Experts: 2024 U.S. presidential election

U.S. President Joe Biden will lay out what he sees as the stakes of the 2024 presidential election — democracy and freedom — in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, on Jan. 6, his first campaign event of the new year. “This Saturday will mark the three-year anniversary of when, with encouragement from Donald Trump, a violent mob breached our nation's Capital. It was the first time in our nation's history that a president tried to prevent the peaceful transfer of power," said Biden-Harris campaign manager Julie-Chavez Rodriguez. (ABC News). 

Here are some experts from McGill University that can provide comment on this issue:

Jason Opal, Full Professor, Department of History and Classical Studies 

“President Biden has clearly decided to make the defense of constitutional democracy a key part of his 2024 re-election campaign. Specifically, he is arguing that two pillars of democracy, the orderly counting of votes and the peaceful transition of power, are under direct and dire threat from the Trump-led Republicans. In a sense, Biden is trying to position himself as the true conservative in the race — the defender of a constitutional system that has governed the United States since 1789. Over the next few months, watch him also stress the need to defend long-standing individual rights, including abortion rights, from Donald Trump.” 

Jason Opal is a Full Professor in the Department of History and Classical Studies and Associate Dean (Graduate Studies) of the Faculty of Arts. He teaches and writes about the U.S. Constitution in different periods of American history. His work sheds light on such topics as nationalism, capitalism, democracy and U.S.-Canada foreign relations. 

jason.opal [at] mcgill.ca (English, French) 

Daniel Béland, James McGill Professor, Department of Political Science and Director, McGill Institute for the Study of Canada 

“Former Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau once famously said: ‘Living next to you is in some ways like sleeping with an elephant. No matter how friendly and even-tempered is the beast, if I can call it that, one is affected by every twitch and grunt.’ This is why Canadians follow U.S. politics way more on average than Americans follow Canadian politics. It is especially the case now, as Donald Trump is running again for the Republican presidential nomination, amidst a growing number of legal cases. We cannot understate the importance of the 2024 U.S. primaries and presidential election for Canada, as what will happen south of the border this year should directly impact our country’s economy and foreign policy, moving forward.” 

Daniel Béland is the Director of the McGill Institute for the Study of Canada and James McGill Professor of Political Science. He specializes in the fields of Canadian and comparative politics, as well as the study of public policy, including social policy. 

daniel.beland [at] mcgill.ca (English, French)