European officials get excited about Kamala Harris — but are still hedging their bets

18 comments

1. There’s a renewed sense of excitement among European officials as U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris becomes the frontrunner for the Democratic nomination ahead of the all-important election this fall.

   The U.S. election just ’“got way more interesting,” a senior EU diplomat, who did not want to be named due to the political sensitivity of the topic, told CNBC Monday.

   ″[President Joe] Biden is a great man, with an impressive life behind him, but he is not the future,” added an EU official, who also asked to remain anonymous. They also dismissed 78-year-old former President Donald Trump, adding that “the U.S. needs younger leaders.”

   Many in the EU recall dealing with Trump and his team between 2017 and 2021 when he was president of the United States. At the time, transatlantic ties slid to historic lows and the two sides clashed over trade, defense and technology — to name just a few points of tension.

   As a result, EU institutions welcomed the arrival of Biden to the White House, describing it as a new chapter in the EU-U.S. relationship. Biden’s style and policy priorities were a lot more aligned with those in Brussels, including how to deal with [the Covid-19 pandemic](https://www.cnbc.com/coronavirus/), climate change, and the need to support Ukraine.

   However, for at least a year now, EU officials have been preparing for the possibility of a return of Trump to the White House. If he wins the election, they’re expecting a deeper “America First” policy, which will likely mean less financial support to Ukraine and possibly tariffs on some European goods.

2. US has really gone crazy to have such large support for Trump according to polls. I wonder how much is social media (and Russia utilizing it) to blame?

3. At least with Harris, the democrats have a chance to win. Alot of the arguments against Biden has been his mental state and age, and now that applies to Trump to a much larger degree

4. I hope Trump wins, so that the EU has no excuse left for its failure to prioritize building a worthwhile military. The EU needs a kick up the ass before it’s too late. A democrat win would enable the bureaucrats here to kick the can down the road.

5. I think since the assassination attempt, no democrat has a shot at beating trump, unfortunately.

6. After winning a presidential debate and surviving an attempt on his life, Trump is just above his opponent. From here he can only lose votes. Remember that he was basically tied with an unpopular, clearly senile Biden

7. She is worse than pretty much any other democrat. The difference is she NOW has 100 million for her campaign, due to how US laws work.

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   Imo, she will lose hard. And even if she manages to win the election, probably by a 0,1% this has the potential to screw the country even more and set a precedent for every woman candidate next…

8. I get that she is not best candidate. But how are people even going to vote for Trump? I get that they may be ignorant to a certain degree, but for people of swing states to choose him after everything he has done. Just talking about abortion, how will the maga not loose after clearly wanting to strip all the females of the country from this right? I know that there also are female republicans, but I doubt they make a big portion of the female population

9. Imagine a Europe so weak that she ‘s already kissing Kamala’s ass

10. Europeans have a very unhealthy obsession with the US. Nearly every post on this sub is about the US and not Europe. Strange for a place you regularly call a “3rd world shithole.”

11. If europeans and americans knew enough about project 2025 and it’s connections to trump, Kamala Harris would probably win a lot, and we would prepare to fight against such agendas in our own countries

12. I wonder what vote share RFK will get… who will he spoil, trump or Kamala?

13. She’s super unlikeable. What’s there to be excited about?

14. I don’t understand why. She won’t be better than Biden who wasn’t great in the first place, and she got some bad press trying to block the military aid for Ukraine during her last visit. Also, Trump’s instability may give EU powers space to grow if they choose so, although it is unlikely with current EU leadership

15. Good cause there are nut cases that will vote for the Orange faced baboon

16. They are propping her up to cash on Obama’s nostalgia. I doubt democrats and republicans have any candidate either apart from Trump and Harris.
    I hope independents join the race for world’s most powerful office . Because atp. both of them are popular but definitely unfit for office.

17. The fact is, we’re too reliant on the US, especially for defence.

    We need a strong, united defence force. We shouldn’t be waiting for a Trump to be elected to ensure our independence.

18. Trump is better for Europe