With the grim results of Super Tuesday, we face the catastrophic choice between Trump, espousing authoritarian ideology, and Biden, a now genocide-enabler. “Democracies don’t fall apart — they’re taken apart,” so U.S. democracy is in trouble with either choice. Voters protesting the genocide in Gaza could cost Democrats the election through abstaining, voting third-party, or writing-in. Meanwhile, Trump, his radicalized supporters, and the Republican Party have worked for years to damage democracy through what scholars Russell Muirhead and Nancy Rosenblum call a “new conspiracist” agenda. “New conspiracism” attacks democracy’s essential infrastructure by targeting institutions and political parties and delegitimizing experts. The resulting Republican gridlock has resulted in perhaps the most ineffective Congressional period in history. Because experts create our policy, these attacks are critical. Biden, who had been fighting to reverse the democratic decline caused by Trump, has impaired his chances of winning through his disregard of expert opinion and evidence of genocide in Gaza while continuing to send billions in military aid to Israel. 

Both Trump and Biden have continually acted against peacemaking action for Palestine. Callous disregard for Palestinian plight with simultaneous unwavering support for Israel as policy is a symptom of democratic decay. In 2017, Trump solidified the Israeli capital being moved to Jerusalem, while hundreds of Palestinian protestors were attacked, and four were killed. After October 7th, Biden stated, “My administration’s support for Israel’s security is rock solid and unwavering” and went on to veto three UN ceasefire agreements and abstain from a fourth, during which 16,000 Palestinians were killed. Considering that 70% of weapons to Israel come directly from the U.S, the continual supply of massive amounts of weapons and money to Israel despite the passing of the UN ceasefire and ICJ ruling should sound the legal and moral alarm for voters.   

As Biden entered office in Trump’s calamitous wake, he sought to reestablish stability, rebuild economic prosperity, and support democratic ideology. Even by conservative reports, Biden shows success in several important sectors, especially the economy and employment. Yet, his progress is halted by congressional gridlock caused by Republicans. Until October 7th, the Democrats’ greatest criticism was Biden’s age, which is of equal concern for Trump. For a growing number of his supporters and young voters, it is the genocide in Gaza. Like all Presidents since 1948, Biden has followed a very clear pro-Israel agenda, even saying, “If there wasn’t an Israel, we would have to invent it”. Yet, the public now has unprecedented media access to witness Israel’s actions in Gaza that highlight atrocities and institutional quandaries that are changing voters’ minds. 

According to genocide scholar Alexander Hinton, “The U.S. was founded on genocide. It has repeatedly committed atrocity crimes…and will again.“ (18). Biden has directly authorized the mass killing of civilians, 70% of whom are women and children. A February Gallup poll reveals that half of Americans believe Israel has gone too far, and 55% disapprove of Israel’s military actions in Gaza.  In a country whose prosperity, from its creation, relied on the genocide of indigenous people and chattel slavery of Africans through endemic racism, it is not a surprise that attempts to prevent man-made atrocities are still not a priority for POTUS when there are financial, strategic, and political gains involved. The Israeli colonial settlement project shares aspects of that white supremacy. The outrage toward Biden has grown as people relate the treatment of the Palestinians as inherently racist.  Democrats who voted for Biden believed he shared anti-racist values, but many voters feel his policy in Israel has broken the social contract. The collective guilt of the Holocaust has created an accountability vacuum whereby the U.S. permits Israeli oppression and conflates Judaism with Zionism. 

While our violent history does not have to be our path forward, we have not done enough as a nation to promote restorative justice. Anti-genocide protests are growing on college campuses and being met with overzealous law enforcement response, which Biden appears to endorse. Biden’s unquestioning support of Israel may reflect that of previous generations, but it is unsustainable. Biden needs to make better democratic value-based decisions using independently verified, fact-based information with concern for justice for all parties if he is to win against Trump. Both Biden’s outdated biases and unresponsiveness to changing political realities and Trump’s overall lack of civic knowledge, leadership, or moral compass have come to represent a spectrum of a backsliding in our democracy.  

The danger to American democracy by Biden’s genocide-enabling is substantial domestically and abroad. A February Reuters poll reveals that “a majority of Democrats prefer a presidential candidate who does not back U.S. military aid for Israel.” Now, 22% of Democrats blame Israel, a 9% increase since November. The American public is increasingly more educated about the history of the conflict. IDF soldiers are videoing their atrocities, including the massacres at food distribution points, the decimation of hospitals, mosques, universities, schools, museums, the targeting of unarmed civilians, especially children, desecration of cemeteries, and unlawful imprisonment and abuse of Palestinians. Perhaps most influential in the uprising against the genocide is the growing outcry from domestic Jewish organizations speaking out against a “Zionist colonial project.” Groups such as Code Pink, Jewish Voices for Peace, renowned academics, university student justice groups, and other Jewish alliances are challenging the mainstream media’s biased coverage of the conflict and bringing awareness that criticism of Israel is not antisemitism. 

Social media prevents the narrative from being filtered, and a systematic dehumanization campaign against the Palestinians is increasingly evident. Biden’s unwillingness to acknowledge the growing evidence of atrocities further denigrates his leadership. He is employing a strategy of denial not in line with the international community and his actions threaten to undermine the U.S.’s long-standing reputation in the UN. It is becoming evident to the international community that Biden is thwarting the international justice system in supporting this genocide in the face of mounting evidence of ethnic cleansing, war crimes, and apartheid. This is eroding Biden’s authority, as foreign governments believe we are either complicit or unable to stop Netanyahu. Biden’s policy in Gaza also forces us to face a possible second Trump presidency because the growing and continued opposition weakens his standing and plays into the hands of the Republican Party. Trump’s strategy to delegitimize Biden as a fairly elected political opponent undermined our democracy and potentially threatened his re-election. The choice between raging fascism or involvement in genocide is an unfair conundrum for America, and there is mounting concern that either choice is disastrous. 

Genocide should supersede all other issues for voters as a core tenet of democracy, and our failure to protect people at a basic level is a failing. Human Rights Watch reported Israel’s failure to comply with the ICJ’s January court ruling on February 26th. The next day, over 100,000 voters in Michigan marked their ballot “uncommitted” in protest of Biden’s stance on Gaza, inspiring another 263,000 voters on Super Tuesday. By March 22^nd, a UN ceasefire agreement was finally passed but with U.S. abstention. One week later, Biden signed off another billion dollar weapons transfer to Israel. Former CEO of Human Rights Watch Kenneth Roth claims that Biden is engaging in ‘cynical’ election politics by refusing to hold Israel accountable. April 4th marked the first time a U.S. president threatened to leverage aid to Israel, which forced Israel to reluctantly re-open a second humanitarian crossing. This decision was motivated by the deaths of seven World Central Kitchen workers on April 1st that drew worldwide attention to Israel’s treatment of humanitarian workers in Gaza. In response, Patrick Gaspard, President of the Center for American Progress, tweeted “I guess that some deaths count a whole lot more than others.” 

The US stopped funding UNRWA after unsubstantiated accusations of Hamas involvement in operations and encouraged other countries to cease aid as well. This has led to famine affecting over two million Palestinians. On March 14th, Biden issued sanctions to halt settlements in the West Bank, and despite Biden’s statement of “outrage” at the WCK worker deaths, the White House told Politico that that is “as far” as he plans to go right now. The consequences of this man-made atrocity are clear: The U.S. has lost its credibility as a champion for human rights on the world stage, Israel feels empowered to commit human rights abuses, and tens of thousands of Palestinians are being murdered in the meantime. If the U.S. upheld the conditions legally binding in our own foreign policy, Israel would be forced to adjust their destructive course in Gaza. Biden has chosen against both domestic and international law and the will of a majority of his base, and this damage is irreversible. Our country’s predisposition to commit mass atrocities appears to guide Biden in an unfortunate misdirection towards the funding and support of another one unfolding in Gaza. It could cost him this election and us our democracy.