General Le Van Cuong's comments on America after the election
(Baonghean.vn) - As soon as major news agencies around the world announced the results of the US presidential election with Mr. Joe Biden winning against Mr. Donald Trump, Nghe An Newspaper interviewed Associate Professor, Dr. Major General Le Van Cuong - former Director of the Institute of Science and Strategy, Ministry of Public Security about the current situation in the US.
PV:Major General, please tell us if you were surprised by the results of the US presidential election?
Major General Le Van Cuong:There are many different assessments surrounding this election. International and domestic public opinion has had many opinions. Even before the election, some Vietnamese scholars believed that President Donald Trump would likely continue his second term. Meanwhile, international public opinion was more focused on Mr. Joe Biden.
I am not surprised withBiden's victory, because during the research process, what I was most interested in was what American voters wanted at the time of the presidential election. In fact, if we only cared about the American radio, television, and press media systems, Mr. Trump certainly would not have been able to enter the White House since 2016. Polls in 2016 and 2020 also did not support Mr. Trump.
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| People watch live results of the US presidential election between incumbent President Donald Trump (right) and Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden in Washington DC, November 3, 2020. Photo: AFP/TTXVN |
In the 244-year history of the United States, there has never been an election as dramatic until the last minute as this one.
Before this election, I understoodwhat american voters need- change. Only the specific developments in the past few days show that the US presidential election is very dramatic, the two candidates are chasing each other in each state, each electoral vote. In the 244-year history of the United States, there has never been an election as dramatic until the last minute as this one.
PV:How do you evaluate President Donald Trump's four years in power?
Major General Le Van Cuong:This is a big issue that I think will continue to take a lot of ink from American history, American voters, American scientists, and researchers around the world.
In the United States in the second half of 2020, the radio, television, press, officials, former officials... have given many assessments about Mr. Donald Trump. Among them, there are two different viewpoints in American society.
The first point of view is from historians, politicians, scholars, diplomats, national security officials… They have negative assessments of Mr. Trump. Some of them even used all the worst language to talk about Mr. Trump. For example, some historians have said that Donald Trump is a strange person, an abnormal character with extreme patriotism, narcissism and lack of management ability. Accordingly, a president who has shown signs of dividing the country, ignoring Congress, disregarding the court…
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| US President Donald Trump has pursued an “America First” policy throughout his first term in office. Photo: Reuters |
The majority of American voters have fair assessments of the economic achievements that Mr. Trump has made.
The second class is the vast majority of American voters, especially workers, who think that Donald Trump has made many mistakes and has many shortcomings, but the majority of American voters have fair assessments of the economic achievements that Mr. Trump has made.
In my opinion, in the past 4 years, Mr. Trump's greatest achievement has been the economy. In 3 years (from 2017-2019),The US economy has grown.brilliantly. Lowest inflation and unemployment rates. An economy that recovered spectacularly after the 2008 recession, making the US the largest economic engine and center in the world.
But Mr. Trump's biggest shortcomings and weaknesses domestically are his mistakes and failures in...handling the Covid-19 pandemic. From February 2020 until before the election, President Donald Trump handled the situation inconsistently. From the beginning, he was not aware of this disaster. The implementation of the Covid-19 pandemic prevention and control work was also very inadequate. As a result, the number of Americans who died from the Covid-19 pandemic from March to October 2020 was more than the total number of Americans who died in the Korean War, the Vietnam War, Iraq, and Syria. Since 1945, this is the first time a pandemic has caused disaster in the US. I think this is a weakness in the management and handling of national emergencies by the US Government leaders headed by President Donald Trump.
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| Mr. Trump's biggest shortcomings and weaknesses are his mistakes and failures in handling the Covid-19 pandemic. In the photo: Medical staff take COVID-19 test samples in San Francisco, California on March 12, 2020. Photo: AFP/Getty Images |
Another incident was an American police officer who killed a black man, which sparked racial riots that lasted for a long time. The handling of this incident was also not up to standard, which made Donald Trump's domestic activities in the emergency not be highly appreciated. This is what made voters change their mind...
Regarding foreign affairs, some public opinion believes that President Donald Trump has completely failed. It is true that Mr. Trump has weakened America's alliances. The relationship between the US and the EU, NATO has fallen to its lowest state since 1945. The relationship between the US and Canada, Japan, South Korea... are all bad. This is Mr. Trump's first weakness. Moreover, the US has withdrawn from international multilateral organizations, such as the 2015 Paris Climate Change Agreement. The withdrawal from many international multilateral organizations combined with the weakening of allied relationships has led to a serious decline in America's role in the world.
Mr. Trump is the first US President - more than his predecessors - to discover China's unfair competition tactics.
However, President Donald Trump still has a lot of success in foreign affairs. I think,trade war between the US and ChinaIt may not be President Donald Trump's success, but it must be seen that Mr. Trump is the first US President - more than his predecessors, to discover China's unfair competitive tactics. He himself initiated the trade war with China, as a businessman with 48 years of experience in the business world. Through this, it can be seen that Mr. Trump understands economic issues better than his predecessors.
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| It was President Donald Trump who started the trade war with China. Pictured: US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping at a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Japan in June 2019. Photo: France 24 |
Therefore, besides the mistakes and shortcomings in foreign affairs, President Donald Trump also discovered the defects of multilateral organizations, the inadequacies and weaknesses of these organizations.
However, if we evaluate objectively, it can be said that in his 4 years in power, Mr. Trump has not been successful, and has weakened the role and position of the US.
PV:According to the Major General, how will the legal battle that public opinion is interested in after the election develop, especially when Mr. Donald Trump affirms that he will pursue the lawsuit against Mr. Biden and the Democratic Party to the end, because he believes that there was fraud surrounding the recent election?
Major General Le Van Cuong:We see a serious legal battle starting this week between Mr. Trump and the winner. First, let me remind readers about America:
The first:The United States is the country with the most complete legal system in the world. Currently, the United States has more than 3,000 laws. All actions of American citizens are affected by the law.
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| Donald Trump supporters gather to protest election results claiming fraud, Phoenix, Arizona, November 7, 2020. Photo: AP |
The legal battle after the US presidential election will be very complicated and long-lasting...
Monday:The US court system places great importance on evidence. If an American citizen has sufficient evidence, he or she can sue the president and the court will handle it. And lawsuits against the president and the Republican Party's election organization will be resolved at two levels: the federal court level and the state court level. If Mr. Trump and the Republican Party request a review of the election results in a state, the court of that state will review and make a final decision. If the state court makes a decision that Mr. Trump does not agree with, the lawsuit will continue to be filed with the Supreme Court and the Supreme Court will intervene and make a final decision.
In the history of the United States, the Supreme Court has been used three times to decide the victory or defeat of an election. However, in the current situation, I see that Mr. Donald Trump and his supporters in the Republican Party have not provided much concrete evidence for the accusation of fraud. Without sufficient evidence, it is very difficult to turn the tables, even though the current Supreme Court, out of 9 judges, has 6 judges from the Republican Party. However, the legal battle after the US presidential election will be very complicated and prolonged...
PV:Thank you very much, Major General, for this conversation!
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| Mail-in ballots are counted in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania. Photo: Sky News |
