Joe Biden and Donald Trump win their parties’ nominating contests

Stage is set for a polarising November election to be fought mainly on immigration, foreign policy and the economy.

Joe Biden greets supporters during a campaign field office opening in Manchester, New Hampshire this week. Picture: AFP

Joe Biden and Donald Trump clinched their parties respective nominations for president on Tuesday night (Wednesday AEDT), all but setting up a certain rematch between the two political warhorses from November 2020 in a contest that will sharply divide Americans.

Mr Biden secured enough delegates via the Democratic Party’s nomination process after winning overwhelmingly majorities in primaries in Georgia, Mississippi, facing only one named contender, author Marianne Williamson who won only a low single digit percentages of the vote.

In a statement, the US President said he was “honoured that the broad coalition of voters representing the rich diversity of the Democratic Party across the country have put their faith in me once again to lead our party – and our country – in a moment when the threat Trump poses is greater than ever”.

Mr Trump won the Republican nomination after winning massive majorities in Georgia, Mississippi, and around 75 per cent of the vote in Washington State, where former UN ambassador Nikki Haley still managed around 25 per cent, despite dropping out of the race last week.

Absent either man voluntary or involuntary exiting from the race, the November contest will be the first presidential rematch since Dwight Eisenhower faced off for a second time with Democrat leader Adlai Stevenson in 1956.

In a fundraising message on Tuesday, Mr Trump said his campaign had entered a new phase: “Winning the general election and firing Joe Biden!”

There had been little uncertainty about their eventual selection – a pairing of elderly candidates most Americans have for many months said they did not want – after both men succeeded in winning the lion’s share of their party’s delegates in last week’s Super Tuesday primary contests.

Donald Trump at Ultimate Fighting Championship in Miami with daughter Ivanka and her husband Jared Kushner. Picture: AFP

Mr Trump won all but one of the 15 Republican primaries, falling slightly short against Ms Haley, while Mr Biden faced some opposition in Wisconsin, which experts put down to Democrats disgruntled about the administration’s policies in the Middle East.

Mr Biden’s and Mr Trump’s victories will ensure a race that will offer voters a stark choice between candidates with very different demeanours and potential economic and foreign policy agendas, including on immigration, climate change and abortion.

The former president, whose announcement of a third run for the White House in November 2022 was widely derided, has enjoyed a significant lead in national polls against Mr Biden in recent months.

With Mr Trump as the presumptive nominee, he and the Republican National Committee will now establish a joint fundraising committee, allowing the campaign to tap bigger contri­butions as the GOP looks to erase a fundraising deficit with the Democrats.

Mr Biden and the Democratic National Committee already have that arrangement in place, and Democrats have had a head start in funnelling money to battleground states to build campaign infrastructure. Both men have overcome doubts within their parties to arrive at this point, and some of those doubts still linger. Mr Biden is contending with questions about his age and abilities – though Democrats were bolstered by his vigorous State of the Union delivery last week – and he must energise liberal and younger voters.

Mr Trump needs to show he can appeal to the college-educated and suburban voters who opted for Ms Haley in the Republican primaries, while also dealing with the 91 criminal charges he faces.

Those cases are related to everything from his handling of classified documents to efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election.

Facing off in Georgia over the weekend, the two previewed a general election campaign likely to be marked by sharp insults.

In Rome, Georgia, Mr Trump, 77 , mocked Mr Biden’s stutter and his mental and physical health, calling the President a “weak, angry, flailing president”.

Mr Biden, 81, in Atlanta, accused Mr Trump of posing a threat to US democracy, saying “when he says he wants to be a dictator, I believe him”.

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