Shortly before the polls open in the US and while the planet is watching a pre-election thriller unfold on the road of the two gladiators to the White House, the Greek-American former mayor of Colchester, Andrew Bisbikos speaks exclusively to SKAI and Korina Georgiou and assesses what a possible new Trump term will bring and how it will affect Greek-American relations.

First of all, what is Donald Trump’s vision for America? What kind of country is he promising the citizens of the United States the day after the election?

A. Bisbikos: Right now for voters, there are three main issues that I believe will determine the outcome of the election. The first is the economy. Economic security is the number one issue in this election. Under Trump, inflation was very low, taxes were lowered, and Americans were able to save money. I truly believe that with Trump we will return to those days of economic security. The second key issue in this election is immigration. Harris was the border “czar” for three and a half years and during her time we saw millions of illegal immigrants pour into the country. There are an estimated 11.5 to 21 million illegal immigrants in the United States. These illegal immigrants get free housing, welfare benefits and are entitled to free transgender surgeries while in prison. Weak borders have also allowed drug and people-trafficking by the cartels to increase. There has been an increase in gangs from Venezuela infiltrating the United States, which have also been linked to a spate of murders. Immigrants come into the country, break the law to get here, and exploit the system. You can understand why many Americans might be frustrated with this. So securing our borders is something that I believe Donald Trump will immediately implement. And of course, I think the third key issue here is global stability. Under Trump, there were no wars, under Biden-Harris, world leaders saw weakness. There were two major wars with excessive bloodshed. Donald Trump will do this and negotiate peace in the two alarming wars.

The race for the White House is on a razor’s edge. Do you think Donald Trump will accept the election result if it is not favorable to him?

A. Bisbikos: Yes, I believe so. He has stated in various campaign speeches and interviews that he will accept the result of a fair election process.

Do you think the elections will be fair?

A. Bisbikos: I hope so. There have been problems with elections in the past. Recently in Virginia there were illegal immigrants who were on the voter rolls and the Supreme Court removed those illegal immigrants from the voter rolls.

How should we decode the polls? Harris has held a narrow lead over Trump in national polling averages since entering the race in late July, and remains ahead. But there are some polls that show Donald Trump ahead.

A. Bisbikos: In the United States to secure the presidency a candidate must secure 270 electoral votes out of 538 and each state is allocated a certain number of votes based on its population. There are seven key states that will determine the outcome of the election. According to the latest Real Clear Politics poll, which takes multiple polls into account and weights them accordingly, Trump leads in all of those states except Michigan and Wisconsin. If today’s polls reflected a result, Trump would have 287 votes to Harris’ 251 votes.

We are seeing toxic rhetoric in the final miles of the race for the White House. Will it get worse, do you think?

A. Bisbikos: The rhetoric was inflammatory on both sides, which is typical of US politics. Recently, Joe Biden called all Trump supporters trash. Kamala Harris called Trump a fascist. Everyone likes to use words. Words can be very dangerous, as we have seen. There have been two assassination attempts against Donald Trump. Mr. Trump was not perfect in his language and his rhetoric too. Both sides are guilty of harsh rhetoric during this political season.

Will the presidency of Donald Trump affect Greek-American relations?

A. Bisbikos: This is an important geopolitical ally that the United States needs. I believe they will have a strong relationship based on mutual military and economic interests. As for who will be better for Greece, if it will be Ms. Harris or Mr. Trump? What I can say is that under Trump there have been no wars in Greece’s “back yard” in relation to Turkey. I think Trump will have to strike a balance. There will be times when he will side with Greece on key issues and there will be times when he will side with Turkey on key issues. As a Greek American, I have seen over the years American presidents not doing a good job helping Greece and others helping Greece when it needed it most. But what I can say is that when Trump met with Tsipras and Mitsotakis, they both gave him glowing reviews of the cooperation between the two states.