After four years of impeachment, fake news and the arisen Black Lives Matter Movement, Trumps re-election is anything but certain. Although he defied conventions, traditions, and truth time and again, his followers have remained loyal and his numbers near unaffected. Trump's counterpart for this play, democrat Joe Biden, is often criticised for making “not being Trump” his main running point.

Of course, the two most influential themes of this election are the COVID-19 crisis and economic consequences, and the BLM-protests. Trump seems to care little for the former, as he never wears a mask and organises mass rallies without any precautions, resulting in himself getting infected. Biden on the other hand is rarely seen without a mask. Concerning the latter, Trump promises the people a president of law and order, advocating strong suppression of the protests. And while Joe Biden has explicitly condemned the violence, Trump warns the people for more chaos should Biden be elected.

What are we to make of this and what are we to expect of the next four years? On november 3rd SIB-Utrecht and PerspectieF organise a discussion on the American Election. We welcome experts Penny Sheet and Jaap Verheul to give their views. Join us to ask questions to the US embassy and discuss our own views and expectations!

Mw. dr. Penny Sheet is a professor at the Department of Communication Science of the University of Amsterdam since August 2011. She is originally from the US, where she received a M.A. in Mass Communication from the University of Minnesota, in 2006. Her research focusses on political communication, news, and public opinion.

Prof. dr. Jaap Verheul is associate professor of Cultural History and honorary professor of Transatlantic Relations at Radboud University Nijmegen. He was Fulbright scholar at the University of Pennsylvania, and has taught at UCLA and other American universities. He has published on American, Dutch and transatlantic cultural history.

The event takes place online, via zoom, for which a link will be sent to the participants who register.