On April 21, AmCham launched its new Global Outlook Series, a set of discussions aimed to tackle some of the most pressing subjects and questions which impact our daily lives and the world of business today. During the first event, we immersed ourselves into the Biden Administration's work so far, and previewed the upcoming midterm elections with Jon Decker, White House Correspondent and Senior National Editor for Gray Television.
What events contributed to the decrease of the President’s approval rating in the past two years?
President Biden was inaugurated on January 20, 2021, and at the time his approval rating was 55%. However, since then, due to a series of events his rating has plummeted to around 40%. According to Jon Decker, the first major event that contributed to the fall in approval was President Biden’s decision to withdraw American troops from Afghanistan. The chaotic withdrawal left many American citizens disappointed, and it showed the President’s incompetence in many respects. The second factor was the handling of the COVID-19 pandemic which created confusing messages for citizens and lowered trust in the President’s capabilities to handle the crisis. Even though the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law signed by the President on 15 November 2021 was considered a major success, approval ratings did not go up.
2022 midterm elections – a return of the Republicans?
The midterms on November 8, 2022, could end up with Republicans regaining seats in the Senate according to Jon Decker, although some states have not announced their candidates yet. Pennsylvania and Ohio for instance will have their candidates ready in May, and some states such as Wisconsin, are very difficult to predict due to their swinging tendency. If Republicans regain majority in both houses, which is a possible scenario according to Decker, Biden will have a very difficult two years ahead of him.
2024 predictions – Trump, Biden or someone else?
On the side of the Democrats, Decker claimed that Joe Biden has the potential to run again for office in 2024, however, Gavin Newsom, currently the governor of California, would also be a strong candidate if the sitting president decided against going for another term. On the side of the Republicans, Decker was sceptic regarding Trump’s return as candidate in 2024, citing the risk of losing two consecutive presidential races.
Discussion with Dr. Dávid Kőhegyi and Q&A
After the presentation, Dr. Dávid Kőhegyi, Local Partner, Head of Compliance and Investigations at DLA Piper and Second Vice President of AmCham Hungary joined the White House Correspondent to discuss several topics such as the war in Ukraine, the issue of inflation as well as China and NATO relations. Questions from the audience were also diverse, ranging from the French elections, news coverage in the US regarding the war in Ukraine, Donald Trump’s potential return as well as the impact of the Hungarian elections on foreign investment.
By Márton Jász
Coming Up Next in the Global Outlook Series: Cybersecurity on May 3
Although the question of cybersecurity has been on the public agenda for more than a decade and at the forefront of experts’ thinking for far longer than that, the war in Ukraine has placed the topic at the very top of the agenda for both governments and businesses. While an invisible digital war has been the reality for some time now, state actors have been reluctant to openly engage in hostile cyber activities up to this point. This is no longer the case.
At this event we discuss the global cybersecurity landscape, the vulnerabilities of digital infrastructures, and what countermeasures can state authorities and businesses take to minimize their vulnerabilities to increasingly aggressive hostile parties.