Biden's versus Trump's stance on the arts

Taking place amid a deadly pandemic, as well as turmoil caused by police brutality and racism, the 2020 electoral campaign in the US has been dominated by a series of divisive issues. 

Obviously, artists are also directly affected by issues such as health care, taxes, immigration or foreign policy, but the candidates' direct stance on the arts wasn't among the topics of discussion over the past months.

A look at the official party platforms ahead of the elections is nevertheless revealing. 

Not a word on the arts on the Republican Party platform 

"The arts are essential to our free and democratic society, to our culture, and to our local economies. Democrats are proud of our support for arts funding and education, and will continue policies and programs that promote the creative arts," states the 2020 Democratic Party platform, citing the different governmental institutions and cultural organizations the party will continue to support. 

The Democrats' official document then adds, "We value the arts and art education for developing imagination, creativity, innovation, and critical thinking skills in students and for building bridges between people and communities across the country and around the world."

While the document's 10 lines dedicated to the arts are not as specific as the "arts platform" part of Barack Obama's campaign back in 2008, it's still way more that can be found in the Republicans' official list of priorities.

Indeed, the Republican Party platform from 2016 — which also serves as the official list of principles for 2020, as the GOP unusually decided to reuse it instead of preparing a new document for the current campaign — doesn't mention the arts at all. 

Biden-Harris: A strong track record for the arts

The arts played a strong role under the Obama-Biden administration; observers from various US cultural institutions expect this to continue if Biden is elected. 

Joe Biden will probably not turn out to be the cultural influencer Obama famously became by putting out year-end lists of his favorite music, movies, books and TV shows. But the current Democratic presidential hopeful is still regarded as a "loyal" supporter of the arts, as Robert L. Lynch, CEO of the advocacy group Americans for the Arts told the New York Times: Biden's stance is "less from a consumer point of view and more about the inspirational value and transformational value of the arts," he said.

Kamala Harris, the Democratic vice presidential nominee, has also notably demonstrated her commitment to the arts in the past. While she was a district attorney in California, Harris served on the board of trustees at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. She has also been member of the San Francisco Jazz Organization and a chairperson for the city’s symphony fundraiser.

Trump: Cultural funding agencies 'wasteful and unnecessary spending' 

President Trump's stance on the arts has been made very clear over the past four years. 

Right from the start, in his first federal budget plan, Trump proposed to abolish the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). 

The independent federal government agencies, which offer support and funding for cultural and research projects, were created in 1965, in a legislation stating that it is the task an "advanced civilization" to "give full value and support" to the arts, humanities and culture. 

In his budget proposal for 2021, released in February this year, Trump once again called for the elimination of the NEA and NEH, as well as the Institute of Museum and Library Services and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. In a section titled "Stopping Wasteful and Unnecessary Spending," the document states that these institutions "are not considered core Federal responsibilities." 

The US Congress, which is in charge of determining the federal budget, has however rejected Trump's calls and retained the agencies' funding. 

While the NEA cannot engage in politics, as a spokesperson told DW, the organization Americans for the Arts officially described the Trump administration's proposed defunding of the arts as a "misdirected budget request," as CEO Robert L. Lynch said in a statement.

Beyond funding structures: An entire system of values is at stake

As a member of a community of cultural professionals called Arts for Biden-Harris, artist, writer and producer Tanya Selvaratnam points out that the "Trump-Pence regime" has not only threatened to abolish funding initiatives, but "has also sought every opportunity to undermine and attack freedom of speech and creativity," which is why the group sees "only one choice in this election."

These attacks on the freedom of the arts have been well documented over the past four years. "Artists and artworks critical of President Donald Trump were targeted or censored directly by the president and government agencies," observes the report State of Artistic Freedom 2020 published by Freemuse, an independent international non-governmental organization that has a consultative status within UNESCO.

For artists, there's therefore a lot more at stake than support for cultural funding agencies or museums.

In an interview with multi-talented star Lin-Manuel Miranda for the "Latino Victory Project," Joe Biden made it clear that the arts are the direct reflection of the state of a country: "The future of who we are lies in the arts," Biden said. "It is the expression of our soul."