The November 2020 election is quickly approaching, and the debates about Biden's reliability as a presidential candidate are as popular as ever. Voters across all political parties are doubting his competence and his values, and are struggling to decide whether voting 'blue no matter who' aligns with their moral stances. These struggles are unfortunately understandable, as Joe Biden was not the favorite among many young people in the U.S. As a young leftist myself, I've been a supporter of Bernie Sanders for a while, and watching his campaign slowly begin to deteriorate was heartbreaking as he gave me and many other young people a lot of hope for the future of this country.

I want to first preface by saying that I believe Tara Reade. In late March of 2020, Reade, Biden's former aide, accused him of sexual assault, saying it took place in 1993 during Biden's tenure as a senator from Delaware. I believe her, and the prospect of voting for her assaulter nauseates me. Despite my unwillingness to support someone's assaulter in becoming the new President of the United States, the far-right, rapist, white supremacist running opposite him complicates things. Donald Trump has been accused of sexual assault by at least 25 women, and has a history of treating women as his own play toys (to read my previous article about Trump's treatment of women, click here).

Unfortunately, we don't live in a world where a presidential candidate's alleged crimes matter as much as their policies. I have ideological differences with Joe Biden, especially his lack of support for Medicare For All and his strong opposition for decriminalizing crossing the border without documentation, but his policies surrounding the climate crisis, immigration, the economy, and gun control are far more humane than Trump's. To read a more detailed list of Biden's stances, click here.

While many see this election as a vote for the 'lesser of two evils', it's important to recognize that Biden's campaign moves the country in a far more progressive direction, and will allow for more Democratic perspectives and voices. The rights of so many groups—Na­tive Amer­i­cans, il­le­gal im­mi­grants, dis­abled peo­ple, low-in­come Amer­i­cans, BIPOC, the LGBTQ+ com­mu­nity, and more—are se­verely threat­ened by an­other term of Trump. We can't wait four more years, the planet can't wait four more years.

The endorsement of prominent leftists like Bernie Sanders indicate the importance of voting Trump out this November. Because we live within a two-party system, it's not an option to vote third party. A vote for a third party candidate is a vote for Trump. Not voting at all is equal to a vote for Trump. And while the thought of voting for a man that I would not comfortably be alone in a room with is horrifying, the only way to move this country forward and vote Trump out is to vote for Joe Biden this November.