The American election is Donald Trump’s to lose, Australia’s former ambassador to the US says, amid warnings populism is putting democracy at risk.
Following an attempted assassination, former US president Donald Trump has been officially nominated as the Republican candidate for the November election at the party’s national convention.
Joe Hockey, who served as Australia’s ambassador to the US during the Trump administration, says there’s now increasing momentum behind the Republican candidate.
“If you survived an assassination attempt and you were shot and … Joe Biden is locked in as a Democrat candidate and as president, it’s Donald Trump’s campaign to lose,” he told Sky News on Tuesday.
“Donald Trump 2.0 is a lot hungrier to be president of the United States than Donald Trump 1.0.
“First time around, he didn’t think he could win, he did. This time around he needs to win and that’s because of a range of factors … but also the fact that he has numerous court cases and wants to prove that he can beat the system.”
It comes as Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil warned misinformation and populism were major threats to democracies around the world.
In a speech at the Museum of Australian Democracy on Monday, she warned democratic norms were at risk.
“Many democratic countries are becoming less democratic. Like a virus, populists are replicating at an exponential rate,” she said.
“It seems like the democratic project is backsliding — not only in newer, less robust democracies but also in democracy’s heartland.”
Threats to politicians, including the vandalism of MP offices were the measures of “autocrats, despots and tyrants”, she said.
Australia needed to overcome those issues in order to protect democratic values.
“The democracy of 2025 cannot be expected to look identical to the democracies of 2005, or 1985,” she said.
“We can’t let Australia become an island of democracy in a sea of autocracy.”
Following the attempted assassination of Mr Trump, Australians have been warned against spurring further division as misinformation spreads.
What happened in the US was “shocking and distressing” and shouldn’t be repeated in Australia, Victorian federal Liberal MP Aaron Violi said.
“It’s vital as leaders in Australia we don’t let these challengers infiltrate Australian politics,” he told AAP.
