Defend democracy: Biden victory speech outlines core challenges

US President-elect Joe Biden has laid out his vision for what he calls a more inclusive America in a victory speech delivered in Delaware on Saturday night. Mr Biden described the core priorities for a nation facing different crises. “The battle to control the virus, the battle to build prosperity, the battle to secure your family’s health care, the battle to achieve racial justice and root out systemic racism in this country, the battle to save our planet by getting climate under control, the battle to restore decency, defend democracy and give everybody in this country a fair shot.” What are the details and what might we expect in the next four years? Despite not embracing the radical $10 trillion Green New Deal championed by Democrat representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Mr Biden will still make the renewable energy transition a centrepiece of energy policy. Calling the Green New Deal, “a crucial framework”, Mr Biden pledged to invest $1.7tn in renewables, hoping to increase this to $5tn in public and private investment to make the US carbon neutral by 2050. Some of this investment will be funded by stopping corporate tax cuts put in place by President Donald Trump’s administration. Mr Trump favoured domestic oil production as a part of the US' energy security strategy. “Our work begins with getting Covid under control,” Mr Biden said. “We cannot repair the economy, restore our vitality, or relish life’s most precious moments – hugging a grandchild, birthdays, weddings, graduations, all the moments that matter most to us – until we get this virus under control.” That will be an uphill challenge. The virus has killed more than 235,000 Americans, wiped out 20 million jobs and threatens to destroy at least $16tn in economic value in the coming years, according to a report by former US Treasury secretary Lawrence Summers. With US hospitals now under increasing strain and infectious disease expert Dr Anthony Fauci warning of a hard winter as a second wave grips the country, a top priority for Mr Biden will be putting in place a task force to ensure the virus is under control by the time he is inaugurated in January. Daily cases continue to break records: on Saturday, the US confirmed 134,377 new Covid-19 cases, the highest single day figure since the pandemic began. Mr Biden will unveil his 12-person team of specialists on Monday, but has already appointed former US surgeon general Vivek Murthy, Yale University's Dr Marcella Nunez-Smith and former Food and Drug Administration commissioner David Kessler to the team. This year the US experienced some of the most intense protests and social division in its modern history, at least since the racial tensions that gripped the country in the late 1960s or the 1992 LA riots. This year, it was the tragic fate of George Floyd that caused a wave of national outrage, energising the Black Lives Matter protest movement and laying bare endemic racial injustice and deep social divisions. According to Mr Biden’s campaign website, “racial equity is a distinct pillar of his Build Back Better plan, as well as incorporated in each of the other pillars”. In terms of actual policy, one step Mr Biden will take is to allocate funds for retraining police, many of whom have been accused of displaying a “warrior cop” mentality, rather than having a community police focus. "I've long been a firm believer in the power of community policing – getting cops out of their cruisers and building relationships with the people and the communities," Mr Biden wrote in USA Today in June. “That's why I'm proposing an additional $300 million to reinvigorate community policing in our country,” he said.

Defend democracy: Biden victory speech outlines core challenges

The US President-elect promises a radical change of direction