How did we get here? • Florida Phoenix

WASHINGTON — Calling the 2024 presidential campaign unprecedented might be an understatement.

As Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump race to the finish line in hopes of capturing the nation’s highest office, a series of shocking events have shaken this presidential race.

Less than four months ago, Harris wasn’t even in the race.

And Trump, whose bid to return to the White House after being convicted of a felony in New York was already historic, survived two assassination attempts.

The Democratic and Republican presidential candidates are closing out a neck-and-neck contest in seven swing states that could be decided by just a handful of voters.

On Election Day in the United States, let’s take a look back at the best and worst moments of the historic 2024 presidential campaign:

Trump-Biden rematch

Trump and then-Democratic presidential candidate President Joe Biden faced many rivals as they competed for their respective party’s nominations.

Trump certainly had a more competitive pool of primary challengers.

With the former president facing four separate investigations and the memory of the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol fresh in voters’ minds, former U.N. ambassador and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley is a field that includes Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. This. , former Vice President Mike Pence, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, South Carolina Senator Tim Scott, former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum and former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson have sought the Republican nomination.

Biden’s most serious rival emerged at the beginning of the primaries U.S. Representative Dean PhillipsHe is little known outside the Minnesota area. But the incumbent ultimately lost more votes to Democrats, who chose “No Commitment” rather than backing Biden on his stance on the Israel-Hamas war.

Following massive Super Tuesday victories in March, both Trump and Biden secured the number of delegates needed to clinch their party’s nominations.

Third-party hopefuls have also tried to make their mark on the 2024 presidential campaign; perhaps most notably, environmental lawyer and anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Kennedy suspended his independent presidential campaign in August and endorsed Trump.

Meanwhile, independent presidential candidate Cornel West and Green Party candidate Jill Stein Both are running for the White House under third-party bids.

Amid the ongoing war in Gaza, pro-Palestinian organizers have put pressure on the Biden administration and Harris, who is running for the Oval Office through the Independent National Movement.

The movement was met with a large number of organizers protesting Biden’s policies regarding the Israel-Hamas war and calling for an arms embargo and ceasefire.

Biden bowed, Harris stepped forward

Following primaries in both parties, Biden and Trump prepared for a rematch of the 2020 race, with a general election debate scheduled for late June.

Biden’s disastrous performance, in which he spoke softly and appeared to lose his mind at times, sparked a backlash from Democratic lawmakers who urged him to abandon his bid for the White House.

Less than a month later, while battling a Covid-19 infection at home, Biden withdrew from the race and passed the torch to Harris.

Veep then embarked on an unprecedented and accelerated presidential campaign. If elected, she would be the first female president, the first president of South Asian descent and the second Black president.

The summer also saw the official nominations of Trump and Harris’ running mates, Ohio GOP Sen. J.D. Vance and Minnesota Democratic Gov. Tim Walz, with both parties mobilizing supporters at their national conventions.

Assassination attempt on Trump

Trump survived assassination attempt During a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, in July, authorities said the assassin killed one rally attendee, wounded two others and shot off the former president’s ear.

The attack triggered a series of federal investigations and bipartisan congressional task force to investigate.

U.S. Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle, whose agency faced intense scrutiny in the wake of the attack, resigned a few days later.

In September, authorities responded to a second assassination attempt on Trump while he was playing golf at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida, raising further questions about the former president’s safety and security.

Trump’s legal battles are at the center of the campaign

In the backdrop of his presidential bid, Trump has been mired in multiple legal battles and has had to balance court appearances and his campaign schedule.

Trump was convicted in a New York court in May on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. He is the first former US president to be convicted of serious crimes.

He is also charged in a federal election interference case and an election interference case in Georgia.

The federal classified documents case against him has been dismissed, at least for now.

While the presidential immunity claim continues in the courts, the federal election interference case was paused for several months earlier this year.

This argument reached the U.S. Supreme Court, which found that presidents were granted full immunity from criminal charges for any official “substantive constitutional” action, but not for any unofficial action.

Trump’s win in the White House could greatly affect how his other legal battles play out in the courts and whether they proceed.

The final phase of the 2024 presidential campaign

Harris and Trump sparred in a presidential debate in September, trading barbs as they touted their own policy proposals.

The duo spent much of their campaign in swing states like Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, as polls have repeatedly shown Trump and Harris to be in a very tight race where neither has a measurable advantage. .

Trump’s campaign faced backlash for comedian Tony Hinchcliffe’s racist and vulgar remarks at a rally at New York City’s Madison Square Garden in late October, including calling Puerto Rico a “floating island of garbage.”

Harris last week called on voters to reject Trump’s “chaos and division” in what her campaign called her “closing argument.” He spoke to an audience of more than 75,000, according to campaign estimates.

He gave his speech at the Ellipse in Washington, DC, where Trump held a rally on January 6, 2021, before his supporters stormed the US Capitol.

As the country nears the end of a grueling and tortuous presidential campaign, voters will soon determine whether Harris or Trump will be the next leader of the free world.

Last update 06:30, 5 November 2024