Europe Responds to the 2020 U.S. Election election results, Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel was far more vocal. On January 7, she expressed her frustration with Trump’s failure to concede the election stating, “[Trump] stoked uncertainties about the election outcome, and that created an atmosphere that made the events of last night possible.”143 Right-wing politicians, including Prime Minister Viktor Orbán of Hungary, were notably silent on the storming of the capitol.144 The attack on the democratic process was ultimately ineffective. Although delayed by several hours, the U.S. Senate’s certification process was completed that night, with then-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell stating, “They tried to disrupt our democracy. They failed.”145 Although the democratic institutions of the U.S. have no doubt survived previous tumultuous election periods, they were challenged like never before, and this incident will remain engraved in the minds of many Americans and Europeans. Whether these institutions will face similar hurdles in the future remains to be seen, but the chasm in international trust that these events have wrought must be immediately addressed.
Europe, Global Leadership and the Challenge of Climate Change As European notions of American democracy are less favorable than Americans may have hoped, there is one concern that is certain to unite efforts between both parties: climate change. Although Trump fostered indifferent and explicitly dismissive attitudes towards the environmental crisis, Biden has vocalized his intent to prioritize this issue. If he takes swift and meaningful action on climate, Biden has the opportunity to make gains in restoring European trust in an American partnership on international issues. THE EU ROLE AND TRUMP’S LEGACY
The EU public at large has demanded increased action from their elected officials in combating the climate crisis. A 2019 survey conducted by Eurobarometer on behalf of the European Commission found that 92% of respondents felt it was important that their governments set ambitious renewable energy targets. The same percentage agreed that greenhouse gases should be reduced to make the EU economy climate neutral by 2050, a goal
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