The Atlantic’s Anne Applebaum: ‘A Biden Victory Will Mean that the United States Is Still the Leader of the Democratic World’

Wallace: “Anne, how do they view, you know, people that are sort of watching the next election? I mean, how — what is sort of the degree of interest and concern?”

APPLEBAUM: “So, if you mean U.S. allies, there is an enormous amount of interest and concern. Actually, right just before I — just before I was speaking to you, I was on the phone with some colleagues in Europe who were asking, they were — it was late at night their time. I’m in Washington now, late at night their time. And they were sort of sitting around talking about what was going to happen next. And they called me to say, who’s going to win? You know, what, — what were the polls looking like? And that’s because the decision about who America chooses next will affect all kinds of political alliances and arrangements. A Trump victory will encourage the Putin, Xi, Kim, you know, Venezuelan, Belarusian alliance. A Biden victory will mean that the United States is still the leader of the democratic world, is still committed to supporting Ukraine and other democracies. It’s an enormous — it has an enormous impact on the entire world. And of course, you know, nobody else has a vote except for Americans. And that’s very frustrating. And that, you know, it’s also the fact that it’s so close, I couldn’t tell them who will win. It’s — as far as I can see, it’s 50-50. It depends on a few thousand people and in a few swing states, and it’s a — it’s a frustrating moment for U.S. allies.”