The 2024 United States Presidential election is the 60th quadrennial election of the USA, and it will take place on November 5th this year. The general election in November is an indirect election, where the voters cast ballots for state electors, who then elect the President. The USA is a two-party democracy, i.e., the country has only two major political parties- The Republican Party and The Democratic Party. Currently, the presidential nominee from the Republican party is the former president Donald Trump and the Democrat nominee is the current vice-president Kamala Harris. With the judgement day only two months away, let’s look at some of the crucial incidents that are shaping up the election.
Trump’s Indictment:
The former president had a controversial public life after leaving the office in 2020. He was charged in several cases from which one has concluded in the New York Federal Court -the case of ‘hush money’ given to porn-star Stormy Daniels before the 2016 general election. The Manhattan court and a bench of 12 Jurors gave a guilty verdict to the former president on 34 counts. For the first time in America’s history, a former president was made to stand on trial. The Republicans called the whole trial a misuse of the Justice system by the Biden administration, targeting and suppressing Trump so that he would be unable to run again. Some experts also feared that it would set a president for politically motivated prosecutions in the future. The incident also took waves internationally, raising questions about the state of American Democracy.
Assassination Attempt on Trump:
The most shocking and terrifying election event of this century in America is the assassination attempt on Donald Trump during one of his rallies. In an open-air rally in Butler, Pennsylvania the former president was addressing a crowd for his presidential campaign on July 13. Suddenly multiple gunshots were heard and a bullet grazed and ripped half of Trump’s ear. Then he was rushed from the stage, shielded by the Secret Service personnel. This incident caused a massive uproar in the country. After an internal investigation and a testimony before Congress, the then-head of the Secret Service was fired. Recent whistleblower reports revealed that the agents on the ground were woefully unprepared by the agency and the whole incident was a failure of the Secret Service. The shooter who was shot and killed by the security persons was 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks. The Republicans blamed the constant demonization and character assassination of Trump by the left media and politicians for the incident. Some believe this attempt increased the chances of Trump’s winning this election. Though Trump got lucky, one follower of his who was sitting on the podium behind him took a direct hit and died on the spot.
Biden Dropped Out:
From his first day in office, President Biden was at the center of scrutiny regarding his health and whether he could run the country. His team and he time and time assured the citizens and media that Biden is completely capable and will also run for the presidency again. In every interview, the President strongly reaffirmed his decision to run again. However, after ABC Network’s presidential debate, where Trump and Biden faced each other in a debate, people started questioning Biden about his capacity to be President. Inside his party, several members and donors also openly started demanding his step down and several high-profile donors also threatened to pull out of the party. Finally on the 21st of July in a shocking reversal from his previous statements, the president announced that he would be dropping out of the race. Thirty minutes after that he also endorsed Kamala Harris for the presidential nominee.
Kamala’s Bizarre Nomination, Her VP Pick:
The two political parties- The Republican Party and The Democratic Party- announce their official Presidential nominee with the voting of all the party members in their party’s national convention. But this year in the case of Kamala Harris, she was made the official Presidential nominee before the Democratic Party National Convention.
Kamala Harris chose Tim Walz as her VP pick for this election. The Minnesota Governor and a democrat politician Tim was chosen to be the VP pic at the Democratic Party National convention in Chicago.
Trump’s VP Pick:
Trump officially became the presidential nominee for the Republican Party at the Republican National Convention. After recovering from the assassination attempt, he attended the 3-day convention. On the first day, he announced JD Vance as his vice-president pick. The Ohio senator and a young Republican politician Vance came to the American limelight in 2016 and stepped into politics in 2021.
Vivek and Kennedy: Out of the race but still impactful
Vivek Ramaswamy an Indian-American biotech CEO, emerged as a breakout politician in this presidential election. Announcing his bid in April of last year, Vivek campaigned heavily for himself as a republican party candidate. Although he dropped out of this race this January, his voice still carries weight in the party which is very rare for a first-year politician. He has endorsed Donald Trump.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. or RFK Jr. announced his presidential bid last year. The nephew of the late President John F. Kennedy, he started his campaign on the issues of pharmaceutical corruption, drug monopolies and administrational irregularities. An independently running candidate, Kennedy suspended his running on the 23rd of August and endorsed Donald Trump. Trump has hinted at picking Kennedy as his Health Secretary.
Historian Allan Lichtman, known as the Nostradamus of American Election who has successfully predicted nine out of ten elections, predicted the win for Kamala Harris. Current polling suggests support for Harris is at 48% where as for Trump it is at 44%. However, the results can be anything on the D-Day
Inflation, higher intrest rates, immigration, affirmative actions, gender confirming care stand at the centre of issues on which the election is fighting on. In coming days the debates are going to more heated and the campaign will be more fierce, for the American democracy.