Biden is better than Trump - Tun Mahathir

KUALA LUMPUR: Former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad welcomed Joe Biden as the choice of the American people to be the next President and was of the view that a change in leadership could transform global political stability.

In an “Exclusive With Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad” interview on Astro AWANI tonight, the Langkawi Member of Parliament said based on the recent Presidential Debate, he found that Biden has a better understanding of current situations, especially on the topic of COVID-19 pandemic.

"I welcome the election of Joe Biden as the President of the United States because from the debate that they held twice, we find that Joe Biden is more aware of the situation.

"Trump, on the other hand, he is concerned about a different world. He is the only one who sees it that way. For example, he thinks the COVID-19 is nothing, it doesn't matter.

"That is why today 12 million Americans are infected with COVID-19, and 250,000 are dead. This is actually Trump's fault, because he does not care about the advice from the doctor,” he added.

On November 8, Biden, who is also the Democratic Party candidate, won the United States 46th Presidential Election by getting 284 electoral votes while his challenger, Trump from the Republican party only won 214 electoral votes.

Citing an AP report based on projections made by the news agency, the last seat Biden won was Pennsylvania which gave him 20 electoral votes.

Commenting on the China-US Trade War, Dr Mahathir said although the situation was expected to continue, he was of the view that Biden would take steps to ease tensions between the two world economic powers.

"I remember there will likely be modifications. Maybe if it is dropped immediately, it is good too. But if he (Biden) changes the way the United States, that is to not be so aggressive to block things, maybe it is better.

"I find that the United States is the cause of the world's economic problems. Because when trade there is stopped, trading here is stopped for unreasonable reasons,” he added.

Dr Mahathir said he had the view that Biden would formulate a policy different from the previous one and would correct the wrongs committed during Trump's term.