With President-elect Joe Biden poised to secure the keys to the White House in 2021, leaders from across the world have already begun offering their own congratulations and visions of the future. This comes at a time where confusion and scrutiny over a tumultuous U.S. election still persists.
From London to Tehran to Tokyo, leaders have sent President-elect Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris a string of well-wishes and calls for continued bilateral cooperation. American allies, including French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, echoed one another in their praise and messaging. Mr. Johnson, in a post on Twitter, declared that, “The US is our most important ally and I look forward to working closely together on our shared priorities, from climate change to trade and security".
In India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a long-standing supporter of President Donald Trump, offered his own set of friendly remarks. He also took time to congratulate Ms. Harris specifically, calling her historic rise to the Vice Presidency, "a matter of immense pride not just for your chittis, but also for all Indian-Americans”. Other leaders throughout the Middle East and Asia, including Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga and Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi joined the chorus of optimism for further cooperation across multiple channels.
Closer to home, responses from the leaders of Canada and Mexico have been similarly cordial in nature, with one exception. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau expressed his hope of working with a Biden Administration to “"advance peace and inclusion, economic prosperity, and climate action around the world". Conversely, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has remained far more constrained. He has yet to officially congratulate any candidate, instead declaring his intent to wait until final results are announced. Calls for patience have been followed by other U.S. allies, including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Despite these claims, other leaders have commented with contempt and scorn towards the U.S. and the democratic process.
In Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei commented that, "The situation in the US & what they themselves say about their elections is a spectacle! This is an example of the ugly face of liberal democracy in the US. Regardless of the outcome, one thing is absolutely clear, the definite political, civil, & moral decline of the US regime."
Though Chinese and Russian authorities have so far refrained from releasing their own responses, other governmental channels have not remained silent. In response to post-election uncertainties, the Global Times, a subsidiary of the Chinese Communist Party’s official mouthpiece, the People’s Daily newspaper, ridiculed the American electoral process. In an opinion column, the paper wrote that, “U.S. is not synonymous to a stable, civilized and consensus-based society anymore".
State-owned TV programs in Russia exhibited their own share of mockery and disdain towards the U.S. elections. Pundits lambasted both President Trump and President-elect Biden, declaring that, “"The borders of insanity are limitless".
Other adversaries, from Venezuela’s embattled President Nicolás Maduro to the Secretary-General of Hezbollah expressed their own mix of derision, along with hopes for greater cooperation with President-elect Biden.
Even long-standing American allies declared frustrations as well. Writers for France’ La Monde and Britain’s The Times of London showed their worry and discouragement with what shaped up to be a disheveled ballot-counting system. In addition, other publications throughout Europe, Asia, and the Americas described similar alarm.
These sentiments all come as President Trump continues to mount legal challenges to various vote tallies in Pennsylvania, Georgia, Wisconsin, and several other key battleground states. Though the meeting of electors to the Electoral College will not meet to officially cast their votes for the next president until December 12th, it appears that the country and the world are ready to turn to the next page in American history.