Trump vs. Biden: USA’s speculated civil war and the future of its Muslim world politics

Mehmet İskenderiyye

As the presidential election approaches in the United States, there seem to be an unprecedented fear and scepticism across the country. While former US President Barack Obama’s former vice president and Democrat party candidate, Joe Biden is yearning to return his party to power, it seems the ruling republican candidate, Donald Trump, has set his heart on retaining his seat.

The road to the election has not been smooth, while there are public debates on the economy which has been seriously affected by the covid19 pandemic, a major problem in the US resurged, the issue of racism and discrimination.

No thanks to his many gaffs, the US President Mr Donald Trump has been severally accused of racism. Even though he and a number of the presidency staff members have come out to deny the allegations, his polities and vows haven’t suggested otherwise. Hence this has made the racism debate a key issue in the election discourse. As the Joe Biden, who’s white and a Catholic, racism and discrimination is a plus, about which he tackles his opponent. 

On September 29, for the first time, Biden and Trump met in a debate full of interruptions and insults. 

Yet one of the key agenda in the rather chaotic debate was the issue of racism. During the debate, when asked about some white supremacy groups and their activities, Donald Trump said, “I can say that everything we see comes from the left, not from the right. Proud Boys, stand back and standby”.  So who are the Proud Boys promoted by Trump?

Proud Boys is a male-only far-right group that was founded in Canada and the USA in 2016 when Trump was elected to office. Members of the white supremacy militia have taken part in a series of street fights in the United States. The group was proscribed by the FBI as an "extremist group" in 2018. Apart from being Islamophobic, anti-immigrant, the group has been defined by the United States' Anti-Defamation and Denial Association (ADL) as an anti-homosexual and misogynistic organization. In other words, this group basically against the liberal principles defended by the democrats. The Washington Post reported that after Trump's indirect support for this group on national TV, its membership on the Telegram channel increased by about 10 per cent.

Frankly, racism, armed groups and firearm attacks are not new in the USA. However, things might have gone more critical since the protests that started on May 26 over the death of George Floyd. After this incident, some section of the media has quoted the president of National African American Guns Association (NAGAA) saying "the number of Black Americans, including women who bought firearms and joined gun clubs, has increased significantly in the past few months."

Recently, an Afro-American armed group named Not Fucking Around Coalition (NFAC) started to be in the spotlight. NFAC members made their first appearance in Brunswick, Georgia after the murder of Ahmaud Arbery in February. The Grandmaster, founder of the organization, declared to Newsweek that they are not the same as the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movements, "We are black militias. We are not protesters, we are not demonstrators. We do not come to sing, we do not come to chant. That’s not what we do.", he said. The organization has severally vowed to take the state of Texas to create an African-American nation. Interesting, however, Republican-controlled Texas is seen by Trump as one of his own strongholds.

A British journalist on Channel 4, Krishman Guru-Murty sought to reveal the link between the increased rate of gun possession and the election, interviewed some white militias as well as black militias. During the meeting, when asked “what are you training for” Chris Hill, leader of a white supremacy group called 3 Percenter, said; "people may try to come and take what you got, so we want to be able to protect what we have, or to be able to make contact with the threat and take out the bad guys.” He went further to say “we all know what’s going happen on November 4, when people wake and Donald Trump is being elected president. The left is going absolutely lose their minds. Cities are going to burn...” Interesting Chris Hill feels there will be an uprising if things turn out the other way round and cases of electoral frauds are reported. 

Meanwhile, in recent days, Trump has intensified concerns that he may not want to vacate the white house if he loses it in November. During a press conference, a reporter asked if he would commit today that he will be in a peaceful transfer of power, “win, lose or draw ". He replied: “I've been complaining very strongly about the ballots, and the ballots are a disaster."

The reporter countered that "people are rioting", Mr Trump interrupted: "Get rid of the ballots, and you'll have a very - you'll have a very peaceful - there won't be a transfer, frankly, there'll be a continuation." Also, Trump told a crowd of supporters in Virginia, "We're going to win. We're not going to lose this except if they cheat that's the way I look at it. We can't let them cheat. Our country is at stake and it's true. Because these people will destroy our country,"

What could be the result of these events? In a scenario in which Trump wins the election, anti-Trump groups will take to the streets and there will be an emergence of a more serious situation than in June-July. Trump supporters, on the other hand, will clash with them and the situation will flare-up. Trump will send the national guards to the streets. There will be a serious conflict between them and the militia. If Trump wins, what is least expected is an increase in gun attacks and terrorism.

Again, if Trump loses, a similar or worse situation may ensue. If Trump should say “I am not leaving the seat because the election was a cheat," the Democrats and the armed groups that support them will go completely crazy. Here the national guards will meet them with strength and they will clash with Trump-supporter white racist groups on the streets. So the safest situation for the US is for Trump to lose and accept the result. This will open the doors of the White House for Joe Biden. Well, even though Joe Biden’s presidency may bring peace and reduce discrimination in the USA or reduce discrimination, what does it mean to the peace of the world especially for the Muslim world?

During the campaigns, Joe Biden has always tried to show his acquaintance with Muslims. He has been filmed while quoting a hadith. He also used the expression “Insha’Allah” (if Allah wills) in a mocking way during the debate. Obviously, these were to win the hearts of the local Muslims and migrants. But then, it is clear that Joe Biden will continue the selfish policies of former American presidents in the Muslim world. The administration where he served as the vice president is enough clues. Advan el-Ahmedi and Mehmet b. Salman, both being Arab journalists commented about him saying: "Obama brought persecution to the Middle East by using Arabs and the Qur'an. Then he handed over Syria and Iraq to Iran. Now, Biden is saying “Insha’Allah”. "

Recently a controversial video of Joe Biden answering a question about “handling” of Turkish President Recep Tayyib Erdoğan surfaced. Joe Biden explained how he plans to collaborate with Turkish opposition leadership to bring down Erdoğan. He also discussed how he plans to support the certain militias that are proscribed by the Turkish government, as well as how to cut Turkey’s wings in the region. Of course, the video met a series of condemnation from various Turkish politicians including the opposition leaders.  

These only show that Joe Biden is just a typical American Politician. They are skilled in creating political crises in other countries but find it difficult to solve their own problems. Previous presidents have brought chaos to Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya and Syrian soil. Who knows Biden’s target address?

Ironically, a country where people move freely with guns and the police brutally kill because of their skin colour is always attempting to teach rights and equality to states that deal with their own internal affairs peacefully. Undoubtedly, it is time for the table to turn around. The world should teach USA true democracy. Now is the time for the US to be held responsible for its own internal problems, especially racism and discrimination. However, how possible is this in with the unjust World Order that is supervised by the US? In other words, it’s safe to say that the system pioneered by the USA is harmful to its citizens in the first place. The country’s policies are neither beneficial to the world nor its own citizens, except some. Be that as it may, systems like this cannot be broken by weak and puppet states. Perhaps we need a stronger union of states against injustice, to solve the American problem.