Biden vs. Trump: A Familiar Matchup in an Unprecedented Election

With the last embers of the Republican primary extinguished after Super Tuesday, the country is lurching into a new phase in the 2024 presidential election: a one-on-one matchup between President Biden and former President Donald Trump that is unlike any other contest in modern history.

The last Republican challenger, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, said Wednesday she was suspending her campaign after Trump trounced her in states across the country. The former president is on track to clinch the GOP nomination as soon as next week, while Biden is sailing toward the Democratic nomination again.

Never has America had to choose between two candidates so old, and never in modern times has the choice been between two so strongly disliked hopefuls who both are essentially running as incumbents, already having established White House track records.

Never has a campaign played out in split-screen fashion on the trail and in the courtroom, with a set of criminal cases that could land one of the candidates, Trump, in jail and facing adverse civil judgments that could cripple his family business.