June 27, 2024
President Biden and Former President Trump Debate in the Battleground State of Georgia
On June 27, a unique event took place as it was the first time in United States (U.S.) history that a sitting president and former president debated. Leading up to the debate, a New York Times poll found that many people that voted for Biden in 2020 expressed concern over Biden’s age as a factor that would hinder his strength as the democratic nominee. Despite Trump and Biden only sharing a 3 year age gap, polling from Politico showed that Biden’s performance on the debate stage did not quell anxieties regarding his mental acuity, and did not strengthen the confidence of voters during the debate.
Questions were raised about the overturn of Roe v. Wade and access to abortion, the economy and inflation and the southern border and the war between Israel and Gaza. According to an analysis by NPR, the debate format benefitted Trump as he was able to spread disinformation on topics such as the crowd size of the January 6 attack on the Capitol, proposed tax increases implemented by the Biden administration and abortion after birth without fact checking from the moderators. Voters from both sides of the aisle reacted to the debate with comments such as “the debate was cynical and damaging to our country” and “this embarrassing debacle has, sadly, likely changed nothing.”
July 15, 2024
Republican Presidential Nominee Donald Trump Announces Vice President Pick JD Vance, Senator From Ohio
On July 15, former President Trump took to Truth Social and announced his pick for Vice President, JD Vance. The Ohio Sen. has been in Congress for two years, and prior to his time in politics worked as a corporate lawyer . Some of Vance’s old posts and interviews resurfaced in which Vance expressed his dislike of Trump. In a 2016 interview with Charlie Rose where he was promoting his memoir Hillbilly Elegy, Vance had said, “I’m a ‘Never Trump’ guy” and that “I never liked him.” In an old tweet that has since been taken down, Vance said, “My god, what an idiot” in reference to Trump. In a Facebook message in 2016, Vance called Trump a “cynical a—— like Nixon” and “America’s Hitler” among other negative comments. In recent days, Vance has gone on the record stating he regrets his former comments about Donald Trump. These comments had many members of the GOP and conservative commentators raising concerns about the Republican ticket saying that JD Vance was not vetted properly with some expressing concern if Trump made the right call.
July 21, 2024
President Biden Announces Withdrawal From 2024 Election and Endorses Vice President Kamala Harris
Following the news that President Biden had contracted COVID-19, Biden announced his withdrawal from the 2024 Presidential race two days after announcing he was ready to continue on the campaign trail. By withdrawing from the race, Biden became “only the third sitting president to not seek reelection since 1952”. After announcing his support for Vice President Kamala Harris, a CNN poll found that Harris held a 12 point lead over Donald Trump among voters younger than 35. 70% of Harris supporters say they are very motivated to vote compared to the 63% of those who felt motivated when Biden was still running.
August 6, 2024
Vice President and Democratic Presidential Candidate Kamala Harris Announces Minnesota Governor Tim Walz As VP Pick
On August 6, the Harris campaign announced Tim Walz as Kamala Harris’ running mate. The former high school football coach and the highest ranking enlisted soldier to ever serve in Congress accepted the Democratic party’s vice presidential nomination in a speech at the Democratic National Convention. In 2022, Walz was able to sign into law social welfare programs including free lunches for public school students, access to Medicaid, protection for unions and more family and medical paid leave. Walz has also been responsible for the child tax credit which has helped over 215,000 Minnesotan families. He is also an advocate for in vitro fertilization and fertility treatments, access to universal healthcare for American women, gun control and renewable energy.
September 10, 2024
Vice President Harris and Former President Trump Meet for the First Time at the Debate in the State of Pennsylvania
On September 10, Vice President Harris and Donald Trump met and debated for the first time in the key battleground state of Pennsylvania. A battleground state is a state in which neither the Democratic nor Republican presidential nominee attracts the majority of voters. At the start of the debate, Vice President Harris laid out policy plans including a tax cut of $6,000 dollars for working middle-class families and a $50,000 tax deduction for small business start-ups. As the debate went on, questions were raised about abortion, the war in Gaza and the war in Ukraine as well as the issue of the southern border and immigrants.
Some noted the difference in terms of the debate style of both Vice President Harris and the former President. When Trump was asked about plans for replacing the Affordable Care Act, he said that he “has concepts of a plan” and did not elaborate further. Vice President Harris explored her policy plans including reinstating Roe v. Wade, offering tax cuts to the middle class, expanding renewable energy. She expressed the importance of fracking to ensure America increases diversity of energy sources as well as securing the southern border.
Both Harris and Trump stated false claims throughout the debate. Trump made claims that jobs created under the Biden-Harris administration were a fraud, that 21 million immigrants came into the US and that Haitian immigrants were eating the pets of those who live in Ohio. Harris commented on unemployment rates being worse than the Great Depression under Trump. Harris commented on Trump’s loss in 2020 saying, “Donald Trump was fired by 81 million people” and that “clearly he is having a very difficult time processing that.” In a CNN flash poll after the debate, many say that Kamala Harris outperformed Donald Trump on the debate stage.
According to Reuters, some other undecided voters felt Vice President Kamala Harris was unqualified to hold the office of Commander in Chief. Out of the two presidential candidates, Harris has more experience with 21 years of public service experience. Reuters found that some undecided voters dislike Trump as a person but agree with his economic ideas. A New York Times poll found that many undecided voters felt Kamala looked and sounded more professional while Trump looked visibly distressed and defensive.
This post was originally published on here
