WASHINGTON: President Joe Biden and his predecessor Donald Trump will face each other in the US presidential election on November 5 in what looks set to be a divisive, closely fought contest. Several third-party hopefuls are also running in the race.
Donald Trump
Donald Trump, who served in office from 2017-2021, has secured enough delegates to secure the Republican nomination, setting up the first presidential rematch in about 70 years.
He has leveraged unprecedented legal challenges to increase support among his base and has launched his third bid for the White House.
Trump refers to supporters imprisoned for the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol as “hostages” and uses increasingly dystopian rhetoric in his election campaign speeches. He also faces indictments in four criminal cases over efforts to subvert the 2020 polls, unlawfully keeping classified national security documents, and falsifying business records.
Joe Biden
President Biden launched his 2020 candidacy as an urgent bid to defend US liberties and protect democracy, and he has cast his reelection bid in the same light, stating that Donald Trump threatens the future of US democracy.
Biden faced no serious challenger for the party’s nomination, which he secured in March. However, November’s election is expected to be much tougher, with recent surveys showing Biden’s voter support at 39 percent, one percentage point ahead of Trump at 38 percent, according to US media.
Biden, the oldest US president ever at 81, must convince voters that he has the stamina for another four-year tenure and is more fit for office than Donald Trump, who is just four years younger, all while facing low approval ratings.
The economy will also factor into his reelection drive, as inflation has hit 40-year highs in 2022, and the cost of essentials is weighing on voters.
Marianne Williamson
Best-selling author and self-help guru Marianne Williamson, 71, has restarted her long-shot 2024 bid for the nomination on a platform of “justice and love” less than a month after dropping out.
In a February statement, Marianne said she had suspended her election campaign because she was losing “the horse race” but was getting back in to fight Donald Trump’s “dark and authoritarian vision.”
Despite Biden surpassing the number of delegates required to win the nomination, she has yet to end her campaign.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
An environmental advocate and anti-vaccine activist, Kennedy, 70, is running as an independent after initially challenging Joe Biden for the Democratic nomination, but he is far behind in polling.
Kennedy could siphon votes from Donald Trump and Joe Biden, according to the most recent surveys, that showed Kennedy was backed by 15 percent of registered voters.
Kennedy is the son of US Senator Robert F. Kennedy, who was assassinated in 1968 during his own presidential campaign but has drawn rebukes from his famous family over his bid.
Cornell West
The philosopher, political activist, and academic Cornell West said in June he would launch a third-party bid for president that is expected to appeal to progressive, Democratic-leaning voters.
West, 70, initially ran as a Green Party candidate, but in October he stated public want good policies over partisan politics and announced his bid as an independent. He has vowed to end poverty and guarantee housing.
Jill Stein
Jill Stein, a physician, re-upped her 2016 Green Party bid on November 9, accusing Democrats of betraying their promises for youth, working people, and the climate again and again – while Republicans do not even make such promises in the first place.
Stein, 73, raised millions of dollars for recounts after Donald Trump’s surprise 2016 victory. Her allegations yielded only one electoral review in Wisconsin, which showed Donald Trump had won.
![NEW YORK: Pakistan's former Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, leading Pakistan’s high-level parliamentary delegation, on Tuesday warned that India's aggressive actions pose a serious threat to peace in South Asia and urged the international community to take note of India's aggressive conduct. Bilawal was addressing a press conference at the United Nations headquarters in New York on recent regional developments after the military conflict between India and Pakistan. The Pakistani delegation is in New York to present Pakistan’s stance on the military escalation with India and to challenge New Delhi’s narrative at the global level. The visit is part of Pakistan’s sustained diplomatic outreach to brief key UN stakeholders on the alarming regional situation. The Pakistani delegation is also scheduled to arrive in Washington today, where it plans to engage with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, other senior officials, lawmakers, and think tanks till June 6. The team will also visit London and Brussels. Speaking at the press conference, Bilawal said that he wanted to use the opportunity to share Pakistan’s perspective on the recent military conflict with India in the wake of the Pahalgam attack and the way forward. Bilawal said that the “illegal strikes” launched by India as part of its ‘Operation Sindoor’ were “in violation of the UN Charter, international law”. He said the attacks had targeted civilian infrastructure, places of worship, energy infrastructure and innocent women and children. He said India had used the April 22 terrorist attack in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir’s (IIOJK) Pahalgam as a pretext to launch the attack inside Pakistan. Following the Pahalgam incident, Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif offered publicly to India that Pakistan was ready to be part of any impartial international investigation into this attack. “We did so because we were confident, our hands were clean and we had nothing to do with this terrorist attack. “We expressed our sympathy with the victims of terrorism and Pakistan has consistently and unequivocally condemned terrorism in all its forms and manifestations,” he said, adding that PM Sharif had immediately expressed Pakistan’s willingness to India and the global community to be part of any impartial international investigation. “Indian government refused Pakistan's offer and chose instead to conduct their illegal strikes. Pakistan only then acted in self-defence, we never initiated any violence against India,” Bilawal said. Bilawal emphasised that Pakistan never initiated hostilities against India but responded to Indian aggression by downing six Indian fighter jets. "The Pakistani military had responded with precision the night of the first Indian attack and only targeted and downed six planes because we believed those were the ones to release their load on Pakistan”. He stated that US President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio played a vital role in achieving a ceasefire during heightened tensions between the nuclear-armed South Asian neighbours. “We’ve seen during the course of this conflict how quickly the escalation ladder between our two countries rose and the concern is that the next time there is such an incident, there may not be time for the international community to intervene before things get a lot worse. That is why it is absolutely important for Pakistan and the international community to continue to pursue dialogue and diplomacy as the only viable path to peace.” He said Pakistan’s position was to hold a “comprehensive dialogue” with India that would include the issue of terrorism as well. The head of the Pakistani delegation said that no civilized nation can support the use of water as a weapon and urged the international community to play its part, questioning, "What would be the global reaction if someone’s lifeline was cut off?" He stressed that Pakistan has paid a heavy price in the fight against terrorism and has suffered the most. “The single largest number of terrorist attacks that take place in any one country is Pakistan. The single largest number of victims of terrorism is Pakistan. I myself have suffered at the hands of terrorists. My mother [Benazir Bhutto] was assassinated by the terrorists.” Bilawal also criticised India for targeting water reservoirs and civilian areas, including mosques, during its attacks. Calling negotiations the only path to peace, Bilawal reiterated that the unresolved Kashmir dispute remains the root cause of regional instability. He urged the global community to take notice of India’s aggressive conduct.](https://wenewsenglish.com/storage/2025/06/Bilawal-Bhutto-Zardari-300x180.jpg)
