Two weeks before the American presidential election, Kamala Harris and Donald Trump are campaigning to attract the widest possible electorate while the vote promises to be very close. The billionaire, however, takes the advantage in the poll results.
The essentials
- The US presidential election will be held on November 5, 2024, but Americans have already started voting since the end of September with early voting gradually opening in the different states.
- Donald Trump and Kamala Harris are the main candidates in the American presidential election. The first for the Republican camp and the second for the Democratic party, replacing Joe Biden, who gave up a new mandate under pressure from his camp. The two candidates are neck and neck in national and state poll results. In the seven swing states that even swing the vote one way or the other, the gap is also very tight, but the advantage in most of these states is now for Donald Trump.
- Each candidate can count on a solid electoral base, but Kamala Harris is losing points among the African-American male electorate, 20% of whom show a preference for Donald Trump. The billionaire is also gaining popularity among Latin American voters despite his clearly xenophobic and racist positions on immigration. The vice-president is trying to win back this electorate, but she is also trying to attract the votes of moderate Republicans, in particular by appearing with former Republican elected official Liz Cheney who openly supports the Democrat.
- The presidential campaign is marked by Donald Trump’s insulting and/or personal attacks against Kamala Harris. Since Monday evening, the Republican has accused the Democratic camp of wanting to cheat during these elections. The vice president who was called “crazy” or a “shit vice president” [sic]” by his rival judged on MSNBC that he “should never again appear behind the seal of the President of the United States, [car] he has not earned this right” and “degrades function”.
- Follow the latest information on the American presidential election campaign in our live stream.
Live
09:41 – A very gendered campaign: Harris seeks the female vote and Trump wants to attract male voters
For once, the American countryside is very divided in several respects. The division of the electorate between the two main candidates is very clear whether on geographical criteria (the coastal states rather Democratic and those in the Midwest rather Republican) or ethno-racial (the vote of the majority of African-Americans and Latinos -American goes to the Democratic camp). This could also be the case regarding gender, in any case it is a strategy implemented by Kamala Harris and Donald Trump.
The Democrat is addressing women in her campaign by making abortion rights one of her priorities along with women’s health. She is also seeking to rally Republican voters to her cause and is benefiting from the support of the very conservative Liz Cheney for this. If the former parliamentarian is fiercely opposed to abortion, she believes that only Kamala Harris can provide the necessary response to the care of women’s health and invites her supporters to vote for the Democrat. “I would just like to remind people that if you are worried, you can vote your conscience and never have to say a word to anyone. Millions of Republicans will do that on November 5,” Liz Cheney insisted. encourage Democratic votes among Republican voters.
For his part, Donald Trump is banking on acquiring the male electorate. It is already the preference of a significant portion of white men, particularly those with less education and those from rural backgrounds. But he also attracts the sympathy of African-American and Latino male voters, which is a novelty. Generally speaking, the Republican relies on a form of fraternity organized around the image of the strong man and very significant in the MAGA universe [Make America great again, ndlr] which is based on nostalgia “for domination to the detriment of the other sex” analyzes Le Monde. A more or less pronounced machismo which seems to appeal to a significant part of the male electorate.
09:06 – Donald Trump campaigns among Latin Americans
Donald Trump, who is fighting immigration, particularly against Latin American immigration which he describes as “problem number 1”, is also campaigning among the Latin American electorate two weeks before the presidential election. The Republican candidate is scheduled to participate in a roundtable discussion held at one of his Florida real estate properties with Latino voters. Several recent polls show that the billionaire is gaining votes from this electorate, despite these violent declarations against migrants and the migration policy that he defends. These voters, compared to a part of the African-American male electorate, would be more enthusiastic about Donald Trump’s political program remembering a more favorable economic situation during the Republican’s mandate than in recent years. The round table this Tuesday, October 22 is also devoted to economic subjects.
The fact remains that Florida remains a state mainly dominated by Republican ideology. But the erosion of the Latin American vote for the Democratic camp is also observed in other states, including Pennsylvania, which is a key swing state. “Twenty years ago, between 70 and 80% of the Latino vote went to the Democrats, but today it’s more like 60/40” explains for example Will Gonzales, an associative actor in the very popular Latino neighborhood Centro de Oro, at north of Philadelphia, near Franceinfo.
08:35 – Moderate Republicans in Kamala Harris’ sights
Kamala Harris campaigned in the “Wall Blue”, that is to say the belt of the three northern swing stats usually acquired by the Democratic camp – Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin – this Monday, October 21. But if the candidate campaigned with Democrats, she also had the objective of attracting moderate Republicans from these states. She was also accompanied by former Republican parliamentarian Liz Cheney to gain sympathy among more conservative voters.
Kamala Harris’ running mate, Tim Walz, also engaged in this seduction operation initiated by Republicans who might still be hesitant. The Midwesterner said in an interview on Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show” that many Republicans are “trying to get permission to drop the MAGA thing [Make America great again, ndlr] and move on.” “These are people who want to find a reason not to vote for Donald Trump. We have to give them that reason,” he added.
10/21/24 – 11:17 p.m. – Vladimir Putin “will sit in kyiv” if Donald Trump is elected, says Kamala Harris
END OF LIVE – Attacks are coming at the end of the campaign. While Donald Trump accused Democrats of cheating earlier in the evening, Kamala Harris believes that if her competitor is elected president of the United States, Russian President Vladimir Putin “will sit in kyiv.” “Donald Trump said, ‘I’m going to solve Ukraine and Russia in one day.’ Read carefully what he says and understand: he would capitulate!” assured Kamala Harris this Monday while traveling in Michigan. And warns: “If Donald Trump were president, Vladimir Putin would be in kyiv. Understand what this would mean for America and our position in the world.”
10/21/24 – 10:33 p.m. – Donald Trump accuses Democrats of wanting to cheat in the US presidential election
A fan of sensational statements, the Republican candidate did not take it lightly this Monday, clearly accusing the Democrats of cheating during the American presidential election, once again trying to sow doubt on the integrity of the vote. “We have some of the biggest crowds you’ve ever seen. I was in California. I wish God would come and count the votes for a day and see how we’re doing” in this state, which is nevertheless very friendly to the Democrats, he said. And the ex-president very clearly accused the opposite camp of cheating during a rally in Greenville this Monday, in North Carolina: “But they won’t get away with it,” he warned.
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What you need to know
The US presidential election will take place on November 5, 2024 and will mainly be between Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Kamala Harris, despite the presence of a few other small candidates in the race for the White House. The election promises to be particularly close this year, according to the various national polls or those carried out in each state. In the United States, it is the results of the state-by-state vote that are decisive for the outcome of the election.
Each of the country’s 50 states represents a certain number of electors; the more populated the state, the greater the number of electors. It is ultimately these electors who vote for the future president of the United States. But the major voters are not distributed to the Republican and Democratic camps in proportion to the results of the vote, they all go to one and the same party: the one which obtained the highest score. To hope to win the presidential election, candidates must win the vote in as many states as possible to obtain as many electors as possible. You must win 270 electoral votes to be assured of victory.
The outcome of the election is already known in most American states which have very ingrained electoral habits: the territories on the east and west coasts are usually very progressive like California or New York and vote for the Democratic camp. , those in the Midwest are rather conservative and mostly support the Republican Party. But there are a handful of states, called swing states, which can swing from one camp to another from one election to another. These are the states that decide the outcome of the election: Arizona, North Carolina, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.