NEW YORK, October 9. /TASS/. A new scandal in Washington that led to an official impeachment inquiry against US President Donald Trump deals a mightiest blow to former US Vice President Joe Biden, weakening his positions in the Democratic nomination campaign, Professor at the Department of Political Science and International Relations, Middle Tennessee State University, Andrei Korobkov told TASS.
"Wherever the investigation of Trump’s latest activities leads, Biden’s image that was carefully constructed over the last year has been destroyed," the expert said. He pointed out that this image was of a politician "who is not very bright, not very smart and not very good at debating" but is "very experienced, loyal to [his] party and overall very honest."
The professor explained that in light of the July phone call between Trump and Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky the public attention is drawn to Biden and his son Hunter’s business affairs in Ukraine. "[Biden,] affable person seemingly adored by political activists, turned out to have been masterminding corruption schemes for many years that enriched his son," Korobkov highlighted. "Considering the situation in the Democratic Party rattled by a deep schism between the party administration and the left wing, especially left-oriented youngsters, it is clear that Biden as a candidate (in the 2020 US presidential election - TASS) is done."
"The scandal is only beginning to gain traction, the public focus is slowly moving to China. It is highly possible that new facts will surface revealing similar schemes involving Biden father and son in other countries," the professor added.
Senator Warren wins
Korobkov believes that Biden’s standings in the Democratic Party have been likely damaged beyond repair. "Even if everything comes to a standstill today, younger 20-year-old left-wing activists who loathe the very words ‘capitalism’ or ‘businessman’ will naturally not be sympathetic towards what happened. Because it is completely irrelevant whether Biden broke the law or not. What is important is the fact that Biden took his son to clearly look for gains. And the son made a big fortune out of thin air," the expert clarified.
"The Bidens made millions of dollars in Ukraine and China. And it is well possible that these are not the only countries where this was happening," he added.
According to the expert, "the main winner here is Elizabeth Warren, of course." The senator from Massachusetts is also vying for the Democratic nomination to take on Trump in 2020 and has lately caught up with Biden in opinion polls. "He positions are growing stronger, especially in light of [senator from Vermont Bernie] Sanders losing support and now experiencing serious health issues," Korobkov said.
He underlined that the current situation practically erases any possibility of Biden defeating Trump in the election. "It is just silly to imagine Biden going head-to-head with Trump at debates," he pointed out. "Biden cannot even put up an effective defense at mild Democratic primaries where he is presented as a center figure, as a star."
The expert noted that both Warren and Sanders, left-wing politicians, "will scare the American middle class to death" and are "completely hopeless" judging by their chances to win the election. "The Democrats won’t be able to take home a victory with these candidates," the professor added.
Impeachment coming?
Korobkov highly doubts that Trump’s political opponent will succeed with the impeachment inquiry. "It is practically impossible to think that they will be able to secure the two-thirds support in the US Senate controlled by a Republican majority," the expert stressed. "As for the House of Representatives, it is more complicated here, we will have to wait and see what facts will surface. Wait and see how Trump challenges these facts, what will happen to Biden because every time the public discusses these things it will inevitably deal a blow to Biden," he added.
"It is a big question how it will affect Trump," the expert underlined. "It is possible that he will be able to turn everything in his favor as it happened back in 1998 when Republicans were frothing at their mouths discussing certain private details of [42nd US President Bill] Clinton’s life and were trying to get rid of him. It all resulted in a devastating and complete defeat of the Republican Party in the midterm elections. It is highly possible that we will see the same result [in 2020]. In other words, it will seem like Democrats are involved in some fussy and petty intrigues instead of addressing state affairs and issues while Trump is advancing policies," he explained.
The expert added that it would be wrong to completely dismiss a possibility of impeachment. "We need to keep in mind that some truly scandalous facts might be revealed and even Republicans would turn their backs on Trump," he noted.
US media’s virtual reality
Korobkov emphasized that many leading US media outlets support Biden and are trying to implement some damage control. "This will without a doubt soften the blow, but will not quash it,’ the professor said. "All these elite mass media organizations live in a virtual reality and think that everyone is buying what they are selling. If it was true, then Trump would not be enjoying 90% support among Republicans," he added. "More than half of the US population openly resents such media sources as The New York Times, CNN and The Washington Post, while the electorate is not buying versions [of events] that they put forward anyway."
Korobkov also dismissed opinion polls showing Biden and other Democratic candidates having great chances to defeat Trump in the upcoming election. "The numbers are obviously manipulated. Not only Democrats but also the US establishment that loathes Trump are making the same mistake as three years ago, when they were coming up with phony numbers and started to believe in them, forgetting that they were manipulated," he said. On the eve of the 2016 election, Korobkov was predicting Trump’s victory while almost all US opinion polls had Hillary Clinton snatching the presidency.
The political scientist underlined that there are just a very limited number of factors that could seriously diminish chances of the incumbent president to get reelected. "The first factor is the state of economy. The only thing that can dramatically tip the scales in Democrats’ direction is the beginning of a terrible crisis. Then Trump’s situation will deteriorate. This is possible, although I think Trump will manage to hold on for a year, deferring the crisis somehow by lowering interest rates and making certain gestures towards businesses," the expert pointed out.
"The second [factor] is if Biden withdraws from the race and an alternative, a new centrist figure appears," the professor added. "The question is whether Democrats could find a consensus and nominate some other centrist figure." Korobkov emphasized that in absence of these factors, "currently Trump easily defeats any of the Democratic candidates.".