Agencies
Washington, November 03:
As American voters — at least, those who’ve not yet cast ballots — go to the polls Tuesday to choose between Donald Trump and Democratic nominee Joe Biden, the incumbent Republican US President is leading over Biden in internet search.
Albeit approval ratings show Biden leading ahead of Trump including several polls from major polling organisations providing Biden an eight-point lead on an average over Trump ahead of the presidential election, an analysis of Google’s search data shows that interest is clearly ahead for Trump than for Biden.
As the Google Trends suggest, on an average, 45% of internet users searched for Trump as against 23% for Biden.
Nebraska, Vermont, Arizona, Washington and Oregon are leading the search for Trump on Google. While a few of these states have been pro-Democrats, the search for a Republican president is interesting. In Delaware, Texas, District of Columbia, Ohio and Arkansas too, Trump has an edge over Biden.
Among the top reasons for interest in Trump is a meeting between Lil Wayne and other rappers and the US President after the recent racial attacks in the United States. Racism is one of the hot topics in this election, and rappers supporting US President’s policies has generated a lot of interest.
On the other hand, Biden, is being searched over the alleged harassment of his campaign bus by Trump supporters. The incident took place in Texas last week and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has launched a probe.
The Democratic Biden and former vice president as well as a career politician, has had a strong and consistent lead in national polls.
But the Republican Trump is close in enough swing states to possibly piece together the 270 state-by-state Electoral College votes needed to hold on to the presidency, which he won in a surprise 2016 election result despite losing the popular vote to Democrat Hillary Clinton by nearly 3 million ballots.
However, it may be days before the result is known, especially if legal challenges focused on postal ballots are accepted in the event of a tight race.
There is also fear about possible unrest. Several cities are boarding up buildings in anticipation of possible protests, including around the White House and in New York City.
Polls opened in some Eastern states at 6 a.m. EST (1100 GMT). The most closely watched results will start to trickle in after 7 p.m. EST (2400 GMT) when polls close in states such as Georgia, though definitive national results could take days if the contest is tight.
The voting caps a campaign dominated by the coronavirus pandemic that has killed more than 231,000 people in the United States and put millions out of work. The country has also been shaken by nationwide protests over racial injustice against Black Americans.
