US ELECTIONS

Talk ONLINE EVENT - Thursday 14th May, 15:00 BST

Even before the emergence of the Covid-19 pandemic, the 2020 race for the White House was certain to be highly contentious. The coronavirus, however, has now created profound uncertainties for the campaigns of President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden: it is predicted to take hundreds of thousands of American lives, radically stall the US economy and result in deep recession and long-term unemployment.

How will this effect November’s election? Will the pandemic help or hurt either candidate at the ballot box? What will be the key issues for the battleground states, and how will Trump and Biden manage their campaigns amid on-going policies of lockdown and social distancing.

Join our panel to discuss some of the key issues likely to influence the 59th US presidential election.

James Naughtie is a special correspondent for BBC News. He presented the Today programme on Radio 4 for 21 years, has reported around the world for the BBC for more than three decades, and has been travelling in America since the 1970s.

Ed O’Keefe is a political correspondent for CBS News. He previously covered the US Congress for The Washington Post, and reported on the 2008 and 2012 presidential and congressional elections.

Susan Glasser is an American journalist and news editor. She writes the column “Letter from Trump’s Washington” in The New Yorker, where she is a staff writer

CHAIR

Frank Langfitt, NPR’s London correspondent. He covers the UK and Ireland, as well as stories elsewhere in Europe.