Biden and Trump Clinch Their Parties’ Nominations, Setting Up Historic Rematch That Few Voters Want
The magnitude of their wins gives each candidate enough delegates needed to claim his party’s nomination at the summertime national conventions.
WASHINGTON — Presidents Biden and Trump clinched their parties’ presidential nominations Tuesday with decisive victories in a slate of low-profile primaries, setting up a general election rematch that many voters do not want.
The prospect of Messrs. Biden and Trump on ballots in November sets up a rematch with few precedents in modern American history. In 1956, President Eisenhower, the Republican incumbent, faced a Democratic challenger, Governor Stevenson of Illinois, in a reprise of their 1952 contest.
The last election featuring two presidents took place in 1912, when President Taft, the Republican incumbent, was opposed by a former president, Theodore Roosevelt, running on a third-party ticket — throwing the election to the Democratic challenger, Governor Wilson of New Jersey
The outcome of Tuesday’s primary contests in Georgia, Mississippi, and Washington state was never in doubt. Neither Mr. Biden, a Democrat, nor Mr. Trump, a Republican, faced major opposition. The magnitude of their wins, though, gave each man the delegate majority he needed to claim his party’s nomination at the summertime national conventions.
Not even halfway through the presidential primary calendar, Tuesday marked a crystalizing moment for a nation uneasy with its choices in 2024.
There is no longer much doubt that the fall election will feature a rematch between two flawed and unpopular presidents. At 81, Mr. Biden is already the oldest president in American history, while the 77-year-old Mr. Trump is facing decades in prison as a defendant in four criminal cases.
Their rematch will almost certainly deepen the nation’s searing political and cultural divides over the eight-month grind that lies ahead.
In a statement, Mr. Biden celebrated the nomination while casting Mr. Trump as a serious threat to democracy.
Mr. Trump, Mr. Biden said, “is running a campaign of resentment, revenge, and retribution that threatens the very idea of America.”
Mr. Trump, in a video posted on social media, celebrated what he called “a great day of victory.”
“But now we have to get back to work because we have the worst president in the history of our country,” Mr. Trump said of Mr. Biden. “So, we’re not going to take time to celebrate. We’ll celebrate in eight months when the election is over.”
