Trump and Biden attempt to capture support of gaming industry voters. Donald Trump and Joe Biden are trying to gain the support of voters concerned with the gaming industry as it deals with the coronavirus effect.
Trump — the Republican incumbent who used to own several gaming properties — wants all businesses, including casinos and related venues, to reopen as quickly as possible despite coronavirus risk, says the Rev. Richard McGowan, a finance professor at Boston College who follows gambling trends. But Biden, the former Democratic vice president, would propose another lockdown if COVID-19 sees a resurgence, McGowan added.
“The workers have to be concerned about their safety while the owners want revenue,” McGowan explained. “So, from the operators’ point of view … Trump is preferable. From a worker safety point of view, Biden is the choice.”
The president’s choice may have an effect on the regulatory and legal environment for casinos and gambling. Trump’s Department of Justice ( DOJ) has also advocated limits in states on online betting.
During Trump’s first term, the DOJ “continues to oppose rights of states to offer internet gambling,” Anthony Cabot, Distinguished Fellow in Gaming Law at UNLV’s Boyd School of Law. “But these efforts are failing in the courts.”
Cabot explained that states are “disregarding Trump’s efforts to restrain online gambling.” Some 17 states are offering online sports wagering and more are likely.
As far as the Wire Act, in a June teleconference before the First Circuit Court of Appeals, Jeff Sandberg, a DOJ appellate attorney, said that while the 2018 DOJ opinion saying the Wire Act pertained to more than just sports betting, it does not explicitly state what gambling activities were covered.
[image: Jordhan Madec]
