Irish Examiner view: Biden to inherit divided States 

US Presidential elections 

If Joe Biden wins — and it looks increasingly likely that he will — he will have to govern in a country where several million people still believe in Donald Trump.

As Joe Biden edged closer to winning the US presidential election yesterday, and the incumbent Donald Trump threatened to challenge the outcome, the only certainty was that the 46th president of the United States would be governing a polarised America. 

A high turnout set a few records. Biden, for instance, has the distinction of receiving the highest number of votes in US history, at more than 72m. That, however, means little when you compare it to Trump’s impressive polling of more than 68m. 

Winning the election might prove to be the most straightforward phase of the next presidency. If Joe Biden wins — and it looks increasingly likely that he will — he will have to govern in a country where several million people still believe in Donald Trump despite his bombast and his ongoing attempts to undermine the democratic process in this election. 

Biden has repeatedly stressed that he intends to be a unifying president but the tightness of the contest shows that Americans have never been more divided. And that is only part of the battle ahead. A Democrat president faces the prospect of governing with a Republican senate and a newly conservative supreme court. 

The next occupant of the White House will also be assuming office at a time of racial tension, intense climate change challenges, and during a pandemic which has killed almost 235,000 Americans. Yesterday, 18 US states recorded the highest number of patients hospitalised with the coronavirus since March. 

Winning the election, it seems, is the easiest part of what lies ahead.