March 12 (UPI) — Former President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden have officially clinched their parties’ nominations Tuesday night with wins in Georgia, Mississippi and Washington, setting-up a November rematch in this year’s presidential election.
Biden secured the 2024 Democratic presidential nomination earlier in the evening with wins in Georgia and Mississippi to secure the necessary 1,968 delegates, as former President Donald Trump clinched the 2024 Republican presidential nomination hours later with wins in Georgia, Mississippi and Washington, surpassing the required 1,215 delegates.
While Biden did not face any major opposition in any of the contests leading to his nomination, he did face a push for “uncommitted” in a protest vote over his policy toward Israel’s war in Gaza.
After locking up the Democratic nomination, the Biden campaign released a video Tuesday in a post on X, with the words “Clinched the nomination” and “Let’s go.”
“Despite the challenges we faced when I took office, we’re in the middle of a comeback: wages are rising faster than inflation, jobs are coming back, consumer confidence has soared,” Biden said in a statement Tuesday night, before taking a swipe at his opponent.
“Amid this progress, we face a sobering reality: Freedom and democracy are at risk here at home in a way they have not been since the Civil War. Donald Trump is running a campaign of resentment, revenge and retribution that threatens the very idea of America,” Biden added.
Trump, 77, has attacked Biden on his age, foreign policy, inflation and the border. During the primaries and caucuses, Trump faced as many as eight candidates including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, who dropped out of the race after last week’s Super Tuesday contests.
Earlier Tuesday, a Republican group — opposing the former president — announced it would spend $50 million in six swing states to keep him from winning in November, calling Trump “too dangerous and too unhinged to ever be president again.”
Biden, 81, is also facing opposition from within his own party with age being the biggest issue.
“He was forced on us by the establishment, but he is manifestly not the same man that he was even three years ago, and that has made him less optimally fit for the office, if not simply unfit,” Liano Sharon, a Democratic National Committee member from Michigan, said in an interview. Others have touted last week’s State of the Union address as proof he is ready for a second term.
“The Biden campaign got one of the most impressive opportunities at a reset with the State of the Union,” said Marc Morial, president of the National Urban League.
