Less than a month before the US presidential election on November 5, former Republican President Donald Trump and his Democratic rival Kamala Harris are trying to convince the undecided. The week was marked by the debate between their potential vice-presidents: the Democrat Tim Walz and the Republican JD Vance, who faced each other in a cordial debate around the main proposals of the two parties.
Kamala Harris, who managed to secure the support of some moderate Republicans, notably appeared this week alongside Liz Cheney in Ripon, in Republican territory, hoping to attract center-right voters. For his part, Donald Trump is still multiplying shocking populist proposals: at a meeting in Pennsylvania, he suggested that a day of unleashing violence could be the solution to eradicate crime. L’Express recaps the events of the week across the Atlantic.
The duel of the week: Walz against Vance
Democrat Tim Walz and Republican JD Vance, respective running mates of Kamala Harris and Donald Trump, clashed on Tuesday October 1 in New York over their candidate’s flagship proposals. In contrast to the invectives launched by the presidential candidates during their own duel, the debate took place in a firm but courteous manner, with the aim of convincing undecided voters. Abortion, the economy and the crisis in the Middle East notably dominated the confrontation.
One of the tensest sequences of this 90-minute program was devoted to immigration. Tim Walz accused his Republican rival of “dehumanizing” migrants by relaying the false theory according to which Haitian migrants eat cats and dogs, also taken up by Donald Trump. The Republican billionaire’s running mate criticized the Democrats for having “radical” positions on voluntary terminations of pregnancies (abortions). Donald Trump having refused to face Kamala Harris again, this face-to-face of the running mates could well be the last oratory contest of the campaign between the two camps.
The event of the week: Hurricane Hélène comes to the countryside
Hurricane Helene, responsible for the death of 130 people and the disappearance of 600 others, and which affected Florida, Georgia and North Carolina, entered the American presidential campaign. Georgia and North Carolina are indeed among the seven pivotal states that could swing the presidential election on November 5.
Donald Trump visited Valdosta, a disaster-stricken town in Georgia, on Monday. He pledged to “bring a lot of relief equipment, and to ask his friend Elon Musk, boss of SpaceX, to deploy his Starlink satellite internet service in the region. “The federal state is not reactive”, in fact castigated the former president on the spot. Outgoing President Joe Biden brushed aside criticism from Republicans over his management of the crisis. The vice-president, for her part, canceled campaign events to hold, on Monday, a meeting on the disaster She announced that she would go there soon.
The symbol of the week: Donald Trump back at the scene of the (almost) crime
On Saturday October 5, Donald Trump went to Butler (Pennsylvania), the city in which he narrowly escaped an assassination attempt in the middle of a meeting on July 13. A young man had in fact shot the ex-president, injuring him in the ear, killing a sympathizer present in the stands and injuring two others – before being himself killed by the security services.
“I will never stop fighting,” the candidate for the White House proudly assured. “For the past eight years, those who want to stop us have slandered me, tried to dismiss me […] and, who knows, maybe even tried to kill me. But I have never stopped fighting for you and I will never stop,” he assured his supporters. The rally took place under very high security.
Position of the week: Melania Trump defends abortion
In her memoirs to be published Tuesday, October 8, former First Lady Melania Trump does not hesitate to distance herself from her husband on this key issue in the American presidential election. “It is imperative to guarantee women the autonomy to decide their preference regarding having children, based on their personal convictions,” she writes in passages revealed by the Guardian.
His opinion, as reported by the British daily, diverges from that of Donald Trump, who considers that each state must be free to decide for itself possible restrictions concerning abortion. “Why would anyone other than the woman herself have the power to determine what she does with her body?” writes Melania Trump.
The bad idea of the week: a “day of violence” to put an end to crime
Donald Trump, again, sparked controversy at the start of the week after a meeting in Pennsylvania in which he suggested that, to put an end to crime (encouraged by the supposed laxity of the Democrats), the United States should authorize “a really violent day”, during which citizens could make their own law, without risk of prosecution. “The word will spread and [la criminalité] will end immediately,” assured Donald Trump, quoted by The Guardian.
These comments sparked a wave of comparisons with cinematic fiction American Nightmarea 2013 dystopian horror film depicting an America of uncontrolled crime, in which the newly elected radical party, “New Founding Fathers of America” occasionally gives authorization to commit crimes legally. “We know that his words have already inspired violence, notably on January 6, but not only that… It is an extraordinarily dangerous vision of America,” criticized presenter Jon Lemire on the MSNBC channel.
Supporters of the week: Liz Cheney and Bruce Springsteen join Kamala
Kamala Harris, the Democratic candidate, managed to use the support of significant personalities this week. That of the Republican Liz Cheney, first, daughter of former vice president Dick Cheney, who appeared Thursday, October 3 at his side in Ripon, birthplace of the Republican Party in 1851. She called on the Americans to choose the side of “the truth” rather than Donald Trump, who is still hammering home the lie that the 2020 election was stolen from him. Kamala Harris, who is leading a centrist campaign aimed at moderates, took the opportunity to salute this figure of the American right as a true patriot. With 33 days to go before the November election, the vice-president and Democratic candidate hopes that this kind of support from the conservative camp will influence the few remaining undecided voters.
Another influential personality, this time in the artistic world, the singer of “Born to Run”, Bruce Springsteen, officially gave his support to Kamala Harris, via a video published Thursday on Instagram, opposing at the same time Donald Trump, calling him “the most dangerous presidential candidate in [sa] life”. He describes the upcoming election as “one of the most important in the history of the American nation”, and welcomes the commitment of Harris and his running mate Tim Walz to “America’s vision on which [il] writing regularly for 55 years.” The New Jersey rocker is notably close to Barack Obama.
Portrait of the week: Maya Harris, Kamala’s influential sister
Only sister of the Democratic candidate, she has led all of his campaigns for twenty years. Extremely influential, left-leaning, demanding and even authoritarian, Maya plays a central role in understanding Kamala Harris. His portrait can be read on L’Express.
Analysis of the week: why do so many people still vote for Trump?
Despite the scandals and ever more outrageous outings, the Republican candidate still appeals to many Americans. A surreal situation in the eyes of his opponents. But not necessarily irrational, according to the analysis of Alex Hinton, professor emeritus of anthropology at Rutgers University in New Jersey. Money, immigration, identity crisis: L’Express deciphers the reasons for this persistent phenomenon.