 1 p.m. on his condition. His small circle decided to post the statement on X on Sunday, rather than let it leak out for days before he was prepared to address the nation, which he is expected to do sometime early this week.

Much of his campaign was blindsided, and it was clear by how little had changed after he dropped out. For hours after the announcement, Biden’s campaign website reflected that he was still running and KamalaHarris.com still redirected to Biden’s page.

Even Harris’ statement announcing her intent to succeed Biden was sent from “Joe Biden for President.”

After the public announcement, Zients held a senior staff call, sent out an email and spoke with Biden’s cabinet. The president was also making personal calls.

“Team — I wanted to make sure you saw the attached letter from the President,” Zients wrote in the staff email. “I could not be more proud to work for President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, and the American people — alongside all of you, the best White House team in history. There’s so much more to do — and as President Biden says, ‘there is nothing America can’t do — when we do it together.'”

Vermont Sen. Peter Welch, a Democrat who had called for Biden to bow out, was gardening with his wife when the news broke, and said he was momentarily “stunned.” Senators texted each other questioning if it was really happening.

Democratic Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal was at an event in his state, and there was spontaneous applause when it was announced to the crowd that Biden wouldn’t run, he said.

There was a sense of excitement and energy in the crowd “that has been completely lacking,” Blumenthal said.

“It was also, let’s be blunt, a sense of relief,” he said. “And a sense of reverence for Joe Biden.”

By Sunday evening, Biden for President had formally changed to Harris for President.

O’Malley Dillon told campaign staff their jobs were safe, because the operation was shifting to a campaign for Harris.
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Washington — President Joe Biden said on Sunday he would withdraw from the 2024 presidential election race, putting the United States into uncharted territory.

Biden endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris to be the Democratic nominee this year.

Before Biden’s decision was made, Reuters spoke to Elaine Kamarck, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution think tank, a Democratic National Committee member, and author of the book “Primary Politics” about the presidential nominating process, about what could happen next.

Q: What happens now?

A: Biden has spent the last several months accruing nearly 4,000 Democratic delegates by winning primary elections in U.S. states and territories.

Those delegates would normally vote for him to be the party’s official presidential nominee at the Democratic National Convention that is set to take place Aug. 19-22, but the rules do not bind or force them to do so. Delegates can vote with their conscience, which means they could throw their vote to someone else.

By stepping aside, Biden is effectively “releasing” his delegates, potentially sparking a competition among other Democratic candidates to become the nominee.

Q: Who could replace Biden?

A: Several candidates could step into the fray.

Vice President Kamala Harris is at the top of the list, but she has had her own problems after a rocky start in the job and poor polling numbers. The U.S. Constitution dictates that the vice president becomes president if the president dies or becomes incapacitated, but it does not weigh in on an inter-party process for choosing a nominee. 

California Governor Gavin Newsom, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear and Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker have all been floated as possible replacements. Up until now they have been Biden supporters working to help get him elected.

Q: How will a nominee be chosen?

A: There could be a free-for-all of sorts between the Democratic heavyweights vying for the job.

According to Ballotpedia, there are expected to be some 4,672 delegates in 2024, including 3,933 pledged delegates and 739 so-called superdelegates – senior party members.

In order to secure the nomination, a candidate would need to get a majority – that is, more votes than all the others combined.

If no one achieves that, then there would be a “brokered convention” in which the delegates act as free agents and negotiate with the party leadership.

Rules would be established and there would be roll call votes for names placed into nomination.

It could take several rounds of voting for someone to get a majority and become the nominee. The last brokered convention when Democrats failed to nominate a candidate on the first ballot was in 1952.

What happens to Biden’s campaign cash?

The Biden-Harris campaign had $91 million in the bank at the end of May, but experts on campaign finance law disagree on how readily the money could change hands.

Because Harris is also on the campaign filing documents, many experts believe the money could be transferred over to her if she is on the ticket. But there is some debate about whether Biden would need to be officially nominated first as the party’s candidate before a transfer could be made.
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NEW YORK — Donald Trump’s campaign released an update on the former president’s health on Saturday, one week after he survived an attempted assassination at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.

The memo, from Texas Representative Ronny Jackson, who served as Trump’s White House physician, offers new details about the Republican GOP nominee’s injuries and the treatment he received in the immediate aftermath of the attack.

Jackson said Trump sustained a gunshot wound to the right ear from a high-powered rifle that came “less than a quarter of an inch from entering his head and struck the top of his right ear.”

The bullet track, he said, “produced a 2 cm wide wound that extended down to the cartilaginous surface of the ear. There was initially significant bleeding, followed by marked swelling of the entire upper ear.”

While the swelling has since resolved and the wound is beginning to heal properly, Jackson said Trump is experiencing intermittent bleeding, requiring the dressing that was on display at last week’s Republican National Convention.

“Given the broad and blunt nature of the wound itself, no sutures were required,” he wrote.

Trump was initially treated by medical staff at Butler Memorial Hospital. According to Jackson, doctors “provided a thorough evaluation for additional injuries that included a CT of his head.”

Trump, he said, “will have further evaluations, including a comprehensive hearing exam, as needed. He will follow up with his primary care physician, as directed by the doctors that initially evaluated him,” he wrote.

“In summary, former President Trump is doing well, and he is recovering as expected from the gunshot wound sustained last Saturday afternoon,” he added.

The letter is the first official update about the former president’s condition since the night of the shooting.

Jackson, a staunch Trump supporter and Trump’s former doctor, said he met Trump in Bedminster, New Jersey, late Saturday after he returned from Pennsylvania.

He said he has been with Trump since that time, evaluating and treating his wound daily. That includes traveling with him Saturday to Michigan, where the former president held his first rally since the shooting, joined by his newly named running mate, Ohio Senator J.D. Vance.

It is unclear whether Jackson is still a licensed doctor. A spokesperson for the congressman did not immediately provide a response and Trump’s campaign did not immediately respond to questions.
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During the Republican National Convention, which ended Thursday, delegates approved a political platform that barely mentions abortion — a stark contrast to previous party positions. VOA’s chief national correspondent Steve Herman reports from the convention that this softer official stance on reproductive rights is aimed at making its candidate, Donald Trump, more appealing to undecided voters. VOA footage by Mary Cieslak.
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Joe Biden’s campaign said Friday that he would stay in the presidential race. But with more Democrats publicly saying his chances of winning in November are slim, he could still bow out. If he does, Democrats must quickly pick a replacement. VOA White House Bureau Chief Patsy Widakuswara reports.
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As some leading Democrats pressure incumbent President Joe Biden to abandon his reelection bid, Republicans are among those speculating about who might replace him on November’s ballot to face their nominee – former President Donald Trump. VOA’s chief national correspondent Steve Herman was at this week’s Republican National Convention in Milwaukee and filed this report.
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The Republican National Convention ended Thursday night with a speech by the party’s official presidential nominee, former President Donald Trump. He had been in the audience watching the convention all week, but Thursday was his first public speech since he was the target of an assassination attempt last Saturday. VOA’s Senior National Washington Correspondent Carolyn Presutti brings us the sights and sounds from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Kim Lewis and Tatiana Koprowitz contributed to this report.
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U.S. President Joe Biden faces physical and political isolation as he deals with COVID and as more Democrats urge him to step aside as the party’s nominee. White House Bureau Chief Patsy Widakuswara reports.
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Republican Vice Presidential candidate J.D. Vance took center stage at the third night of the Republican National Convention Wednesday. Donald Trump’s running mate embraced an “America First” approach to foreign policy and security. VOA’s Congressional Correspondent Katherine Gypson has more from Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
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MILWAUKEE — Introducing himself to the nation after being tapped as Donald Trump’s running mate, JD Vance is planning to use his Wednesday night address to the Republican National Convention to share the story of his hardscrabble upbringing and make the case that his party best understands the challenges facing struggling Americans.

The 39-year-old Ohio senator is a relative political unknown. In his first primetime speech since becoming the nominee for vice president, Vance is expected to talk about growing up poor in Kentucky and Ohio, his mother addicted to drugs and his father absent, and how he later went on to the highest levels of U.S. politics.

Vance, who rapidly morphed in recent years from a bitter critic of the former president to an aggressive defender, is positioned to become the future leader of the party and the torch-bearer of Trump’s “Make America Great Again” political movement, which has reshaped the Republican Party and broken longtime political norms. The first millennial to join the top of a major party ticket, he enters the race as questions about the age of the men at the top — 78-year-old Trump and 81-year-old Biden — have been high on the list of voters’ concerns.

Speaking earlier Wednesday, at his first fundraiser as Trump’s running mate, Vance said he will use the speech to highlight the contrast between Trump and Biden.

“The guy who actually connects with working people in this country is not Fake Scranton Joe, it’s Real President Donald Trump,” he said.

Vance was introduced at the fundraiser by Indiana Rep. Jim Banks, who said Trump’s decision to choose Vance wasn’t about picking a running mate or the next vice president.

“Donald Trump’s decision this week in picking JD Vance was about the future,” he said. “Donald Trump picked a man in JD Vance that is the future of the country, the future of the Republican Party, the future of the America First movement.”

Along with his relative youth, Vance is new to some of the hallmarks of Republican presidential politics: This year’s gathering is the first RNC that Vance has attended, according to a Trump campaign official who was not authorized to speak publicly.

Trump, who entered the arena to a version of the song “It’s a Man’s World” by James Brown and Luciano Pavarotti, will be watching from his family box.

Convention organizers had stressed a theme of unity, even before Trump survived an attempted assassination at a rally in Pennsylvania Saturday. Trump’s refusal to accept the results of the 2020 election and the subsequent attack on the U.S. Capitol, officials said, would be absent from the stage.

But that changed with former White House official Peter Navarro, who was greeted with enthusiastic cheers and a standing ovation hours after he was released from a Miami prison where he served four months for defying a subpoena from the congressional committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol by a mob of the former president’s supporter.

“If they can come for me, if they can come for Donald Trump, be careful. They will come for you,” he said in a fiery speech. He compared his legal troubles to those faced by Trump, who earlier this year was convicted on 34 felony charges in his criminal hush money trial. Trump is also facing two indictments for his efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

“They did not break me,” Navarro said, “and they will never break Donald Trump.”

Also spotted on the floor of the convention: Paul Manafort, Trump’s 2016 campaign chair, who was convicted as part of the investigation into Russia’s meddling in that election.

Vance is an Ivy League graduate and former businessman, but gained prominence following the publication of his bestselling 2016 memoir “Hillbilly Elegy,” which tells the story of his blue-collar roots. The book became a must-read for those seeking to understand the cultural forces that propelled Trump to the White House that year.

Still, most Americans — and Republicans — don’t know much about Vance. According to a new poll from the AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, which was conducted before Trump selected the freshman senator as his choice, 6 in 10 Americans don’t know enough about him to have formed an opinion.

About 2 in 10 U.S. adults have a favorable view of him, and 22% view him negatively. Among Republicans, 61% don’t know enough to have an opinion of Vance. About one-quarter have a positive view of him, and roughly 1 in 10 have a negative one.

Vance will be introduced Wednesday night by his wife, Usha Chilukuri Vance. Trump’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., who is a close friend of Vance, will also speak.

Beyond Vance’s prime-time speech, the Republican Party focused Wednesday on a theme of American global strength. Speakers were to include family members of service members killed during the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan and someone taken hostage during the Oct. 7 attack in Israel, according to a person familiar with the program.

Republicans contend that the country has become a “global laughingstock” under Biden’s watch. The party that was once home to defense hawks and neoconservatives has fully embraced Trump’s “America First” foreign policy that redefined relationships with allies and adversaries.

Democrats have sharply criticized Trump — and Vance — for their positions, including their questioning of U.S. support for Ukraine in its defense against Russia’s invasion.

In a video released Wednesday by Biden’s reelection campaign, Vice President Kamala Harris dismissed Vance as someone Trump “knew would be a rubber stamp for his extreme agenda.”

“Make no mistake: JD Vance will be loyal only to Trump, not to our country,” Harris says in a video.
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Washington — President Joe Biden on Wednesday tested positive for COVID-19, the White House said in a statement, shortly after he abruptly canceled a Las Vegas speech where he planned to appeal to Latino voters.

The 81-year-old president tested positive before his first event in Las Vegas Wednesday and is experiencing “mild symptoms,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in the statement. She added that he is vaccinated and boosted against the virus and will return to his home in Rehoboth, Delaware, where he will self-isolate.

“The White House will provide regular updates on the President’s status as he continues to carry out the full duties of the office while in isolation,” she said.

The news was first announced by the president of UnidosUS, the nation’s largest Latino nonprofit advocacy organization.

“Regrettably I was just on the phone with President Biden,” UnidosUS President Janet Murguia told the crowd gathered in a Las Vegas ballroom to hear the president. “And he shared his deep disappointment at not being able to join us this afternoon. The president has been at many events as we all know, and he just tested positive for COVID. So, of course, we understand that he needs to take the precautions that have been recommended, and he did not obviously want to put anybody at risk.”

A message from Biden’s doctor followed Jean-Pierre’s statement, adding that Biden’s respiratory rate, temperature and blood oxygen levels are all normal, and that he has received a dose of treatment. The doctor, whose name was not given in the statement, said Biden had shown symptoms including a runny nose, a cough and general malaise.

“His symptoms remain mild, his respiratory rate is normal at 16, his temperature is normal at 97.8 and his pulse oximetry is normal at 97%,” the note said. “The president has received his first dose of Paxlovid. He will be self-isolating at his home in Rehoboth.”

As Biden prepared to board Air Force One to fly to Delaware, reporters asked him how he felt. He gave the press a thumbs-up and replied: “Good. I feel good.”
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washington — Senator J.D. Vance, former President Donald Trump’s newly announced running mate, will take center stage Wednesday evening at the Republican National Convention, focusing on the day’s theme, “Make America Strong Again.”

Vance, 39, a former venture capitalist, has less than two years in public office and little foreign policy background. His recent comments mostly align with Trump’s “America First” doctrine and have revealed a worldview that can be summed up as pro-Israel, anti-China and causing anxiety in Europe.

A former U.S. Marine who was deployed in Iraq, Vance is skeptical of American military intervention overseas and, with the exception of Israel, largely opposes foreign aid. He has argued that the United States can’t simultaneously support Ukraine and the Middle East and be ready for contingencies in East Asia.

“It just doesn’t make any sense,” he said in February at the Munich Security Conference. “The math doesn’t work out in terms of weapons manufacturing.”

However, Vance is not an isolationist, as some have described him, said Emma Ashford, senior fellow with the Reimagining U.S. Grand Strategy program at the Stimson Center.

In a recent speech at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, Vance defined his foreign policy goals.

“We want the Israelis and the Sunnis to police their own region of the world. We want the Europeans to police their own region of the world, and we want to be able to focus more on East Asia,” he said.

“You could call him either a realist or perhaps a prioritizer,” Ashford told VOA.

That’s a strong contrast from Biden administration policymakers “who argue that every region is interconnected, and the U.S. has to lead in all of them,” she added. “And it’s definitely a break from the post-Cold War foreign policy in the U.S.”

Yet, Vance’s aim for the United States to pull away from Europe and the Middle East to focus on China is neither new nor uniquely Republican. In fact, former President Barack Obama pursued a Pivot to Asia doctrine from 2009 to 2017.

That pivot has yet to happen, as the U.S. has become bogged down by conflicts in both Europe and the Middle East.

Less support for Ukraine

In terms of priorities, Vance is aligned with Trump’s insistence that Washington reduce support for Ukraine and force Europeans to play a bigger role in the continent’s own security.

“I do not think that Vladimir Putin is an existential threat to Europe,” Vance said in Munich, sending shock waves through European diplomatic circles. He added that Kyiv should pursue a “negotiated peace” with Moscow even if that means ceding territory.

That prompted criticism from John Herbst, a former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine who is now senior director of the Atlantic Council’s Eurasia Center. Vance is “completely naive on Putin’s Russia,” Herbst told VOA.

With Trump suggesting he would not protect countries that failed to meet NATO’s defense spending targets, even appearing to encourage Putin to attack them, and Vance’s criticisms of Ukraine, the prospect of a Trump-Vance administration has sparked alarm across Europe.

However, Herbst remains optimistic.

While Ukraine may not be Trump’s first priority, he “perceives himself as a strongman and does not want to be associated with foreign policy failure,” he said. “And a Russian victory in Ukraine if Trump is president would look very much like a foreign policy failure.”

More support for Israel

While Vance has established himself as a key surrogate for America First, Israel may be the exception. Citing his Christian beliefs, Vance is an even more staunch supporter of Israel than President Joe Biden, pushing for continued military aid and opposing limits on Israel’s war conduct.

“Vance’s strong support for Israel is a reflection of the importance of some conservative evangelical views in today’s Republican Party, as well as the stands of white Christian nationalist thinking that has grown under Trump’s grip on the party,” said Brian Katulis, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute.

Vance has criticized the U.S. neoconservative approach that began with the Bush administration as “strategically and morally stupid.” However, while he is against American interventionism elsewhere, in the Middle East he has advocated for a similar strategy of spending U.S. military resources to shore up an alliance of Israel and Sunni Muslim states to deter Iran and maintain peace and stability in the region.

Katulis critiqued the Republican vice presidential nominee’s worldview as “a reflection of the confused hyperpartisan debate” from isolationist camps that emerged in the U.S. following the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, rather than an “actual coherent worldview about what it would take to protect America’s interest and values in the real world.”

Meanwhile, Katulis said that Middle East actors are “anticipating more unpredictability, incoherence and confusion” should a Trump-Vance ticket win in November.

Hawkish on China

Author of the best-selling memoir-turned-movie Hillbilly Elegy, Vance has lived experience with the social and economic harm that deindustrialization has inflicted upon some American communities.

He has echoed Trump’s accusation that China is stealing manufacturing jobs from the U.S., especially those jobs in the Midwestern part of the country from where he hails.

“Vance has supported more economic restrictions and tariffs on Chinese imports and investments,” said Dean Chen, a professor of political science at the Ramapo College of New Jersey. “I expect his position on China to be in line with Trump nationalists in their potential new administration,” he told VOA.

In the U.S. Senate, Vance introduced legislation to restrict Chinese access to U.S. financial markets and to protect American higher education from Beijing’s influence.

On Taiwan, “the thing that we need to prevent more than anything is a Chinese invasion,” Vance said last year during an event at the Heritage Foundation.

“It would be catastrophic for this country. It would decimate our entire economy. It would throw this country into a Great Depression,” he added.

That’s a much more clear-cut stance than Trump, who has suggested at various times that he may not come to Taipei’s defense should Beijing invade. Washington does not have a formal treaty with Taiwan but supplies the democratically self-governing island with arms to maintain a “sufficient self-defense capability.”

In a June interview with Bloomberg Businessweek, Trump indicated he wants Taipei to pay the U.S. for its defense.

“You know, we’re no different than an insurance company,” he said. “Taiwan doesn’t give us anything.”

Taiwan policy aside, Ashford said the biggest shock in a Trump-Vance administration could be on trade policy, with “new tariffs on China or even Europe.”

“It could be quite extreme,” she warned.

Tatiana Vorozhko, Lin Yang and Steve Herman contributed to this report.
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