US presidential race yields slew of chaotic ‘surprises’ leading up to Election Day

Beijing, Nov 3 (IANS/WISHAVWARTA) The 2024 US presidential race has been filled with astonishing events, presenting chaotic “surprises” each month.

An annual survey by the American Psychological Association revealed in October that the election has become a significant source of stress for Americans, who fear that the election results could trigger political violence and even lead to the “end of American democracy.”

The election is predicted by US media to be the “most divisive” in history. As November 5, Election Day approaches, the tense political atmosphere keeping the American public on edge will only increase, reports Xinhua news agency.

In January, the US federal government and the Republican-led state of Texas clashed over immigration issues. The Texas Army National Guard set up barriers such as barbed wire fences at the US-Mexico border to prevent immigrants from entering.

Meanwhile, it also denied entry to federal law enforcement officers, causing a standoff between the two sides to briefly escalate into an armed confrontation.

The “border crisis” highlights the conflict and division between the Democratic and Republican parties on immigration issues. Previously, Republican-led states such as Texas and Florida had repeatedly transported undocumented immigrants by bus or plane to cities governed by Democrats, using such moves as a weapon against the Democratic Party.

Barbed wire fences and buses transporting immigrants have become symbols of partisan strife in the United States, as politicians from both parties continuously politicise the issue and seek selfish benefits at the cost of further dividing American society.

On February 17, former US President Donald Trump made an appearance at a shoe exhibition in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, showcasing his own brand of sneakers. Priced at $399, only 1,000 pairs were available for limited release.

On the day before, Trump received a sky-high fine from the state of New York, where a judge ruled that Trump must pay a fine of approximately $355 million for exaggerating his net worth to deceive banks into providing better loan terms.

Trump’s fine should have hit the headlines, but was unexpectedly upstaged by “Trump selling shoes.” Vanessa Friedman, chief fashion critic of The New York Times, wrote in an article: “It’s easy to get distracted by the sheer absurdity of it all — a former president, selling sneakers!”

With sneaker culture popular in the United States, especially among young people and African Americans, the Trump campaign hoped to attract more young voters and minority voters, especially African American males, an article by the Associated Press said.

On May 30, a jury in a Manhattan court in New York City ruled that Trump had violated New York state laws by concealing a 130,000-dollar “hush money” payment to an adult film actress during the 2016 US presidential election and falsifying business records. He was convicted on 34 criminal charges.

It was the first time in US history that a former president has been indicted or convicted in a criminal case.

Trump claimed that the case was a “witch hunt” and a “political attack” by the Democratic Party. Republicans also seized the opportunity to criticise the unfairness of the US judicial system, characterising it as politicised and weaponised.

On June 11, a jury of 12 members in the US state of Delaware found Hunter Biden, son of US President Joe Biden, guilty of three federal gun charges, marking the first time a sitting president’s child has been criminally convicted.

Hunter’s conviction has fueled mutual attacks between Democrats and Republicans, escalating the already fraught atmosphere of the US presidential election. Hunter and Trump, now both convicted, assert they are victims of political persecution.

On July 13, during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, Trump was targeted in an “attempted assassination” while delivering a speech. A few days later, Trump officially accepted the nomination to become the Republican presidential candidate for the third time.

In a post on his social media platform Truth Social, Trump said he was shot with a bullet “that pierced the upper part of my right ear.”

“I knew immediately that something was wrong in that I heard a whizzing sound, shots, and immediately felt the bullet ripping through the skin,” he said.

The attack was the most serious attempt to assassinate a president or presidential candidate since Ronald Reagan was shot in 1981, said the Associated Press, adding that it drew new attention to concerns about political violence in a deeply polarised US.

On August 22, US Vice President Kamala Harris officially accepted the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination at the Democratic National Convention held at the United Center in Chicago, “resetting and reshaping” this year’s US presidential election.

On July 21, Biden was “forced” to withdraw from the race under pressure from party leaders, lawmakers and donors.

Before Biden’s withdrawal, he and Trump exchanged accusations, each claiming the other was a “threat to American democracy.” After Harris stepped in, she criticised Trump’s policy proposals while repeatedly highlighting his criminal record, saying that it would lead the US into “chaos, fear, and hatred.”

In response, Trump repeatedly asserted that Harris’s status as the Democratic presidential candidate lacked “legitimacy.”

On September 10, Harris and Trump faced off for the first time in a 2024 US presidential debate in the city of Philadelphia.

During the debate, which was scheduled to last 90 minutes, Harris spoke for a total of 37 minutes and 41 seconds, of which 17 minutes and 25 seconds were spent attacking Trump. Trump, on the other hand, spoke for 43 minutes and 3 seconds, with 12 minutes and 54 seconds dedicated to attacking Harris, according to The New York Times.

As the election race enters the “final sprint,” this “reality show” of an election highlights the increasing political divisions and polarisation in the United States.

On October 19, US billionaire Elon Musk gave a 1-million-dollar check to an attendee at the rally in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, to back Trump. He also announced a plan to give away 1 million dollars each day until November 5 to a randomly chosen person who’s signed a petition from his political action committee.

Musk, the richest man in the world, has given more than 75 million dollars to his pro-Trump super political action committee (PAC), according to CNN.

Forbes has recorded 83 billionaires supporting Harris and 52 backing Trump so far until October 30. While many more billionaires may also financially back a candidate, their donations won’t be learned until after the election.

The 2024 presidential election is on track to be the most expensive in history.

According to OpenSecrets, a nonprofit organisation that tracks and publishes data on campaign finance and lobbying, the two major-party presidential campaigns, their related super PACs, and other aligned groups will spend more than $15.9 billion throughout the 2024 election cycle, breaking the record set in 2020, which stood at $15.1 billion.

This once again illustrates the famous quote from former California Assembly Speaker Jesse Unruh in 1966: Money is the mother’s milk of politics.