2

Biden Seeks Reelection

President Joe Biden initially defined himself as a “bridge candidate” when he took office, signaling that he would not seek re-election, yet he officially launched his bid for a second term on April 25, 2023. By that time, some voices were already advising him against another run — the Economist, for instance, published a pointed editorial on November 10, 2022, titled “Joe Biden should not seek re-election.”

Still, whether people were willing to admit it or not, a majority in his party backed his decision, believing he was the only one who could beat Trump. In fact, just a month prior, on March 3, 2023, the Democratic National Committee threw its full support behind a Biden-Harris ticket for 2024.

The public had grown used to Biden’s occasional gaffes and the ongoing debate around his age, but under the rallying cry of “defending democracy” and the framing of Trump as an authoritarian threat, Democrats hoped Biden would retain the White House. With the entire party apparatus at his back, Biden, who by March 12, 2024, had already secured the delegates needed to clinch the nomination, went on to win every remaining primary, officially becoming the Democratic nominee for president.

Yet the very same people who led the charge for him would, just months later, call for his exit on grounds that he was unfit to lead — hinting at a giant cover-up orchestrated by the party’s top brass.

3

The Debate Debacle

With media criticism mounting but no viable alternatives in sight, Biden and Trump emerged as their parties’ nominees, setting the stage for a rerun of the 2020 presidential showdown— a stark reminder of the system’s inability to produce fresh options. Polls forecast a tight race, with some showing Biden up by 2 points (according to a June 19 Fox News poll) and others giving Trump a 1-point lead in national polls (CBS News poll that same week).

Yet what many Democrats feared — and Republicans hoped for — came to pass: June 27, 2024, would be remembered as the day the leader of the free world was shown to be unfit for office. That fateful night, in CNN’s Atlanta studios, a frail, incoherent, and visibly lost Biden stumbled through a debate with Donald Trump, leaving viewers dismayed. Republicans felt victory was all but assured, and the polls soon reflected this; those that had predicted a close contest now showed Trump with at least a 4-point lead.

Panic struck the Democrats, and calls for Biden to step aside grew louder. On June 28, just one day after the debate, the New York Times, arguably the most influential outlet backing Biden, published an editorial titled “To Serve His Country, Biden Should Leave the Race.” Former president Barack Obama rallied to Biden’s defense in the days that followed, insisting, “Anyone can have a bad debate.” But as Biden clung to the ticket, pressure mounted for him to withdraw from the race.

4

Trump’s Court Cases

Since 2022, Donald Trump has been entangled in legal battles in various courts across the country. He’s faced accusations of inflating his net worth to dodge taxes and secure loans, a defamation suit, taking classified documents from the White House, and conspiring against the state for stoking the January 6 protests at the Capitol.

But the case that moved furthest in the courts was the one initiated by a Manhattan grand jury on March 30, 2023. The 34 felony charges centered on falsifying business records connected to a personal scandal. Many thought this case would irreparably tarnish Trump, but it backfired: According to Trump’s team, his campaign raised over $15 million in the two weeks following the court filing.

On May 30, 2024, Trump was found guilty on all counts, making him the first former US president to be convicted of a felony. He denounced the verdict as “an attack on our country like never before. The USA is now a third-world nation!” Conventional wisdom was that his candidacy would be torpedoed by his legal woes, but once again, his base thought otherwise.

Still, Trump’s team deftly exploited the candidate’s legal predicament. The narrative of Trump as a “political target” and efforts to “silence him” have bolstered his image. For instance, a Politico/IPSOS poll found that 43% of Americans believed the case was filed to benefit then-candidate Joe Biden. Trump would continue to argue that the executive branch had wielded the judiciary against him until the last day of his campaign.

5

Assassination Attempt

ON July 13, 2024, Donald Trump led a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. This was no “ordinary” event: While Republicans were riding high after Biden’s humiliating debate performance, Pennsylvania remained a critical swing state that the GOP needed to secure the election.

Trump began speaking at 6:05 p.m., but just six minutes in, a 20-year-old named Thomas Matthew Crooks opened fire from the rooftop of a nearby building, less than 500 feet (150 meters) from where Trump was addressing the crowd. One of the bullets grazed Trump’s ear, missing his skull by mere millimeters. Images of a bloodied Trump, defiantly raising his fist and shouting “Fight! Fight!” flashed across the globe, projecting a strength that sharply contrasted with Biden’s frail image.

The assassination attempt is widely regarded as the Secret Service’s most significant failure since the attempt on President Ronald Reagan’s life in 1981. Indeed, on July 23, just one day after testifying before the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability, Secret Service director Kimberly Cheatle resigned.

Two days later, Trump made his first public appearance since the attack at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee. Sporting a bandage on his ear, he reinforced his “larger-than-life” persona, reminding his audience — and the world — that he wasn’t backing down.

6

Harris Steps Up

July proved a grueling month for the Democrats. With Trump seemingly indestructible, and Biden plummeting in the polls, party leaders began to quietly plan the president’s removal from the race. On July 12 and 13, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer met separately with Biden, sharing their grim outlook on the election. Biden asked for “a week to make a decision.” By July 17, Biden’s campaign team admitted that donors were withholding contributions. The next day, news broke that former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had urged Biden to step down.

July 21 marked the inevitable end. In a letter, President Biden announced, “While it has been my intention to seek re-election, I believe it is in the best interest of my party and the country for me to stand down and to focus solely on fulfilling my duties as President for the remainder of my term.”

He immediately endorsed his vice president, Kamala Harris.

The Democratic machine wasted no time, and by July 22, without a primary, Kamala Harris had secured the support of over half the Democratic delegates. On August 5, Harris officially became the nominee, with 99% of the delegates backing her through a virtual vote.

Although she had never won a single primary, Harris’s arrival breathed new life into the Democrats, reviving a campaign all but lost. Polls showed the Democrats clawing back, and by late August, they were neck-and-neck with Republicans. By early September, the Harris-Walz ticket held a steady 3-point lead over the Trump-Vance ticket.

7

Harris-Trump Debate

With polls pointing to a Democratic victory, the only thing Kamala Harris’s campaign had to fear was the debate stage. Not only because it was there that the former leader had stumbled, but because that’s one arena where Donald Trump thrives — albeit using tactics that would horrify any debating club.

September 10 had been slated for a hypothetical second debate with Biden but instead became the first and only face-off between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump.

The Republicans were counting on this showdown, watching an election they once held firmly slipping through their fingers. But the clash didn’t go as they had hoped. Harris appeared solid and well-prepared (many detractors said she got ample assistance from the ABC debate moderators), while Trump delivered lines that strayed far from political discourse, claiming Democrats “are busing people in and paying them to be” at rallies, and, most memorably, alleging that immigrants “they’re eating the dogs. The people that came in, they’re eating the cats. They’re eating — they’re eating the pets of the people that live there.”

An instant CNN poll found that 63% of viewers thought Harris had won the debate, while the November polls widened the gap between Democrats and Republicans. With less than two months until the election, it seemed almost as if the victory for the Democrats was sealed.

8

The Momentum Shifts Again

IT’S hard to pinpoint the moment, but when a candidate’s main appeal hinges on being “new,” that strength fades fast once the novelty wears off. This, it seems, was the case with Kamala Harris. And as that initial spark dulled, she had to do what she’d avoided throughout the campaign: face interviews. When she did, things only got worse. Though she usually played it safe, opting for “softball” questionnaires, her responses gradually started sounding artificial to voters.

In early October, Harris had two major media slip-ups. The first came on October 7, when her appearance on the iconic news program 60 Minutes aired. Asked about the war in Israel, viewers noticed that her response was edited, presumably to mask a muddled answer. Trump didn’t mince words, saying, “They changed her answer to make Kamala look intelligent, rather than ‘dumb as a rock.’ This may be the biggest scandal in broadcast history!”

The next day, on October 8, Harris appeared on the TV show The View, which should have been a friendly environment for the Democratic candidate. However, a simple question left her stumbling before viewers. Asked if there was anything she’d do differently than Joe Biden, Harris replied, “There is not a thing that comes to mind in terms of — and I’ve been a part of most of the decisions that have had impact.” No doubt, a response that delighted Trump’s campaign.

The final blow in this media frenzy came when Harris ventured into “enemy territory,” agreeing to an interview with Fox News political anchor Bret Baier on October 16. Here, the questions were sharp, and her answers sparse. Harris spent much of the interview attacking Trump without offering substance; the low point came when she was asked about Biden’s mental fitness, and she deflected, calling Trump “unstable.”

The last polls showed the race essentially tied, the electorate split down the middle once again. With the die cast and an intensely fractured political landscape, no matter how much both candidates preach unity, it’s hard to envision that goal being realized in the long run. Whoever wins the presidency will inherit a deeply divided society that demands consensus-building to even begin to heal. Sadly, that’s much easier said than done.

(Originally featured in Mishpacha, Issue 1035)