D-2 before the big day of the American presidential election. This November 3, Kamala Harris and Donald Trump are throwing their last strength into an anxiety-provoking end to the campaign for the United States and the rest of the world.
For her last Sunday of the campaign, Democratic Vice-President Kamala Harris returns to Michigan, an industrial hub state on the banks of the Great Lakes, cradle of the automobile and with a blue-collar electorate to convince: white working men , African-Americans or Arab-Muslims. Republican candidate Donald Trump returns to the crucial states of Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Georgia. Over the course of appearances in recent days, he has increased the allegations of “cheating”. To prevent any repeat of the unprecedented violence of the assault on the Capitol in 2020, the federal capital Washington is under high security with a significant police presence, as well as the installation of barriers and boards to protect stores.
Image of the week: Donald Trump on board a garbage truck
It was aboard a garbage truck, wearing a fluorescent orange chasuble, that Donald Trump appeared at a meeting in the state of Wisconsin, Wednesday October 30. The former White House tenant tried to exploit a gaffe by Democratic President Joe Biden, who called Donald Trump supporters “trash.”
“What do you think of my garbage truck?” asked the Republican candidate upon arriving at his meeting. A very embarrassing controversy for Democratic candidate Kamala Harris. The American vice-president declared that she was “strongly disagree with any criticism based on who people are voting for.”
Speech of the week: Kamala Harris’ final indictment
A week before what could be the most indecisive and tense election in the history of the United States, the Democratic vice-president delivered what she herself called her “final indictment”, Tuesday October 29 in the evening. All in front of the illuminated columns of the White House, in the very place where Donald Trump had addressed his supporters before the assault on the Capitol on January 6, 2021.
In front of 75,000 people and surrounded by particularly heavy security, Kamala Harris reiterated the message of unity that has been a growing theme of the home stretch of her campaign. In this final oratorical stretch, the Democrat tried to link “the dangers that Trump poses, according to her, to democracy […] “to people’s daily anxieties – including the economy, health care and immigration – recognizing that many voters might not be moved by theoretical warnings about authoritarianism,” summarized THE Washington Post.
Supporters of the week: the stars behind Kamala Harris
Other support for the Democratic candidate has been declared in this final stretch. Starting with former actor and Republican governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger. The former Austrian Mr. Universe said he was disillusioned by politics but too “angry” with Donald Trump to remain silent. Supporting Kamala Harris since her inauguration, actress Jennifer Aniston said she voted for the vice president and her running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, in an Instagram post on Tuesday, the daily reports The Hill. “Today, I not only voted for access to health care, for reproductive freedom, for equal rights, for safe schools and for a fair economy, but also for HEALTH AND HUMAN DECENCY,” she wrote in the post.
Invited to a Kamala Harris meeting in Las Vegas, singer Jennifer Lopez also sided with the Democrats, condemning the insulting remarks made by comedian Tony Hinchcliffe during a Donald Trump meeting about Puerto Rico, which he called it a “floating island of garbage”. Singers Bruce Springsteen, Beyoncé, Stevie Wonder, Usher, Lizzo and Eminem also sided with the Democrat. Just like the basketball player LeBron James, the actors George Clooney and Julia Roberts, as well as the star presenter Oprah.
March of the week: women in Washington
Thousands of women gathered in the streets of Washington on Saturday, brandishing eloquent signs three days before the US presidential election, to support Kamala Harris against Donald Trump. 15,000 people were present, according to the organizers,
The Democratic candidate has made the defense of the right to abortion a central theme of her campaign, and it is the one that comes up in all the mouths of the demonstrators who participate in this “women’s march”, notes AFP. In Washington, some counter-protesters accusing Kamala Harris of being a “baby killer” also sought to make themselves heard, without much success.
Interview of the week: the view of an American pollster in the home stretch
A few days before the vote, the polls still show Kamala Harris and Donald Trump neck and neck. This week, for L’Express, Republican pollster Whit Ayres, head of North Star Opinion Research, recounted the efforts of the institutes not to repeat their mistakes and analyzed the candidates’ campaign.
In an exclusive interview, he says what he thinks of the reliability of the current polls after the huge failures of 2016 and 2020. And lists the subjects that will make the difference at the polls on November 5. “When we predict such a close election, no one is a favorite. Of course, the polls may again underestimate the vote for Donald Trump, but we won’t know until the count, not before.”
🎙️ The podcast of the week: the candidates’ entourages
JD Vance or Tim Walz? One of the two men will become the next vice president of the United States. In the American campaign, the two men face a formidable face-to-face which could tip the balance to one side or the other.
Decryption of the week: the five scenarios of the election
American voters are called to the polls on Tuesday and the only thing certain is that the outcome will be played out in a handful of undecided states, the “Swing States”.
In the rest of the country, the election seems a foregone conclusion. Concretely, this means that the Democratic vice-president is almost certain to win 226 of the 538 electoral votes and the former Republican president, 219. As the threshold to exceed to win is 270 votes in the electoral college, the Harris camp benefits a slight numerical advantage at the moment. But the game is far from over. The future of the United States currently lies in the hands of the citizens of Arizona, North Carolina, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. To see things more clearly, L’Express has prepared this week five possible scenarios for the long-awaited outcome of this campaign.