COVER STORY

US PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION

Donald Trump
discredits mail-in votes,
undermines the postal service,
encourages far right
hooligans, fast tracks his
nominee’s supreme court
confirmation, ignores Covid
protocols to hold raucous
rallies and remains reluctant
to guarantee a peaceful
transfer of power. Democrats
fear the president plans to
unleash mayhem to stay on
in the White House even if he
loses the November 3
election
BY MILAN SIME MARTINIC

SECOND TIME IS A CHARM

Donald Trump at a campaign
rally at Muskegon County
Airport in Michigan
REUTERS

22 THE WEEK • NOVEMBER 1, 2020 NOVEMBER 1, 2020 • THE WEEK 23

 COVER STORY
US PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION

up at 4am in early voting centres that

our years after win-
ning the presidency by
convincing Americans
that he would build a wall along the
entire southern border of the United
States and make Mexico pay for it,
Donald Trump is back on stage,
promising to give Americans a stim-
ulus package and make China pay
for it. The cheers are deafening and
Trump is dancing. Never mind he
could not build the wall and Mexico
mostly laughed at the suggestion.
Trump, who said he knew more
about Islamic State than his gener-
als and more about viruses than his
infectious disease expert Anthony
open at 8am. They come with chairs,
blankets, breakfast, patience and a
lot of determination. In Georgia, they
have stood for 11 hours to vote. Early
voting is up by 400 per cent in Illinois
and by 101 per cent in North Caro-
lina. They stand several feet apart in
lines several blocks long. They are
mostly masked, careful people who
believe in the American tale of de-
mocracy and the advice, “If you don’t
like the way things are going, vote”.
And they are not the same people RIDING A WAVE
who are cheering for Trump. Joe Biden speaks at
Trump changed America four Michigan State
Fairgrounds in Novi
years ago. In the five years since he
announced his unlikely campaign,
everyone including the media has
struggled to have a good sense of
what is happening. Trump’s politi-
cal obituary was written after each
one of his blunders, which would
have killed any other campaign. The
media is still at a loss to explain the
things Trump does, how they work
and why they work.
Trump filed for re-election the day
he was inaugurated as president,
AP

Fauci, is on a roll. “The pandemic is
ending. We are rounding the corner,”
he says at a rally, without a hint of the
deception that unnerves his critics.
The mostly unmasked, socially close
crowd goes wild. Never mind the
8.4 million Americans infected by
the virus and the 2,25,222 dead, the
highest tally globally.
Then he calls for the jailing of
Barack Obama, Joe Biden and Hillary
Clinton for good measure. “Lock
them up, lock them up, lock them
up,” the chants get louder. Trump
wants to lock up the entire Biden
family. Never mind the criminal
investigations conducted by Trump’s
own justice department turned up
nothing.
The Covid-dominated election sea-
son in the United States is a remark-
able split-screen. On the one hand,
there are raucous rallies featuring
Trump. On the other, people show
much earlier than any other candi-
date in history. Much of the respect
and admiration for pre-political
Trump came from 14 seasons of the
television show The Apprentice in
which he was the star, director and
producer. It earned him hundreds
of millions of dollars and positioned
him as a master dealmaker and deci-
sive multi-billionaire, an evaluation
which is disputed by those who have
analysed his extensive and compli-
TRUMP IS MASTERFUL
IN GETTING HIS FOLLOWERS
to conjure an illusion
that becomes their reality.
cated personal finances.
The key to the show’s success
was its masterful stagecraft. The
difference between what is real and
what is appearance is of greater
importance in politics than in show
business. Fiduciary norms apply to
the actions of political officials. But
Trump understands that dramatic
effects can blur the line and he uses
the tools of theatrical stagecraft to
attain the effects he wants. The idea
that presidential candidates would
respect the rules went out with the
rise of Trump. Under him, the Amer-
ican life has become a never-ending
play where he is the producer, direc-
tor and main actor.
Trump has cast his cabinet
members as performers and you can
almost see behind the scenes as he
tells them how to speak his lines:
“This is the largest audience ever to
witness an inauguration, period,”
said Sean Spicer, Trump’s first press
secretary at his first news conference,
arguably stretching the truth about
the size of the crowd that attended
Trump’s inauguration, and shrinking
his credibility and reputation in the
process. It started in Trump’s 2016
campaign rallies. His theme was
victimhood, invoking the stereotypes
of the evil stranger and made-up
two-dimensional villains with easy, if
sophomoric, nicknames like Crooked
Hillary, Lyin’ Ted and Pocahontas.
This time it is Sleepy Joe and Phony
Kamala. They mark what critics say
is an apparent pathological desire to
create an alternative reality with no
regard for the weight of responsibility
in his power.
Trump is masterful in getting his
followers to conjure an illusion that
becomes their reality. It does not
have to be even close to reality — as
when he says his Covid response is
the best in the world — but the audi-
ence has to accept the illusion. That
he achieves it regularly, albeit with
an ever-shrinking audience, is quite
remarkable. Comparing himself to
the son of God and striding before
his crowds like God himself, Trump
knows how to give them all the ma-
terial they need to find a transforma-
tive experience in his words.
Words can be representative and
symbolical and can be used to mean
something other than their literal
meaning, and have a larger impact
than literal words allow. It provides
plausible deniability, an old political
trick — saying one thing and meaning
many things that work on more than
one level of meaning despite the
unawareness of those listening and
acting on those meanings.
Whether by instinct or by design,
Trump’s words and attack lines are
fraught with distilled political tropes
strong enough to resonate with peo-
ple’s predispositions and branch out
from there in ways Trump himself
cannot know where they will lead.

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 COVER STORY
US PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION

continues to gaslight the American

people by acting like this pandemic
is not a real threat.”
A feeling has set in that Trump
is an actual and present threat to
American lives. Baker says his sup-
port for Biden is less about enthusi-
asm for the Democratic candidate
than an absolute unacceptability of
Trump. The president’s lies are the
real problem, he says: “There are
petty ones and there are terrible,
tragic lies — like the ones he chose to
tell that concealed the real danger of
Covid-19 from the American people.”
There are millions in America who
think like Baker. “I can’t stand Joe
Biden. He is old, inarticulate and
creepy as hell — basically everything I
wouldn’t want in a president,” wrote
Madeline Phaby, assistant news
editor of The Miami Student, the
COURTESY TWITTER

official student-published newspaper

“What you are seeing and what
you are reading is not what is
RISE AND SHINE of Miami University in Oxford, Ohio.
Kamala Harris at a rally in Florida;
“And yet, filling in the circle next to
(right) counter-demonstrators burn
Trump in effigy during a rally in Boston his name on my absentee ballot was
one of the easiest things I have ever
done,” wrote Phaby in an op-ed.
no bullshit,” says Trump supporter fool-in-chief.” Ohio is a crucial swing state which
Patti Castro of Delavan of Wiscon- Ann Horton, a physician’s has determined the fate of several

happening,” Trump tells his rallies.
“Don’t believe the crap you see from
these people, the fake news.” Then he
says Covid-19 will go away “like mag-
ic”. In every speech, the subliminal
message is that the power lies in the
people to make the magic work.
Watch any Trump rally for a few
minutes, and you will see him railing
against being “controlled” by the
deep state and against political
correctness (read equality, racial har-
mony and non-discrimination). He
does not speak the adorned language
of politicians but taps into words and
dog whistles that reveal a truth about
his audience. He is a hero to his
people who revel in his resistance.
It is in that cauldron that adulation
becomes adoration.
“He is pretty darn honest, he is
strong, he talks in plain English, and
he does not beat around the bush…
sin. “It is the real language of man,”
she says, appreciating Trump for
talking the way people naturally
talk, without the caveats and appro-
priateness of political language.
“The whole world envies us,”
says Trump from the stage, and the
crowd roars in approval. But the op-
position suspects the whole world
may be laughing at the US.
Important heads of state have
pretty much stopped visiting the
White House and Trump no longer
goes to them either, says Steve Baker
of Gainesville, Florida, who is the
founder of Friends of the Middle, a
group dedicated to finding common
ground. “For some reason — maybe
all the laughing in Trump’s direc-
tion — they just could not seem to
get along, despite the importance
of doing so. My guess is that they
decided they could not trust the
assistant from Statesville, North
Carolina, says Trump is Russian
President Valdimir Putin’s puppet.
“A list of traits like misogyny, rac-
ism, fear-mongering, power-thirst,
sadism, bullying and xenophobia
have made a mockery of the US and
the presidency worldwide,” she says.
Presidents in the past have
grown into the job. They have gone
through a great arc of development
of their own character, becoming
wise by acknowledging their initial
ignorance and realising the value of
their experience as human beings
and world leaders. Trump, who
refuses to acknowledge any errors
and personal flaws, shows no sign
of such a move, say his critics. In
fact, his rhetoric and actions have
a definite anti-knowledge, anti-sci-
ence tinge.
The opposition in its naiveté ini-
tially thought that a man like Trump
could never be elected president.
But the Democrats and their allies
are now consciously aware of their
ignorance and lack of imagination
and are prepared for the cruel ways
in which Trump could work.
“Vote for Joe Biden like your lives
depend on it,” says former first lady
Michelle Obama in a video message,
in an all-out effort by the Democrats
to ensure that the complacency of
2016 is not repeated. “We can no
longer pretend that we don’t know
exactly who and what this president
stands for. Search your hearts and
your conscience,” she says.
A slow, seething anger is quietly
spreading across America among
REUTERS
independents, Democrats and even a
widening swath of Republicans who
see Trump’s handling of the Covid-19
crisis as utterly incompetent. “Seven
months later, he still won’t wear a
mask consistently and encourage oth-
ers to do the same, even when those
simple actions could save countless
lives,” says Michelle. “Instead, he
CONSIDERING HIS AGE,
BIDEN MAY BE A SHORT-TIME
PRESIDENT. But the Democrats
see promise and energy in his
running mate Kamala Harris.
presidential elections.
There is a moral calculus in voting
for Biden. Considering his age, Biden
may be a short-time president. But
the Democrats see promise and
energy in his running mate Kamala
Harris, who for them is a symbol of
a return to a vision of America as a
multiracial, multiethnic, multicul-
tural and more accepting place that
respects women and appreciates the
kinder, motherly embrace women
contribute to society. But the Demo-

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 COVER STORY
US PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION
AFP
crats also quietly remind each other
that Hillary Clinton had a comforta-
ble lead going into the elections four
years ago. The post-traumatic-stress
is still palpable among the long lines
for early voting.
The Democrats worry that Trump
and the Republicans may yet try
something Machiavellian to remain
in power. They draw comfort from
the fact that even a few prominent
Republicans have announced their
support for the Biden-Harris ticket
and have put together a political
action committee to point out what
they see as the danger Trump poses
to America.
“I have been a Republican for over
40 years,” says former Republican
party chairman Michael Steele. “I’ll
be damned if I am going to cede that
ground to Donald Trump, who is not
now nor has ever been a Republican,
who is not now nor has ever been a
conservative. [If you] want to play
this little game that Donald Trump is
like you, you are stupid. You are be-
ing played. You are getting punked.
But what is so bad is that you are
complicit in your own punking,” says
Steele.
The Democrats have realised that
no one “can afford to rest easy until
28 THE WEEK • NOVEMBER 1, 2020
ALL THE PRESIDENT’S MEN
A Trump supporter at a rally at Prescott
Regional Airport in Arizona; Halloween
decorations and support for Trump at a
yard in Warren, Ohio; a Trump supporter
at a campaign rally in Manchester, New
Hampshire
the race has officially been called
in Biden’s favour”, according to
a post in Baker’s group. “I am
hopeful,” says Baker. “It appears
that what must be the dumbest
populace on the face of the planet,
after four years of the stupidest
person [to ever lead] a country,
has finally decided that Trump
must go and plans to vote in record
numbers.” Agrees Horton, “We will
again become, albeit wounded,
the United States of America. We
will again care about each other,
the environment, our world view.
And we, as citizens, will hold these
damn politicians accountable,” she
says.
It may, however, not be so
straightforward. For months now,
foreseeing a large mail-in vote
due to the pandemic, Trump has
been on a campaign to discredit
the process and hinder the op-
erations of the US Postal Ser-
vice —by even overtly withholding
funds — in order to ensure that
it cannot handle the overflow of
ballots. For the first time in history,
Trump has named a political appoin-
tee as postmaster general, who has
promptly moved to decommission
mail sorting machines, take out mail
drop boxes and reduce overtime for
employees, in an attempt to delay
votes from being cast and counted.
The president’s rhetoric against
mail-in votes has been vicious, qual-
ifying them — without evidence — as
part of a massive voting fraud. But
it has spurred more than 30 million
Americans so far into voting early.
“We are going to brave the lines. As
there are all kinds of lawsuits to stop
the acceptance of mail-in ballots, we
have no choice. He has destroyed the
postal service,” says Horton. Grammy
winning Atlanta songwriter Johntá
Austin says this is the most important
election of their lives. “If your vote
was not important, they would not be
going to such great lengths to take it
away from you.”
Luck and timing have always been
on Trump’s side. Getting an opportu-
nity to add a third supreme court jus-
tice is morbid luck. Three days after
the death of liberal icon Justice Ruth
Bader Ginsburg, Trump offered the
nomination to Amy Coney Barrett, a
federal judge on the US court of ap-
peals for the seventh circuit, openly
REUTERS
musing about the possibility of her
having to decide his election-related
case.
In the 2000 presidential elections
between George W. Bush and Al
Gore, a lawsuit by the Republican
party to stop the recount in Florida
and declare a winner was ultimately
upheld by the supreme court. Tradi-
tion has been that a justice with an
allegiance or debt to a litigant would
recuse from the case, but in the
Trump world, there is no place for
such niceties. He tirelessly chastised
his first attorney general Jeff Sessions
for recusing himself from investiga-
tions into Russian interference in the
2016 elections after revelations that
he had two undisclosed meetings
with the Russian ambassador. Trump
forced Sessions to resign and then
LUCK AND TIMING HAVE
ALWAYS BEEN ON TRUMP’S
SIDE. Getting an opportunity
to add a third supreme court
justice is morbid luck.
openly campaigned to undermine
his bid to return to the senate.
Trump is a lifelong expert on
taking litigation down to the wire.
American courts are littered with
Trump lawsuits which served the
purpose of wearing down the other
side financially or otherwise. “The
chess pieces have been moved and
set up in preparation to contest any
election results Trump decides he
does not like,” says Baker. “He has
called the process ‘corrupt’ and
subject to ‘cheating’ since he was
elected. The heat has been turned up
steadily as the elections approach.”
Trump himself declined to guarantee
a peaceful transfer of power before
giving a qualified answer, “If it is a
fair election.” The Democrats fear
that the president plans to unleash
AP
mayhem to stay on in the White
House even if he loses the elections.
Trump’s angry debate perfor-
mance was also an indicator of his
desperation. When asked to con-
demn white supremacists, he gave
the Proud Boys, a far right group
notorious for violence, a new rallying
cry, “Stand back and stand by”. The
group says the president’s words
mean “wait for my orders”. “If Trump
does not get re-elected, there is going
to be a riot... you are going to see a
civil war.”
Add to the mix QAnon, a
Trump-supporting virtual cult, which
says the Democrats support paedo-
philia and drink children’s blood,
and sees Trump as a messiah who
is there to save the children. Many
suburban mothers see Trump as the
hero of the story. For his part, Trump,
when asked about QAnon, said he
did not know about the group, but
said it opposed paedophilia. And,
supporters like Castro are prepared
to believe whatever he says. “Trump
is bringing the constitution back to
where it was, the fundamentals like
the right to bear arms,” says Castro.
“That is our constitutional right,
which they want to take away.”
For Trump, the stakes are big
NOVEMBER 1, 2020 • THE WEEK 29
 COVER STORY
US PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION
AP
beyond politics. Upon leaving office,
he would lose the legal protections of
presidency. There are criminal and
civil investigations under way — New
York prosecutors are investigating
the Trump organisation for bank
fraud, obstruction of justice and
campaign finance violations. There
is a civil tax liability related to a $72
million tax refund and there are law-
suits for defamation.
Lately, Trump has been joking that
if he loses the election, he may have
to “leave the country” out of embar-
rassment. Some see that as testing
the waters and setting the scene for
an exit to avoid arrest.
Since the beginning of the inves-
tigation into Russian interference in
the 2016 elections, Trump has been
discussing the possibility of pardon-
ing himself preemptively. A string of
pardons that did not go through the
usual justice department investiga-
tion and recommendations seems to
have laid the groundwork for one fi-
nal pardon for Trump and his family.
Trump’s bitter despair as the cam-
paign comes to a close — frantically
holding dozens of rallies ignoring
Covid protocols — shows us a world
30 THE WEEK • NOVEMBER 1, 2020
AFP
P
TOUGH BATTLE
Vice President Mike Pence at a
campaign rally at the Reading
Regional Airport, Pennsylvania
in which ordinary citizens are
perhaps puny and insignificant
to the great events that condemn
the fate of a nation. The tragedy of
pandemic-ravaged America is that
Trump’s rosy predictions for the
defeat of Covid cannot succeed.
Containing the pandemic does
take serious, consistent, coordi-
nated work and vigilance, the kind
that New Zealand, South Korea
and even Wuhan managed to
achieve.
But the events that drive Ameri-
ca’s fate may yet be in the hands of
Biden and Harris. The Democrats
have chosen the path of con-
trolled reason, mature language
and careful, deliberate action
utterly faithful to American ideals,
which they feel Trump has cast
by the wayside. The juxtaposition
of characters is at the very heart
of what is happening in America
today.
Tragedy, if it is to come, is domi-
nated by fate. And whatever fate
America chooses will come at a
cost for Americans.
olitical parties were not
envisioned by America’s
founding fathers, so it
is of great significance
that we may soon be witnessing
the collapse of America’s storied
two-party system. The Republican
party seems to have sold its soul to
Donald Trump who has remade
it into a reflection of his own dys-
functional self. The Democratic
party has been meandering in the
desert, seeking to find a home in
the hearts of those who despise
Trump.
The party that loses the pres-
idential election is certain to be
shocked into nonexistence, if
not utter irrelevance. Trump has
already reduced the Republican
party into a cog in his political
machine, keeping it in line with
the mere threat of a nasty tweet
to his 87 million followers. He has
used it to ram through controver-
sial environmental, educational
and labour policies and judicial
appointments like the recent
nomination of Judge Amy Coney
Barrett to the supreme court.
Back in 2016, Republican sen-
ators blocked president Barack
Obama’s supreme court nominee
months before the presidential
PARTY’S OVER
BY MILAN SIME MARTINIC
election. Now they march in lock-
step with Trump to violate their own
decrees, with a Trumpian disregard
for promises and propriety and will
confirm Barrett right before the
election, perhaps hoping to boost
their standing with the fanatics in
the party and save the president and
themselves in the elections.
But they may have miscalculated
the backlash from the public, evident
from the long lines at early voting
stations. Influencing the voters’
decision further is Trump’s denial of
the Covid-19 pandemic and the pres-
ident’s obstinance which does not
permit him to accept his own mis-
takes. It has created a governmental
dystopia that has all but paralysed
the most powerful nation on earth.
America is experiencing a polit-
ical atmosphere which stokes fear
and anxiety among its people. Both
Republicans and Democrats hope
that it will lead to wholesale changes
and usher in an era of new politics.
It could also lead to the demise of
one of the political parties. There are
precedents in the nation’s history.
After its loss in the 1800 presiden-
tial elections, the Federalist party
faded into irrelevance. Similarly, the
Whig party, which gave the country
four presidents in the 19th century,
collapsed after the 1852 presidential
polls.
If the Democrats lose the presiden-
tial elections and fail to gain a ma-
jority in the senate, they are likely to
remain mere spectators in a Trump
show of unabashed triumphalism.
If Trump loses and the Republicans
lose control of the senate and fail to
win back the house of representa-
tives, the party will have no one to
blame but Trump. But they should
also blame themselves because with-
out their enabling, Trump could not
have happened.
Americans rarely split their votes
and it spells trouble for down-bal-
lot Republicans if the nationwide
backlash against Trump becomes a
landslide. That is not hard to imagine
in a country presided over by a party,
which, according to former Republi-
can congressman David Jolly of Flor-
ida, has become “an association of
largely white populists with an angry
anti-government grievance agenda”.
But there is still support for the
agenda and Trump seems perfect-
ly capable of firing up his base. “I
support law and order, hard work
and respect for the American flag,
our national anthem, the military,
human life, NASA and our founding
fathers. I also support protecting our
CLASH OF IDEOLOGIES
Donald Trump and Joe
Biden participate in the first
presidential debate moder-
ated by Fox News anchor
Chris Wallace
borders from drugs, the killing
of terrorists and putting America
first,” says Jordan Vaughn of Belle
Union, Indiana.
Should Trump manage to eke
out a win and his party loses the
senate and the house, he will find
that the lack of accountability that
has characterised his first term is
a thing of the past. The Russian
investigation and the impeach-
ment failed not on account of lack
of substance, but because Repub-
licans chose loyalty to Trump over
everything else.
There is only one senate race,
in Louisiana, where the Repub-
licans are likely to pick up a seat.
Republican senators in Arizona,
Colorado, Maine, Montana, North
Carolina, Iowa, Georgia, South
Carolina and Michigan are in
danger of losing to Democratic
contenders.
Democrats need to flip only
three seats to retake the senate,
or four if Trump is re-elected and
Vice President Mike Pence can
break a tie. And, they are quite
likely to keep the house of repre-
sentatives. With opinion polls giv-
ing Biden a double-digit edge over
Trump, calmer days are perhaps
here again.
NOVEMBER 1, 2020 • THE WEEK 31
 COVER STORY
US PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION

AFTER ME, CONTROVERSIAL PRESIDENTIAL

ELECTIONS

DELUGE
Questioning the validity of mail-in votes, Trump has
hinted that he will challenge the election result if it
goes against him. More than a third of all voters—
most of them Democrats—plan to vote by mail
because of Covid-19. Democrats are worried about
many things Trump could do to hurt them.
POSSIBLE PRE-POLL GOOGLIES
Stay-at-home orders, citing Covid,
on election day in certain cities that
favour Biden
‘Ballot security operations’ to intimidate
minority voters. Republicans have
recruited 50,000 volunteers in 15 states
Violent protests to scare voters away in
Democratic strongholds
1800
POSSIBLE POST-POLL BOUNCERS
Trump is unlikely to challenge a Biden landslide.
But in a close election, if Trump takes the lead in
THOMAS JEFFERSON V AARON BURR
Back then, each electoral college member voted for
key swing states, before mail-in ballots are counted,
two candidates; the one with the most votes became
he might declare victory and challenge mail-in
ballots president, and the other was named vice president.
But Jefferson and his VP choice, Burr, tied for first
place. As the election went to the house of
Swing states with Republican legislatures and representatives, Alexander Hamilton, the first
governors could declare Trump the winner treasury secretary of the US, lobbied for Jefferson
and got him elected, although they despised each other.
Burr killed Hamilton in a duel three years later. The tie
The Supreme Court could get involved, just as it did
in the 2000 elections. Trump has more supporters led to the 12th Amendment which specified that
than Biden in the court. Yet another judge could electors should vote separately for president and VP.
support Trump if the appointment of Amy Coney
Barrett is confirmed
If the Supreme Court fails to break a deadlock, or if
1860
ABRAHAM LINCOLN V STEPHEN DOUGLAS/
no candidate wins 270 electoral votes, the house of
representatives will select the president. The house JOHN BRECKENRIDGE/JOHN BELL
assumes charge on January 3. All 50 states will have It was the election that launched the American civil
one vote each. A candidate needs 26 votes to win. war. Democrats named Douglas to take on Lincoln, but
The senate will select the vice president intense factionalism saw Breckenridge and Bell, too,
joining the fray. Aided by the three-way split among
Democrats, Lincoln won, although he had polled barely
If a president and a vice president are not selected
by January 20, the speaker of the house could 40 per cent of the popular vote. Within days,
become acting president South Carolina and six more southern states seceded
to form the Confederate States of America.

Hindering postal services to reduce
mail-in ballot
Multiple legal challenges against
mail-in voting
The whole house and one-third of the senate would
have been newly elected on November 3, and many
legal disputes could follow. Next in line to be acting
president is the president pro tempore of the senate
WHAT HAPPENS AFTER ELECTION DAY
DECEMBER 8
All state recounts and court
contests must be completed by
this date, known as the safe
harbour deadline. The Congress
cannot challenge electors named
by this date
DECEMBER 23
The electors' ballots
from all states must
be received by the
president of the
senate by this date
JANUARY 6
Congress meets at 1pm to
count the electoral votes and
declare the winner
1876
RUTHERFORD B. HAYES V SAMUEL TILDEN
Tilden, the Democratic governor of New York, won the
popular vote by a margin of 2,50,000 and had a lead
of 19 votes in the electoral college, but needed one
DECEMBER 14 more to reach the required 185 votes. Twenty votes
Members of the electoral from Florida, Louisiana, South Carolina and Oregon
college meet in their own were disputed. Intense backroom manoeuvres
states and cast their between the two parties saw the Congress awarding
ballots for president. The 20 votes and the presidency to Republican Hayes in
candidate who receives exchange for a promise to halt the civil war
270 votes wins the reconstruction process and to curtail the rights of Afro
presidency. Americans.
JANUARY 3
2000
GEORGE W. BUSH V AL GORE
The new Congress
is sworn in The close election came down to the results from
Florida, which was initially called for Gore, but
ultimately went to Bush. After mandatory recounts,
Florida declared Bush the winner by a margin of
JANUARY 20 537 votes. Gore’s demand for a recount, sanctioned
The winner and his by the Florida Supreme Court, was overruled by the
running mate are sworn US Supreme Court. Bush became the first candidate
in as president and in 112 years to win the White House despite losing the
vice president popular vote.

GRAPHICS SREEMANIKANDAN S./RESEARCH AJISH P. JOY

32 THE WEEK • NOVEMBER 1, 2020 NOVEMBER 1, 2020 • THE WEEK 33

 COVER STORY
US PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION
chief operating officer and senior advisor, Biden for President
BIDEN, WITH HIS RESERVOIR
OF EMPATHY, IS WHAT
AMERICA NEEDS RIGHT NOW
CLOSE TIES
Maju Varghese and his son
with Joe Biden
Q/ ou have been with Joe Biden
from day one of his presidential
bid.
A/ We had a very talented and
crowded primary field. Those were
tough days in February 2020 when
we took on Iowa, New Hampshire
and Alabama. We were a much
smaller team and had a lot less
resources. I was really impressed
with the vice president’s resilience,
and also how we dealt with the pan-
demic. That was an education, and
something I had never done before.
They say that you get measured
by the company you keep and the
people you work with. I have spent
34 THE WEEK • NOVEMBER 1, 2020
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW
Maju Varghese
BY LAVINA MELWANI/New York
the better part of the last few years
with Barack Obama and Joe Biden
and I am proud of that. My biggest
takeaway about Biden is having a
president with his experience, his
knowledge and also his empathy. [He
knows] the feeling of personal loss,
having unfortunately gone through it
in his life too many times. You cannot
underestimate what that means to
those who are hurting right now,
with so many lives lost to the Cov-
id-19 pandemic. It is very important
to have someone with that kind of
reservoir of empathy now.
Q/ For Indian Americans, how
important is the choice of Senator
Kamala Harris as your vice presi-
dential candidate?
A/ It is incredibly important. After
we got the news, I got emails and
phone calls from families who aren’t
necessarily political. They felt heard
and seen in a way that maybe they
hadn’t felt before. That photo of
Senator Harris with her mom in a
sari, that was all of our moms. I think
it is going to mean a lot for the Indian
American experience in this country,
another symbol of how far we have
come. Our children don’t have to be-
come doctors and engineers to serve
at the highest levels of government. It
can be a vital part of our democracy
and can contribute to society in so
many ways. I think you are going to
see another generation of Indian
American leaders in politics and
government as a result of that.
Q/ There is a significant presence
of Indian Americans in the Biden
team. Will it have an impact on his
approach to India and to immi-
grants from India?
A/ I think the diversity of the staff
is something that we are proud of
because it reflects the diversity of
the country. It will have an influence
on the administration because this
campaign feels very much like Amer-
ica, with people from all walks of life.
First generation Americans are peo-
ple whose parents have immigrated
in the last 30 to 40 years. I think it is
personal to us. It is not abstract, we
have lived it. I am confident that if we
are fortunate enough to win, we will
have an administration that feels the
same way. I think people across the
country will know that their story is
somehow represented in that White
House and in that administration.
Q/ How did the immigrant expe-
rience influence your career and
worldview?
A/ I have been fortunate enough to
do the work I have done and go to
places I could only have dreamt of,
such as a couple of trips to India for
President Obama, the last of which
was on Republic Day in 2015, walk-
ing into the presidential palace in
Delhi or showing up at the Republic
Day parade with the president of the
THE IMMIGRANT EXPERIENCE
has made me very protective of
all immigrants, their journey
and their story.
United States. In Washington, my
parents, my sister and my aunts and
uncles would visit the White House
and I would show them the Rose
Garden and I would think how far
we have come in one generation
and that this was all because of their
hard work.
The immigrant experience has
made me very protective of all
immigrants, their journey and their
story. I feel incredibly protective of
their legacy. I know that I am a very
important link in the chain because
I saw their struggle first-hand. It
is very important for all of us who
did not actually live that struggle to
continue to tell their story, not just
to our children but to our colleagues
and our friends, and make sure that
that story lives on and those values
live on.
Q/ You once tweeted about how
Parkinson’s disease affected your
dad. How important is Obamacare
for America’s future and what are
Biden’s plans to protect it?
A/ It is extremely personal to me. My
dad was ravaged by Parkinson’s dis-
ease, and in the last few months of
his life, he couldn’t even stand up on
his own. We were lucky because my
father had the required insurance
coverage, but there are so many who
do not. It is incredibly important
that we uphold the Affordable Care
Act and build on it and maintain
those protections. I think there is a
generation of us who grew up here
with an education and experience
and we need to stand up and fight
for those things.
The
power
of the
other
Maju Varghese says if
Biden wins the US will
have a president who
respects the immigrant
experience
BY LAVINA MELWANI/New York
THE STORY OF Maju Varghese,
the chief operating officer of Joe
Biden’s presidential campaign, is
a classic American tale of immi-
grants succeeding against the odds.
Varghese’s parents came to New
York in the 1970s from Thiruvalla
in Kerala with little money and big
dreams. His mother, Saroja, a nurse,
was the first to come to the US. Her
husband, Mathew, and their six-year-
old daughter Manju later joined her.
Varghese was born in the US.
The first few years were not easy for
the family. Mathew had not finished
college as he had to take a job follow-
ing his father’s premature death. He
drove a cab in New York City and also
worked as a security guard. The city,
back then, was a dangerous place for
cab drivers. Many had fallen victim
to violent crime. Varghese remem-
bers how his father would often
work late into the night, leaving his
mother worried. “I was travelling out
of Washington not long ago, and I
saw an Indian cab driver. When we
stopped at a red light, he was eating
NOVEMBER 1, 2020 • THE WEEK 35
 COVER STORY
US PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION
IN GOOD COMPANY
Maju Varghese with former US
president Barack Obama
dinner out of a Tupperware con-
tainer, and it reminded me of my
father,” says Varghese.
As young Manju could not speak
English well, people made fun of
her. Sometimes, they picked on
her name and her clothes, and
she came home crying. Mathew
and Saroja, too, had their share of
struggle, but they found support
from their relatives and the small
Kerala community around them.
“We grew up in a Christian house-
hold and our churches had many
Kerala families,” says Varghese.
“We went to church every Sunday.
We had the vibrant Indian com-
munity on weekends and then I
had my American life on week-
days. It really shaped the way I was
brought up.”
Varghese studied political
science and economics at the
University of Massachusetts, and
took his law degree from Hofstra
University in New York. He worked
with the Al Gore presidential cam-
paign and as a research associate
with the Democratic National
Committee. He met his wife, Julie,
while they both were working for
36 THE WEEK • NOVEMBER 1, 2020
Gore. The couple has a 14-year-
old son, Evan.
Varghese, at 43, is part of the
Washington power elite. He had
served in a variety of roles in the
Obama administration for over
six years, including as special
assistant to the president for
management and administra-
tion. “It was a really remarkable
run and I got to meet and work
with some outstanding people
who are like family to me,” says
Varghese. “President Obama is
an incredible person who has a
way of connecting with everyday
people, which is a remarkable
thing. We saw how warmly he
was embraced in India.”
After leaving the White House,
Varghese worked as a senior
adviser at the Dentons law firm
and then joined The Hub Project,
a civic organisation based in
Washington, DC, as its COO.
He joined the Biden team in
September 2019, overseeing the
organisational details of a large
and diverse team.
Samosa
for
Kamala
With an Indian
American on the
presidential ticket and
70 others running for key
offices, the community
is likely to have a major
impact on this year’s
elections
BY LAVINA MELWANI/New York
WITH LESS THAN two weeks left for
one of the most chaotic presidential
elections in American history, the
Indian American community with
1.4 million registered voters seems to
be reiterating its traditional prefer-
ence for the Democratic party. De-
spite isolated pockets of support for
President Donald Trump, especially
on account of his friendship with
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, most
Indian Americans are likely to vote
for Joe Biden and his running mate
Kamala Harris.
According to the 2020 Asian
American Voter Survey, as many as
65 per cent of Indian Americans
are inclined to vote for Biden, while
28 per cent favour Trump. Karthick
Ramakrishnan, founder of AAPI
Data, a platform that publishes de-
mographic data and policy research,
says Asian Americans are the fastest
growing racial group in the United
States, and Indian Americans are the
fastest growing community within
the group. They are likely to have a
significant impact on electoral races
in many competitive states and
congressional districts. “We have had
a record high turnout in 2018 and
we are most likely going to see that
continuing,” says Ramakrishnan.
Seema Nanda, who had served
as CEO of the Democratic National
Committee, says the Indian Amer-
ican turnout has almost doubled
from the midterm elections in 2014
to the midterms in 2018. “That is a
staggering statistic to really see the
awakening of the Indian American
community. It can really be attribut-
ed to the results of the 2016 [presi-
dential] elections. People woke up
and saw what happened when they
LOUD AND CLEAR
Kamala Harris at an early-voting
event at the Central Florida
Fairgrounds in Orlando
AP
did not vote.”
Nanda has observed a massive
surge in political awareness and
activism among the Indian American
community, which has doubled in
strength since 2000. “One of the most
fascinating things I saw in leading the
Democratic party was that there were
so many grassroots groups of Indian
Americans, with a lot of women
doing the work on the ground. They
did not do any of this before 2016. So
Trump’s election was a mobilising
moment for the Indian American
community that is going to really
play out in 2020.”
Indian Americans have influence
beyond their numbers and with their
brain power and financial muscle,
they are a force to reckon with. As
Neil Makhija, executive director of
the advocacy group IMPACT (Indian
American Impact Fund), says, “The
reason we are here was to fill a spe-
cific role for industry because of the
immigration policy. But we are com-
ing of age as a community and we
are finally getting to a position where
we are seeing people up and down
the ballot, people who are entering
public life.”
In fact, the second generation
Indian Americans are particularly
active in civic life and more than 70
of them are in the fray in the current
election season. These include Sara
Gideon who is the Democratic nom-
inee for senate from Maine, and Sri
Preston Kulkarni and Hiral Tipirneni,
Democratic nominees in the race for
the house of representatives from
Texas and Arizona, respectively.
Democratic members Ami Bera, Raja
Krishnamoorthi, Ro Khanna and
Pramila Jayapal are seeking reelec-
tion to the house of representatives.
In 2012, Bera was the only Indian
American in the Congress. By 2016,
there was a five-fold jump in the
numbers as he was joined by Kr-
ishnamoorthi, Khanna and Jayapal in
the house and Kamala in the senate.
“Our community did not increase
its population by five times in those
four years. What happened was that
we increased our engagement,” says
Makhija.
Krishnamoorthi calls the Indian
presence on the Capitol the samosa
caucus. “We need more pakoras,
more idlis and more vadas. We need
everybody in the Congress so that it
looks like America. You can run for
local office, city council, state house,
state senate and, of course, the US
NOVEMBER 1, 2020 • THE WEEK 37
 COVER STORY
US PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION
Subramanian Raja Krishnamoorthi
Representative for Illinois 8th district
Pramila Jayapal
Representative for Washington 8th district
Sabrina Singh
press secretary for Kamala Harris
Congress, though please, not in my
district,” he jokes.
Maya Harris, who took to the
internet to tell voters how her sister
Kamala always stood up for her, says
the south Asian community has a
decisive role to play in this election.
“We literally have the potential to be
the margin of victory in several key
swing states to propel Kamala and
Joe into office,” she says. In 2016,
the Democrats lost Michigan by just
38 THE WEEK • NOVEMBER 1, 2020
10,000 votes and Pennsylvania by
40,000 votes. “There are more than
44,000 south Asian voters in Mich-
igan and more than 60,000 south
Asian voters in Pennsylvania who
could easily close that gap.”
Biden has recognised the impor-
tance of attracting diverse groups
and has assembled under the Dem-
ocratic tent a vast coalition ranging
from seniors to millennials, from
Hindu Americans to Muslim Amer-
icans and from college students to
restaurant workers. There are scores
of Indian American groups that
have come together to support him.
Besides AAPI (Asian Americans and
Pacific Islanders) there are several
other players like the Indian Amer-
ican Impact Fund, South Asians for
Biden, the Indian National Council
for Biden and Indiaspora. There
are also grassroots groups like Sikh
Americans for Biden, which coordi-
nate advocacy efforts, phone banking
and digital outreach in battleground
states.
Kamala’s presence on the ticket
has attracted a large number of In-
dian Americans, although a section
of them feels that she is not Indian
enough. Krishnamoorthi says her
presence is a huge plus. “You see it
in all kinds of metrics. Whether it
is fundraising or engagement, it is
palpable. Her addition to the ticket
has made a big difference. You see
pictures of her family and you see
your own family in those pictures. It
is really quite striking.”
The excitement for change is
bringing a tidal wave of funds and
support. IMPACT raised $11 million
in just three months and Makhija
says the excitement about this year’s
elections among Indian American
voters is unparalleled. “With an
Indian American on the presidential
ticket for the first time in history and
a record number of Indian American
candidates running for office, our
voters are poised to exert considera-
ble influence.”
AFP
The Republicans, too, eye the
growing Indian American vote with
great interest. Ramakrishnan says
Trump’s popularity has gone up to
some extent among the community.
Four years ago, only 16 per cent of
Indian Americans voted for him,
but now his support has gone up
to 28 per cent. “If the undecided
voters break in the same ratio, he will
probably get 30 per cent of the Indian
American vote,” he says.
Niraj Antani, who was only 24
when he was elected to the Ohio
house of representatives on a
Republican ticket, says Trump’s
outreach efforts are bearing fruit.
“The president’s trip to India and
sharing the stage with Prime Minister
Modi and his neutrality on issues
like the Citizenship (Amendment)
Act and the abrogation of Article 370,
compared with Biden's opposition
to those issues, have polarised the
community and that is why you are
seeing what the data shows,” says
Antani. The Trump campaign has
made a lot of efforts to reach out to
Indian Americans, including the
Howdy, Modi! event. Antani agrees
that Indian American support for
Trump is not going to shoot up from
28 per cent to 70 per cent in the near
future. He says it is all about creating
a coalition. “So if it goes up from 28
per cent to 38 per cent, it could well
be part of a coalition to win a state.”
Krishnamoorthi, who is a member
of the house intelligence commit-
tee, says Biden played a key role
in shepherding the India-US India
nuclear deal through the US Con-
gress. As chairman of the senate
foreign relations committee, he
worked hard to ensure the deal’s
smooth passage on the Capitol Hill.
Taking note of the warm ties between
former president Barack Obama and
Modi, Krishnamoorthi says India-US
ties will always be driven by biparti-
KAMALA’S PRESENCE ON THE
TICKET has attracted a large
number of Indian Americans,
although a section of them feels
that she is not Indian enough.
RISING STAR
Democratic Senate candidate
Sara Gideon at the town hall in
Freeport, Maine
san consensus. “The relationship is
taking on new importance, especially
with regard to our views on nation-
al security vis-à-vis China in the
Indo-Pacific region. And for that rea-
son, our national security is bound
up with the security of India. I think
that Joe Biden and future presidents
will grow closer to India and that is a
natural progression.”
Nisha Biswal, president of the
US-India Business Council, agrees.
“The US-India relationship is the
defining partnership of the 21st
century,” says Biswal, who served the
Obama administration as assistant
secretary of state for south and cen-
tral Asia. “I think Joe Biden and Ka-
mala Harris will certainly put India
among the very top of their priorities
as they look to strengthen America's
standing in the world.”
Biden is also likely to address
concerns regarding H-1B visas
and green cards, which have been
targeted repeatedly by the Trump
administration. Sabrina Singh, who
is Kamala’s press secretary, says Bid-
en will reform the existing H-1B visa
system to ensure that it is not used
to hold down wages in the United
States. “Biden will then support
expanding the number of visas and
eliminating country-limits on em-
ployment-based green cards.”
The unpredictability of this year’s
voting process is keeping the Indian
American community on its toes.
A large number of young men and
women are involved in grassroots
efforts, especially in the battleground
states. Their efforts got a boost on
October 14, when south Asian ce-
lebrities came together for a virtual
block party in support of the Bid-
en-Harris ticket. The event attracted
more than 1,300 participants and in-
cluded famous names such as former
federal prosecutor Preet Bharara and
actors Aasif Mandvi, Mindy Kaling,
Kumail Nanjiani and Madhur and
Sakina Jaffrey.
Outreach remains the key to
success for Democrats, says Nanda.
“We lost in 2016 by just 70,000 votes,
across three states— Wisconsin,
Michigan and Pennsylvania. So every
single vote is going to matter. There
is an overrepresentation of Indian
Americans in these battleground
states. But it is a vote that can never
be taken for granted.”
The author is a New York-based journalist
who blogs at Lassi with Lavina.
NOVEMBER 1, 2020 • THE WEEK 39
 COVER STORY
US PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION
Win-win
situation
Strong bipartisan consensus on the
importance of India will propel bilateral ties
forward regardless of who wins on November 3
BY MANDIRA NAYAR
IRRESPECTIVE OF WHAT hap-
pens in the presidential elections on
November 3, India can be assured
of continuing courtship from the
United States. Although President
Donald Trump and his Democratic
challenger Joe Biden are engaged in
a bitter battle, they both agree on the
importance of ties with India.
India has shown that its relation-
ship with the US is special for both
countries. The ice was broken with
the visit of president Bill Clinton
in 2000. President George W. Bush
came to India and offered the
civilian nuclear deal. Barack Obama
came twice—first in 2010 and then
in 2015 as chief guest of the Repub-
lic Day celebrations. Even Trump,
known to be a reluctant traveller,
made a standalone visit along with
his family.
The fundamentals of the relation-
ship are strong. Bilateral trade has
grown from $60 billion in 2013 to
$90 billion in 2019. The 2+2 dia-
logue has been institutionalised.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and
Defence Secretary Mark T. Esper
will come to Delhi on October 27 for
talks with External Affairs Minister
S. Jaishankar and Defence Minis-
ter Rajnath Singh. It is unusual to
have such a summit so close to the
presidential elections and it shows
the level of bipartisan support
40 THE WEEK • NOVEMBER 1, 2020
ARVIND JAIN
India enjoys in Washington, DC.
Defence ties, too, have improved,
especially with the signing of three
foundational agreements (the last of
these agreements could be signed
during the 2+2 dialogue), growing
arms sales and with the US decision
to rename its Pacific Command as
Indo-Pacific Command.
India will be keen to see how the
new administration deals with China.
The Trump camp suggests that Biden
will be soft on China. “You think the
Chinese gave (Biden's son) Hunter
Biden $1.5 billion because he was a
great businessman, or because they
knew the Bidens could be bought,
and therefore be soft on China,” said
Trump’s son Donald Trump Jr at a
recent campaign event.
But Biden has a long history of
friendship with India. “My dream is
that in 2020, the two closest na-
tions in the world will be India and
the United States,” Biden had said
back in 2006, when he was a rank-
ing member of the senate foreign
relations committee. He worked with
committee chairman Richard Lugar
to get the India-US nuclear deal
approved by the senate.
Biden and his running mate
Kamala Harris released a video on
August 15 to commemorate the
Indian independence day in which
he promised to “confront the threats
[India] faces in its own region and
along its border”. It has come at a
time India is facing threats on its
eastern and western borders. The
Trump administration, too, has
promised India support, especially
in dealing with China. “We are doing
it in the security area. We are doing
it in terms of outsized demands to
claim sovereign territory, whether it
is in the Galwan valley of India on the
India-China border or in the south
Pacific," said Deputy Secretary of
State Stephen Biegun.
Michael Kugelman, deputy direc-
tor of the Asia Program at Wilson
Center, Washington, DC, said India
might prefer Biden to Trump if it had
to make a choice. “Biden is a more
conventional and predictable leader
and India would prefer to have a
less mercurial and more low-main-
tenance figure running the show in
Washington.’’
Rajesh Rajagopalan, who teaches
international politics at Delhi’s Jawa-
harlal Nehru University, agreed with
Kugelman’s observation. “Trump has
shown distrust for alliances and part-
nerships,’’ he said. “We need to build
partnerships and the Biden adminis-
tration will do a better job.’’
A stable hand in the White House
is very crucial for India, more so in
the context of the emerging Sino-US
cold war, which could shape the
contours of the global security archi-
tecture. “We will be looking at how
the new administration deals with
China,’’ said Sanjay Pulipaka, senior
fellow at the Delhi Policy Group.
“At the moment, the department of
state, the department of defence and
even the US trade representative see
China as a possible threat.’’
While Biden is yet to reveal his
China policy, he could make some
overtures in an attempt to tone
down hostilities. But his steadfast-
ness might work better in the long
run. “Trump has steadied the policy
despite his unpredictability,’’ said
Rajagopalan. India will be counting
on the US to build and strengthen
multilateral partnerships like the
quad to counter China.
The Indo-US partnership will,
however, face its own set of chal-
lenges. The Trump-Modi bromance
weathered the trade tariff storm, but
the Democrats could prove to be
difficult on the issue of human rights.
Kashmir, the treatment of minorities
INDIA WILL BE KEEN TO
SEE HOW the new administration
deals with China. The Trump
camp suggests that Biden will be
soft on China.
STRONGER TOGETHER
Prime Minister Narendra Modi with US
President Donald Trump and his wife, Melania,
at Hyderabad House in Delhi in February
and Amnesty International’s depar-
ture from India could become prickly
issues.
India has made it clear that criti-
cism is not welcome. Last year, Jais-
hankar cancelled a meeting with top
leaders of the house foreign affairs
committee after they insisted on the
presence of Congresswoman Pramila
Jayapal, who sponsored a resolution
which was critical of India.
Jaishankar also rebuffed Senator
Lindsay Graham, a close confidant
of Trump, after he suggested at this
year’s Munich Security Conference
that the best way to sell democracy
was to settle the Kashmir issue dem-
ocratically. "Do not worry senator,”
Jaishankar told Graham. “One de-
mocracy will settle it and you know
which one.”
Kugelman said though Demo-
crats made more noise about India's
domestic policies compared with the
Republicans, most of that came from
their Congressional caucus. “If Biden
became president, the criticism
would be subdued. Democrats and
Republicans alike see India as a key
strategic partner in helping pursue
Washington's top foreign policy
goal—balancing Chinese power in
the Indo-Pacific,” he said. “But it
does not mean that a Democratic
administration will not be critical of
India.”
There is also worry whether Biden
will be a hands-on president, consid-
ering that he is 77. “Or will there be a
tussle between the progressives who
want to change the world and the
moderates? India will have to wait
and watch,’’ said Harsh Pant, director
of the strategic studies programme at
Observer Research Foundation, New
Delhi.
Yet, there is no immediate cause
for concern. A strong bipartisan
consensus on the importance
of India will propel bilateral ties
forward regardless of who wins on
November 3. “One of the constants
in US-India relations has been that
every presidential administration has
left the relationship in even better
shape than the one it inherited,” said
Biegun on October 20. “Oftentimes
we can see international relations
move with the political shifts in the
United States, but India has been a
constant…. It leaves me confident
that this relationship is much bigger
than any one political party.”
NOVEMBER 1, 2020 • THE WEEK 41
 UNITED STATES
POLITICS
KATIE COMES TO PARTY
A professor-politician mom with a lethal
whiteboard looks like a future president
I
f you’re full of bullshit, I’m
coming for ya,” says California
congresswoman Katie Porter.
A rising star of the Demo-
cratic party, Porter has Capitol Hill
abuzz. In fact, that has been the case
since 2018, when she shocked Amer-
ica by becoming the first Democrat
to win California’s 45th congressional
district, created in 1983. Porter’s
razor-sharp politics makes her a
serious contender for the senate seat
that Kamala Harris would vacate if
she becomes vice president. Porter
is open to the idea, but she has more
pressing issues on her mind. Taking
down the Trump presidency, for
instance.
Her rockstar image strengthened
in April this year, when she raised
$4.6 million—30 times more than her
opponent Greg Raths of the Repub-
lican party did. Recognising her star
power, the Democratic party has
enlisted her help in its ‘Red to BOLD’
campaign, aimed at flipping seven
Republican seats in Nebraska, Texas,
New York, Michigan and Florida.
“To achieve big change, I need more
DIVORCED, PORTER IS THE ONLY SINGLE MOM
IN CONGRESS. SHE SPLITS HER TIME BETWEEN
WASHINGTON, DC, AND IRVINE, CALIFORNIA,
WHERE HER THREE CHILDREN GO TO SCHOOL.
42 THE WEEK • NOVEMBER 1, 2020
BY FARWA IMAM ALI/San Francisco
allies in Congress. And I’m asking for
your help to make it happen,” Porter
says in her fundraising emails.
As she winds down a virtual ballot
party attended by THE WEEK, she
reaches for a dry erase marker. “If
you have any doubt about whether
it is worth it for you to vote in this
election,” she tells the audience, “I
brought the whiteboard and here are
some of the reasons. Climate change.
Let me break it down for you. Do we
all want to die? No. So vote.
As she reels off other reasons—
health care, women’s reproductive
freedom, criminal justice reform—
one begins to see President Katie
Porter as a distinct possibility in the
future. She furiously scribbles “Will
you vote?” on the whiteboard, and
issues a sober reminder: “Your voice
is your vote. It is not enough to write
things on Twitter.”
As she waits for the fruits of the
Red to BOLD campaign, Porter con-
tinues to pore over legislative work,
hold people in power accountable
and, of course, raise her three kids.
Divorced, Porter is the only single
PUSHING FOR PROGRESS
As a member of the house
committee on oversight and
reforms, Porter has been
driving political reforms
mom in the US Congress. She splits
her time between Washington, DC,
and Irvine, California, where her
three young children go to school.
Every weekend, the minivan-driving
supermom heads back to Irvine,
does her chores, and volunteers with
her children’s Cub and Boy Scout
troops.
When the pandemic hit and
Congress permitted votes by proxy,
she stayed in Irvine, home-schooling
the children, holding virtual events,
distributing cleaning supplies to
childcare workers, and even finding
time to donate blood. Committed to
being a voice for working mothers
like her, Porter tweeted on Septem-
ber 17: “Despite current protections
in the law, pregnancy discrimina-
tion continues to burden working GETTY IMAGES
women and their families. I’m glad
the House today passed the Pregnant power and making a mess of it.” mothers pointing her out to their her initiatives for ensuring the rights
Workers Fairness Act, and I’m eager Ironically, Porter took the polit- children saying, “That’s your future of immigrants led to the decision.
for my colleagues in the Senate to ical plunge thanks to Trump. After president.” Asians, including Indian Americans,
take it up.” Trump’s shocking victory in 2016, “I feel she respects the intelligence make up 21 per cent of the popula-
As a member of the house commit- she had brunch with her mentor and of the voter, keeps it real, shows in- tion in Orange County. One of her
tee on oversight and reforms, Porter senator Elizabeth Warren. She told tegrity and truly walks her talk,” says fans there is MBA student Amit Vash-
has been driving political reforms. Warren about her three possible ca- techie Rekha Kaul of Irvine. “I looked ist, who describes Porter’s tenacious
In September, she announced that reer ideas. Warren said the first was up her record; she has sponsored questioning in Congress as “cogent,
she would be sponsoring a bill that terrible and the second, forgettable. and cosponsored close to 470 bills in firm and supremely practical”.
would help prevent an out-of-control The third idea—which was to run for 2019-2020 alone.” Two mentors helped Porter
presidency. “Of course, it is inspired Congress—had Warren saying: “Now Kaul’s views are validated by the hone her questioning skills—the
by Donald Trump,” she said in a talk that is a good one.” Asian American Action Fund, a po- trailblazing senators Warren and
show. “When you have someone ex- The younger generation of voters litical action committee that decided Kamala Harris. After attending Yale
panding the role of executive power,
and using it relatively competently, it
love “Katie’s spunk”. Members of the
Katie Porter fandom include young
to endorse Porter’s 2020 reelection
bid as early as July last year. Porter’s
University and getting a law degree
from Harvard, Porter specialised in
seems okay. But here we have some- adults sporting ‘No BS’ tee shirts, success in flipping Orange County, a bankruptcy and consumer protec-
one expanding the role of executive Halloween revellers dressing up Republican stronghold that encom- tion law at Warren’s instance. Porter’s
as ‘Katie’s Whiteboard’, and young passes her congressional district, and decision to accept a teaching job at
NOVEMBER 1, 2020 • THE WEEK 43
 UNITED STATES
POLITICS
the University of California Irvine
prompted Harris, then the state’s
attorney general, to appoint her as
California’s independent monitor of
banks. Both opportunities eventually
helped her run for public office.
Today, when the whiteboard and
dry erase marker come out, members
of Congress know Porter is about to
school someone. Her most famous
whiteboard takedown resulted in
Robert Redfield, the head of the
Centers for Disease Control and Pre-
vention, committing to free Covid-19
tests for all Americans. In October,
she chastened Mark Alles, CEO of
the pharma company Celgene, for
landing $500,000 as bonus in two
years, “just by tripling the price of
[the cancer drug] Revlimid”.
In a video that went viral, Por-
ter asks Alles after scribbling ‘$13
million’ on her whiteboard: “Do you
know what this number is? Does it
ring any bells?”
“I think you’re referring to my
compensation in some way,” says
Alles.
“This was your compensation for
2017 for being CEO of Celgene. It’s
200 times the average American’s
income,” says Porter. “Any increase
in the price of Revlimid would also
increase your bonus [because it]
increases [the company’s] earnings.
Isn’t that right, Mr Alles?”
Caught on the backfoot, Alles tries
44 THE WEEK • NOVEMBER 1, 2020
to ramble on about technicalities,
but Porter cuts him off. “Thank you,”
she says. “So to recap here: The drug
didn’t get any better; the cancer pa-
tients didn’t get any better. You just
got better at making money.”
Before her showdown with Alles,
she had castigated Jamie Dimon,
chairman and CEO of JPMorgan
Chase, over the pay disparity in the
company. She demanded that he
explain how a bank teller could live
on minimum wage. Even Mark Zuck-
erberg has been at the receiving end
of her ‘no-BS’ stance. Porter dared
the Facebook CEO to commit “to
spending one hour a day” for a year
working as a content moderator. The
commitment would involve sticking
to the regimen of Facebook’s 15,000-
odd moderators—policing stabbings,
suicides and other gruesome videos
on the social media platform for
long hours, taking only nine-minute
supervised “wellness breaks”. Zucker-
berg declined.
However, it was Porter’s decision
last year to sign, along with 14 other
members of Congress, a letter urging
India to restore communications in
Kashmir that had Indians and Indian
Americans taking notice. On August
5 this year, Porter tweeted against the
lockdown. “Today marks one year
since India’s crackdown on Jammu
and Kashmir. Millions remain cut off
from phone and internet, the local
IN OCTOBER, SHE
CHASTENED A
PHARMA COMPA-
NY CEO FOR LAND-
ING $500,000 AS
BONUS IN TWO
YEARS, “JUST BY
TRIPLING THE
PRICE OF [THE
CANCER DRUG]
REVLIMID”.
economy is in ruins, and political
prisoners are in custody without
charges. It’s time for the lockdown to
end.”
In Congress, Porter wants to over-
turn Trump’s tax plan, which raised
taxes on middle-class families. She
opposes the US-Mexico border wall,
supports “immigration reform that
will provide a fair path to citizenship
for undocumented immigrants”, and
is keen to break the chokehold of big
money on American politics.
Her quibbles about life as a con-
gresswoman reveals how Capitol
Hill remains “a male institution”. The
furniture is too big for women—her
feet do not touch the floor when she
sits—and the congressional lapel pin
that distinguishes members from
staffers and visitors is more suited for
men’s suits.
Porter, however, does have two
tools that have served her well in
Washington—her ‘no BS’ attitude
and her whiteboard. If the Dem-
ocrats win big in the elections to
the US Congress in November, an
upgrade from congresswoman to
senator could well be on the cards
for her.
SOUND BITE
ANITA PRATAP
Gunning for votes
T
he only thing that stops a bad guy with a
gun is a good guy with a gun,” says Wayne
LaPierre, the head of America’s formidable
gun lobby, the National Rifle Association (NRA).
Diehard Donald Trump fans, the NRA is mobilis-
ing to get him re-elected—buying ads, organising
events and pushing their five million members to
vote. In 2016, they spent $30 million for Trump’s
election.
Surveys show 60 per cent of Americans want
stricter gun laws—including banning automatic
weapons and proper background checks on gun
buyers (mostly rural white men). But the NRA
has successfully resisted restrictions by invoking
the US Constitution’s Second
Amendment that guarantees the
right to bear arms. They tena-
ciously lobby Congressmen and
cleverly equate gun owner-
ship with freedom. Americans
fancy they are the freest in the
world, ironic given that they are
enslaved by debt, materialism,
corporate tyranny and notions of
exceptionalism.  school carnage in which 27
Long before Trump’s “fake
news” and “alternative facts” went viral, the NRA
shamelessly propagated fake analysis and alter-
native history. NRA leaders claim the association
was established to train black Americans to defend
themselves against the Ku Klux Klan. There is
“zero” evidence of this, reveals award-winning au-
thor Frank Smyth. But that does not stop the NRA
from proclaiming it is America’s “longest standing
civil rights organisation”.
Foundational myths proliferate. LaPierre,
71, asserts “Shooting is in America’s blood. It’s
what Americans have always done.” The NRA’s
real history is that a group of US army veterans
were ashamed that Americans “could not shoot
straight”, especially compared with the Europe-
ans. So, they went to London in the 1870s and
modelled their organisation on the British Rifle
Association that promotes marksmanship.
ILLUSTRATION BHASKARAN
NRA mythology spins that history would be
different if only there were enough good guys with
guns: no holocaust, because armed Jews would
have fought the Nazis. More guns, less genocide:
had they been armed, victims could have counter-
attacked Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, Mao Zedong,
Idi Amin, Robert Mugabe and Pol Pot. Martin
Luther King Jr could not defend himself because
he was denied a gun permit.
Even if these arguments lack common sense,
they are backed by sound financial sense. Threat
perceptions drive membership and gun sales.
Gun manufacturers contribute 60 per cent of the
NRA’s income. Gun sales are now skyrocketing to
two lakh a day due to high threat
perceptions triggered by the
pandemic and racial violence.
There are already at least 400
million civilian firearms in the
US (population: 330 million).
In most states, gun shops are
open because it is an “essential
service”.
After the 2012 Sandy Hook
people, including 20 six- and
seven-year-olds, were gunned down, LaPierre
blamed mental illness and video games for the rise
in gun violence. His solution: put armed guards in
every school. Even Rupert Murdoch’s newspapers
called him a “Gun Nut.” After the 2018 Florida
school shootout that killed 17, La Pierre’s solution:
arm schoolteachers. He blamed the FBI, media
and gun control “elites”.
Multi-millionaire LaPierre, who has headed the
NRA for three decades, epitomises the elite—pri-
vate jets, luxury cruises and African safaris; his
wife, Susan LaPierre, ran up a $16,000 tab with her
hairstylists. But now New York Attorney General
Letitia James has filed a case, accusing LaPierre
of corruption and using the NRA as his personal
piggy bank.
Sometimes, the only thing that stops a bad guy is
a good girl.
Pratap is an author and journalist.
THE WEEK • NOVEMBER 1, 2020 45
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