Independent candidates from the right: Robert Kennedy Jr., Cornel West, and Jill Stein (agencies)

The upcoming US presidential elections will once again bring together current President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump, but what some do not know is that there are other candidates so far, such as Marianne Williamson, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Cornel West, and Jill Stein.

The next elections are scheduled to be held on November 5, 2024, in what appears to be a divisive and heated competition, according to Reuters.

Below is a list of candidates:

*Donald Trump

Trump, who held power between 2017 and 2021, won enough delegates to win the Republican nomination, setting the stage for the first presidential comeback race in nearly 70 years. Trump has exploited the unprecedented lawsuits he faces to boost his popularity among his electoral base and to portray his third attempt to reach the White House in part as revenge against political opponents.

Trump describes his supporters imprisoned for the attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021, as “hostages” and increasingly uses rhetoric about corrupt reality in his election campaign.

Trump (77 years old) faces 88 charges in 4 criminal cases related to his attempts to distort the 2020 elections, illegally retaining secret documents related to national security, and falsifying business records. His first criminal trial is scheduled to begin on April 15.

The former president said, without providing evidence, that the criminal charges against him are a conspiracy by Democrats aimed at preventing him from winning, with some legal cases against him reaching the US Supreme Court. In turn, the Ministry of Justice denies any political interference.

Trump vows revenge on his political opponents if he is elected for another 4-year term, and said that he will not be a dictator except “on day one.” He is looking forward to appointing his loyalists to some federal civil service positions.

Trump sparked criticism from Western leaders when he said that the United States would not defend NATO members who do not spend enough on defense and that he would encourage Russia to attack them. He pressured Republicans in Congress to stop a military aid package for Ukraine.

Trump has made immigration the most important domestic issue of his campaign, saying he will carry out mass deportations, establish detention camps, use the National Guard, end birthright citizenship, and expand a travel ban on individuals from certain countries. He referred to the immigrants as "animals."

He promised sweeping changes, including repealing the Obamacare health insurance program and undoing many of the Biden administration's efforts to combat climate change.

Trump has not yet announced a vice presidential nominee, but a number of possibilities have been floated. Mike Pence, who ran alongside Trump in 2016 and 2020, refused to support Trump in the upcoming elections, and Pence was the target of criticism from Trump and his supporters on several occasions.

As for the other horse race, which is the Democratic Party, two candidates belong to it so far.

* Joe Biden

Joe Biden described his candidacy in 2020 as an urgent attempt to defend American freedoms and protect democracy, then he put his re-election bid in the same framework and said that Trump threatens the future of American democracy.

Biden did not face any serious competitor for the party's nomination, which he won last March.

The November elections will be more difficult, as the latest Reuters/Ipsos poll shows voter support for Biden at 39 percent, one percentage point behind Trump's 38 percent.

According to Reuters, Biden (81 years old), who is the oldest US president ever, will have to convince voters that he has the strength to remain in office for another 4 years in light of his weak approval ratings and a report. A private consultant hinted that he suffers from poor memory. Biden criticized the report, and his allies say he believes he is the only Democratic candidate capable of defeating Trump and protecting democracy.

The economy will be a key factor in his re-election campaign. Although the United States has avoided sliding into an expected recession and is achieving faster growth than economists predicted, inflation has reached its highest levels in 40 years in 2022, and the cost of basic needs is burdening voters.

Earlier in his term, Biden pushed huge packages of economic stimulus and infrastructure spending to boost American industrial production. But voter recognition of his achieving that goal has been negligible so far. He renewed his efforts to highlight the benefits achieved from achievements such as establishing new semiconductor manufacturing factories, plans to address the cost of housing, and other economic efforts.

The Biden administration's immigration issue has been subjected to criticism from Republicans and Democrats alike, as migrants crossing the border between the United States and Mexico reached record levels during his administration.

Biden led Western governments' response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine by convincing allies to impose sanctions on Moscow and support Kiev. He is also supportive of Israel in its war against the Palestinian resistance in the Gaza Strip led by Hamas, while pressing for more humanitarian aid. But he threatened to link support for the Israeli attack to taking concrete steps to protect relief workers and civilians, seeking for the first time to exploit American aid to influence Israeli military behavior.

But Biden faces sharp criticism from Democrats because he did not press harder and faster for a ceasefire and did not accompany his tough rhetoric on Israel with action. Groups pushing for a ceasefire mobilized tens of thousands of angry voters to invalidate votes or leave ballots blank, according to each state's rules, in a number of Democratic primaries in which he was a candidate.

* Marianne Williamson

Marianne Williamson, 71-year-old best-selling author and self-improvement expert, has relaunched her campaign for the nomination with a platform based on "fairness and love" less than a month after withdrawing.

She said in a statement in February that she had suspended her campaign because she was losing the "horse race" but was back to combat Trump's "dark, tyrannical vision."

Although Biden exceeded the number of delegates needed to win the nomination, she has not ended her campaign yet, remaining in the race, even if only in theory.

Williamson previously ran for the Democratic Party in the 2020 presidential primaries, but withdrew from that race before any voting began.

Aside from the two major parties: the Republican and the Democratic, there are several candidates running in the elections as independents.

* Robert F. Kennedy Jr

Kennedy, 70, an anti-vaccine activist, is running as an independent candidate after initially competing with Biden for the Democratic nomination, but he is far behind in opinion polls.

Kennedy may draw votes from Trump and Biden, according to the latest Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted on March 14, which showed that 15 percent of registered voters support Kennedy.

Kennedy is the son of US Senator Robert F. Kennedy, who was assassinated in 1968 while campaigning for the presidency. He sparked a surprise announcement during the NFL Super Bowl final that focused on his relationship with his uncle, former President John F. Kennedy. Kennedy angered his family members and prompted him to apologize.

On St. Patrick's Day, many members of the Kennedy family took photos with Biden at the White House, and reports indicate that his relatives are ready to intensify their efforts to publicly support the president.

Kennedy expressed strong support for Israel and questioned the need for the 6-week ceasefire that Biden supports. He said he views the situation on the southern US border as a humanitarian crisis and opposes Trump's border wall.

He pledged to repeal key provisions in the climate bill signed by Biden regarding tax breaks that he says help the oil industry.

Regarding health, Kennedy took different positions on abortion. He has been criticized for providing medical misinformation over the years about vaccines, but says he will still allow Americans to get them.

Kennedy chose wealthy lawyer Nicole Shanahan as his running mate.

*Cornell West

The political activist, philosopher and academic said last June that he would launch a third-party bid for president that might attract progressive, Democratic-leaning voters.

West, 70, initially sought to run for the Green Party but said in October that people "want good politics instead of partisan politics" and announced his candidacy as an independent. He promised to eradicate poverty and provide housing.

* Jill Stein

On November 9, Dr. Jill Stein repeated her bid to run for the Green Party as she did in 2016. She accused Democrats of breaking their promises “to workers, youth, and climate too many times while Republicans did not even make such promises in the first place,” she said.

Stein, 73, raised millions of dollars for a recount of votes after Trump's surprise victory in the 2016 elections. This only resulted in a recount of votes in the state of Wisconsin, which showed Trump's victory.

Source: Reuters