MmWhat the U.S. election means for Europe

Europeans do not approve of Trump — by huge margins in recent surveys. So dim is the view of the U.S. leader that many survey respondents place less hope in his doing the “right thing regarding global affairs” than Chinese President Xi, according to the Pew Research Center. In a recent YouGov poll, substantial majorities across the continent said they favored a Biden victory.

On one level, this reflects a genuine yearning for a Biden presidency after four years of Trumpian volatility. But on a deeper level, Europe’s view of the United States is also changing. “European attitudes to Americans are shifting from envy to compassion,” wrote Simon Kuper of the Financial Times. He added that “there’s more chance of becoming a billionaire, if that’s your thing, in Scandinavia than in the U.S.,” pointing to widening inequity in the United States and the withering of romantic notions of the “American Dream.