Joe Biden and Donald Trump have secured their respective delegates, making them de facto nominees for the Democratic and Republican parties and ensuring a repeat showdown from 2020. Hillary Clinton and musician Lin-Manuel Miranda are supposedly organizing a Broadway fundraiser for Biden, echoing negative coverage of Clinton’s own 2016 fundraising in Hollywood instead of in key states. On the right, despite disapproving Trump’s handling of the January 6th attack, outbound Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell endorsed him. Trump’s former VP and former 2024 rival Mike Pence has refused to endorse him. Pence was one of the targets of the January 6th rioters because he accepted the results of the 2020 election.   

What may decide this race, like in 2016, is the input of authority. Hillary Clinton’s 2016 race experienced one of its biggest blows amidst accusations of mishandling of sensitive material. The FBI discovered that she had used personal email servers to handle official matters. Despite what was uncovered, then-FBI Director Comey argued that while Clinton had not broken the law she exercised considerably poor judgment. A subsequent controversy with Hillary’s staffer Huma Abedin and her then-husband disgraced former New York state representative Anthony Weiner merited a reopening of the investigation mere weeks before the election. The Democrats and Clinton cite Comey as a factor in her loss to Donald Trump in 2016. 

As both Presidents Trump and Biden face ongoing legal scrutiny over mishandling of classified documents, Special Counsel Robert Hur’s conclusion not to prosecute Biden because of his mental facilities highlights corroding public faith in Biden. In 2016, Comey’s conclusions on the actions of Hillary and those close to her underscored the public’s faith in her. If Biden were to lose in the upcoming election, Republican Hur, like Independent Comey, will likely become a pariah on the left. On the right, Hur may face the same messy, high-profile mudslinging as Comey should Trump be re-elected.