US Elections - Sept 23rd 2023

A. Two-Round System

2024: An exceptional year

Two pre-destined candidates:

• Pres. Joe Biden (D) - the incumbent (never declared)
• vs
• Former Pres. Donald Trump (R)

June 27th: Trump-Biden debate

• Biden stuttered (began), he lost his train of thought, he appeared old and confused/unfit to govern
• Trump took advantage of Biden's weakness and made fun of him. (Trump looked sharp, alert, sarcastic…)

Image 2:

The debate was considered a catastrophe for Biden. There were immediate calls for him to step down.

July 15th:

• An assassination attempt on D. Trump (his ear was wounded)
• It promoted sympathy for the candidate, and he rose in the polls

July 15th-26th: The Republican convention (official declaration of the results of the primaries)

• The nominee was D. Trump
• He announced his running mate: J.D. Vance
• (According to the press/commentators, not a strategic choice, too similar to D. Trump)

July 27th: Joe Biden withdraws/retire his candidacy

• Took him a moment to decide
• Democrats debated how to choose a replacement

August 14th-22nd: Democratic convention

• Kamala Harris (VP) was announced as the Dem. nominee
• (Legal argument in the primaries, voters chose the Biden-Harris ticket)
• She quickly rose in the polls

Sept 10th: Trump-Harris debate

• Trump accused Democrats of allowing millions to enter the country and accused those immigrants of eating people's pets. (Harris laughed at him—good P.R.)
• The journalist did fact-checking, there were no reliable reports of this.
• However, Trump insisted he had seen it on TV.