2024 United States presidential election

{{bronze}}[[File:ElectoralCollege2024.svg|right|thumb|300px|[[Grand Theft Auto|Ah shit, here we go again]].]]
{{cquote|High-level Democrats are rallying to President Biden's reelection, not because they think it's in the best interest of the country to have an 82-year-old start a second term but because they fear the potential alternative: [[self-fulfilling prophecy|the nomination of Kamala Harris and election of Donald Trump]].|||Johnathan Martin, ''Politico,'' 16 February 2023.<ref>{{cite web | last=Martin | first=Jonathan | title=Senior Democrats’ Private Take on Biden: He’s Too Old | website=POLITICO | date=2023-02-16 | url=https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2023/02/16/senior-democrats-joe-biden-old-00083129 | access-date=2024-11-26}}</ref>}}
{{uspolitics}}
The <b>2024 United States presidential election</b> was held on November 5, 2024 between incumbent Vice President and [[Democratic Party]] nominee '''[[Kamala Harris]]''' and former President and [[Republican Party]] nominee '''[[Donald Trump]]'''. You would think that [[Donald Trump#First_term|the last time]] would've been painful enough for the majority of Americans to have taught them [[Authoritarianism of Donald Trump|something]], but unfortunately, they would [[2016 U.S. presidential election|once again]] choose very poorly.

Despite polls seemingly indicating a close contest,<ref>{{cite web | last=Levin | first=Sam | last2=Gambino | first2=Lauren | last3=Smith | first3=David | title=Trump and Harris in final election push as polls signal extremely close contest | website=the Guardian | date=2024-11-05 | url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/nov/04/trump-harris-voters-us-election | access-date=2024-11-25}}</ref> the reused strategy straight from 2016 Democrats have put out that effectively amounted to preserving the status quo and "at least we're not him!" saw history repeat itself; Donald Trump overperformed the polls for the third consecutive time<ref>{{cite web | last=Shepard | first=Steven | title=Donald Trump defied the pollsters again. Can they figure out what’s broken? | website=POLITICO | date=2024-11-06 | url=https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2024/11/06/2024-election-results-live-coverage-updates-analysis/polls-miss-mark-00187820 | access-date=2024-11-25}}</ref> and decisively defeated Harris. By making gains with young and nonwhite voters and increasing his support in rural areas, Trump swept every swing state<ref>{{cite web | last=Peoples | first=Steve | last2=Barrow | first2=Bill | title=Election takeaways: Trump's decisive victory in a deeply divided nation | website=AP News | date=2024-11-06 | url=https://apnews.com/article/trump-harris-presidential-election-takeaways-d0e4677f4cd53b4d2d8d18d674be5bf4 | access-date=2024-11-25}}</ref> and became the first Republican presidential candidate to win [[Nevada]]<ref>{{cite web | last=Lopez | first=Ashley | title=Donald Trump wins Nevada | website=NPR | date=2024-11-09 | url=https://www.npr.org/2024/11/09/g-s1-33582/donald-trump-wins-nevada | access-date=2024-11-25}}</ref> and the popular vote<ref>{{cite web | last=Rubin | first=April | title=Trump set to be the first Republican candidate to win the popular vote in 20 years | website=Axios | date=2024-11-06 | url=https://www.axios.com/2024/11/06/trump-popular-vote-republican-candidates}}</ref> in 20 years. Harris, on the other hand, lost suburban areas and underperformed in traditionally Democratic cities, resulting in a major rightward shift across the entire [[United States]].<ref>{{cite web | last=Montanaro | first=Domenico | title=Most of the country shifted right in the 2024 presidential election | website=NPR | date=2024-11-21 | url=https://www.npr.org/2024/11/21/nx-s1-5198616/2024-presidential-election-results-republican-shift | access-date=2024-11-25}}</ref> 

This election result is already having severe international consequences<ref>{{cite web | last=Pinkas | first=Alon | title=Trump's Self-inflicted Ukraine Dilemma: Dismantle the European Alliance, or Break With Putin | website=Haaretz | date=2025-02-18 | url=https://www.haaretz.com/us-news/2025-02-18/ty-article/.premium/trumps-self-inflicted-ukraine-conflict-dismantle-the-european-alliance-or-ditch-putin/00000195-19eb-da7e-a1fd-99ff3ecf0000}}</ref>. With an extraordinarily conservative [[US Supreme Court|Supreme Court]]<ref>{{cite web | last=Totenberg | first=Nina | title=The Supreme Court is the most conservative in 90 years | website=NPR | date=2022-07-05 | url=https://www.npr.org/2022/07/05/1109444617/the-supreme-court-conservative | access-date=2024-11-25}}</ref>, Trump openly threatening far more overt displays of authoritarianism<ref>{{cite web | last=Sargent | first=Greg | title=Trump’s Slow-Burn Authoritarianism | website=The New Republic | date=2024-09-12 | url=https://newrepublic.com/article/185487/trump-maga-legal-war-slow-burn-authoritarianism | access-date=2024-11-25}}</ref> than he did in his prior term, the increased radicalization of the Republican Party, and the looming threat of [[Project 2025]] on the horizon, the damage caused by his second election victory will be likely felt for generations.

Incumbent President '''[[Joe Biden]]''' initially made the poor choice of running for reelection despite his disastrous poll numbers<ref>[https://news.gallup.com/poll/505202/biden-begins-reelection-bid-low-point-presidency.aspx Biden Begins Reelection Bid at Low Point in His Presidency]. ''Gallup.'' April 27, 2023.</ref> and growing concern about his age. After bombing a debate against Donald Trump, Biden made the historically unprecedented choice of withdrawing from the race on the 21st of July despite having already won his party's primaries, giving Kamala a whopping 3 months to make a campaign.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/24/us/politics/kamala-harris-democrats-nomination.html How Kamala Harris Took Command of the Democratic Party in 48 Hours]. ''New York Times.'' July 26, 2024.</ref> Sadly, Kamala Harris ultimately proved unsuited to the task of defeating Trump. While Harris swept to the nomination with a wave of relief and enthusiasm from Democrats, she squandered that goodwill by failing to establish a message of her own<ref>{{cite web | title=Kamala Harris has a serious messaging problem – Marketing Communication News | website=Marketing Communication News – Marketing. Communication. News. | date=2024-11-05 | url=https://marcommnews.com/kamala-harris-has-a-serious-messaging-problem/ | ref={{sfnref|Marketing Communication News – Marketing. Communication. News.|2024}} | access-date=2024-11-25}}</ref><ref name="harrisecon">{{cite web | last=Bolton | first=Alexander | title=Democrats alarmed Harris’s economic message isn’t breaking through | website=The Hill | date=2024-10-29 | url=https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4958049-harris-economic-message-struggle/ | access-date=2024-11-25}}</ref> and failing to differentiate herself from the unpopular Joe Biden.<ref name="nothing">{{cite web | last=Davis | first=Ebony | last2=Dovere | first2=Edward-Isaac | last3=Sullivan | first3=Kate | title=Harris says there’s not much she’d have done differently than Biden over the last 4 years | website=CNN | date=2024-10-08 | url=https://www.cnn.com/politics/harris-2024-campaign-biden/index.html | access-date=2024-11-25}}</ref> She also pivoted to the right during the campaign by abandoning policies she previously supported, such as Medicare-for-All,<ref>{{cite web | last=Kass | first=Harrison | title=Is Kamala Harris a Flip-Flopper? | website=The National Interest | date=2024-08-17 | url=https://nationalinterest.org/blog/reboot/kamala-harris-flip-flopper-212356 | access-date=2024-11-25}}</ref> and campaigning with stalwart [[conservative]] Liz Cheney while touting the endorsement of war criminal [[Dick Cheney]].<ref name="lizfiasco">{{cite web | title=Liz Cheney Was an Electoral Fiasco for Kamala Harris | website=The Nation | date=2024-11-12 | url=https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/liz-cheney-electoral-fiasco-kamala-harris/ | ref={{sfnref|The Nation|2024}} | access-date=2024-11-25}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | last=Andrew Perez | first=Asawin Suebsaeng | title=Dem Insiders Begged Team Harris Not to Campaign With Liz Cheney | website=Rolling Stone | date=2024-11-08 | url=https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/harris-cheney-democrats-campaign-trump-election-2024-1235158805/ | access-date=2024-11-25}}</ref> She even went as far as to say she would continue building Trump's wall!<ref>{{cite web | last=Strickler | first=Laura | last2=Ainsley | firs2t=Julia | last3=Martinez | first3=Didi | title=Both Trump and Harris say they'll build more border wall. In this county, the parts have been waiting, and rusting, since 2021. | website=NBC | date=2024-09-29 | url=https://www.nbcnews.com/investigations/trump-harris-border-wall-arizona-rusting-2021-rcna173094 | access-date=2024-12-7}}</ref> Her strategy resulted in the worst of both worlds. She failed to convince skeptical conservative-leaning independents that she had truly moved to the right,<ref>{{cite web | last=Gallup | first=Inc. | last2=Saad | first2=Lydia | title=Voters See a Choice Between Character, Leadership Skill | website=Gallup.com | date=2024-10-10 | url=https://news.gallup.com/poll/651692/voters-choice-character-leadership-skill.aspx | access-date=2024-11-25}}</ref> and she alienated the Democratic base to the point where turnout plummeted in key Democratic urban areas like Detroit and Philadelphia.<ref>{{cite web | last=Bender | first=Michael C. | title=A Look at Democratic Voter Turnout and Trump’s Election Victory | website=The New York Times | date=2024-11-11 | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/11/us/politics/democrats-trump-harris-turnout.html | access-date=2024-11-25}}</ref> 

Trump, meanwhile, ran a typically deranged Trumpist campaign featuring anti-immigrant fearmongering<ref>{{cite web | last=Bender | first=Michael C. | title=On the Trail, Trump and Vance Sharpen a Nativist, Anti-Immigrant Tone | website=The New York Times | date=2024-09-22 | url=https://archive.ph/ezuFN | access-date=2024-11-25}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | last=Chidi | first=George | title=Name-calling and hyperbole: Trump continues fear-mongering fest at Georgia rally | website=the Guardian | date=2024-08-04 | url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/aug/03/trump-rally-georgia-crime-immigration | access-date=2024-11-25}}</ref> and employing authoritarian and dehumanizing rhetoric.<ref>{{cite web | last=Nathan Layne | first=Gram Slattery,Tim Reid | title=Trump calls migrants 'animals,' intensifying focus on illegal immigration | website=Reuters | date=2024-04-03 | url=https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-expected-highlight-murder-michigan-woman-immigration-speech-2024-04-02/}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | last=Beauchamp | first=Zack | title=When Trump tells you he’s an authoritarian, believe him | website=Vox | date=2023-11-14 | url=https://www.vox.com/2023/11/14/23958866/trump-vermin-authoritarian-democracy}}</ref> Oh, and he was also a convicted felon this time.<ref>{{cite web | last=Woodward | first=Alex | title=Trump makes history as first criminally convicted US president after hush money trial | website=The Independent | date=2024-06-02 | url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/donald-trump-guilty-verdict-hush-money-trial-b2551318.html}}</ref> And possibly had dementia.<ref>{{cite web | last=Gartner | first=John | title=Does Donald Trump have dementia? We need to know: Psychologist | website=USA TODAY | date=2019-04-09 | url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2019/04/09/does-donald-trump-have-dementia-we-need-know-psychologist-column/3404007002/}}</ref> Despite its various missteps and shortcomings, Trump's campaign and his political alliance with [[Robert F. Kennedy Jr.]] proved effective at reaching the large cohort of voters who expressed disgust and distrust in politics-as-usual and the media.<ref>{{cite web | last=Cooper | first=Jonathan J. | title=In battleground Arizona, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. draws Biden and Trump voters united by distrust | website=AP News | date=2023-12-25 | url=https://apnews.com/article/robert-kennedy-rfk-independent-phoenix-ce8ef411c13bb7d5fc4ddff198cbbac9 | access-date=2024-11-22}}</ref>

That said, the election was more of a repudiation of Harris herself than of the Democratic Party. Trump was quite unpopular despite winning,<ref>{{cite web | last=Gallup | first=Inc. | last2=Jones | first2=Jeffrey M. | title=Trump, Harris Favorability on Low End of 68-Year Trend | website=Gallup.com | date=2024-10-22 | url=https://news.gallup.com/poll/652427/trump-harris-favorability-low-end-year-trend.aspx}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | last=Cerda | first=Andy | title=Little change in Americans’ views of Trump over the past year | website=Pew Research Center | date=2024-08-13 | url=https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2023/07/21/little-change-in-americans-views-of-trump-over-the-past-year/ }}</ref> and Democratic Senate candidates won in four states Harris lost by touting their own records.<ref>{{cite web | title=Democrats won 4 big Senate races in states Harris lost. Their ads looked very different. | website=NBC News | date=2024-11-13 | url=https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/democrats-won-4-big-senate-races-states-harris-lost-ads-looked-differe-rcna179668 }}</ref> After much money and effort by the Republicans, the Republican majority in the [[House of Representatives]] successfully went from razor-thin...<ref>{{cite web | title=US midterm election 2022 results | website=BBC News | date=2022-11-08 | url=https://www.bbc.com/news/election/2022/us/results | ref={{sfnref|BBC News|2022}} }}</ref> to razor-thin.<ref>{{cite web | last=Lesniewski | first=Niels | title=Final election results show House Democrats gained a net of one seat | website=Roll Call | date=2024-12-04 | url=https://rollcall.com/2024/12/04/final-election-results-show-house-democrats-gained-a-net-of-one-seat/ | access-date=2025-01-02}}</ref> There were some additional positive signs of progress as well; {{wpl|Sarah McBride|}} became the first openly-[[transgender]] person to win a seat in Congress<ref>{{cite web | title=Sarah McBride becomes the first out transgender person elected to Congress | website=NBC News | date=2024-11-06 | url=https://www.nbcnews.com/nbc-out/out-politics-and-policy/sarah-mcbride-first-transgender-congress-delaware-rcna177878 | ref={{sfnref|NBC News|2024}}}}</ref>, and there were other historic wins for LGBTQ+ candidates.<ref>{{cite web | title=LGBTQ candidates saw big election wins, with several historic victories | website=NBC News | date=2024-11-08 | url=https://www.nbcnews.com/nbc-out/out-politics-and-policy/lgbtq-candidates-saw-big-election-wins-several-historic-victories-rcna179310}}</ref>

Of course, all these facts amount to are mere silver linings amid a disastrous failure on the Democratic Party's part to challenge Trump, whose options to combat the upcoming administration and the Republican Congress will be extremely limited until at least the 2026 midterm elections. Curiously, 2024's election was a historical parallel to the {{wpl|1968 United States presidential election|1968 election}}, in which an [[Lyndon B. Johnson|incumbent Democratic president]] who was [[Vietnam War|partaking in foreign atrocities]] {{wpl|Withdrawal of Lyndon B. Johnson from the 1968 United States presidential election|unexpectedly ended his reelection bid}} only to have {{wpl|Hubert Humphrey|their vice president}} run in his stead and ultimately lose to a [[Richard Nixon|Republican who ended up changing US politics for the worse.]]

All in all, it’s a very bad time to be pro-democracy.

==Background==
[[File:P20210730AS-0226 (51441330809).jpg|thumb|right|365px|Harris meets with President Biden in the [[Eisenhower]] Executive Office Building, 2021.]]
===The failed Vice Presidency of Kamala Harris===
The first seeds of disaster were sewn when Joe Biden picked Kamala Harris as his running mate in the [[2020 U.S. presidential election]]. Biden's campaign did Harris no favors when they openly admitted that he chose Harris because she was a Black woman during a period defined by the [[Black Lives Matter]] movement—despite facing very little pressure from the Democratic base to choose someone based on skin color.<ref>{{cite web | last=Burns | first=Alexander | last2=Glueck | first2=Katie | title=Kamala Harris, Biden's V.P. Pick, Is First Woman of Color on Major Party Ticket | website=The New York Times | date=2020-08-11 | url=https://archive.ph/Xy82Z}}</ref> Biden was also open about the fact that he was choosing Harris as a governing partner rather than a future president, a strange move for a man as old as Biden.

Not long after she began her role as VP, Harris started burning through experienced staff members allegedly due to her toxic attitude and poor leadership.<ref>{{cite web | last=Wootson | first=Cleve R. Jr. | last2=Pager | first2=Tyler | title=A Kamala Harris staff exodus reignites questions about her leadership style | website=Washington Post | date=2021-12-04 | url=https://archive.ph/nGfFW}}</ref> Amid this atmosphere of chaos from the VP office, Harris loyalists fumed that Biden's aides were choosing to sideline Harris rather than help her or prepare her for a potential rise to the presidency.<ref>{{cite web | last=Edward-Isaac Dovere | first=Jasmine Wright | title=Exasperation and dysfunction: Inside Kamala Harris’ frustrating start as vice president | website=CNN | date=2021-11-14 | url=https://www.cnn.com/2021/11/14/politics/kamala-harris-frustrating-start-vice-president/index.html }}</ref> Her inactivity became the subject of mockery by ''[[The Onion]]'', who wrote the article "White House Urges Kamala Harris To Sit At Computer All Day In Case Emails Come Through" in October 2021.<ref>{{cite web | title=White House Urges Kamala Harris To Sit At Computer All Day In Case Emails Come Through | website=The Onion | date=2021-10-29 | url=https://theonion.com/white-house-urges-kamala-harris-to-sit-at-computer-all-1847963740/ }}</ref> Biden then saddled her with the unenviable task of attempting to address the "root cause" of the rapidly-mounting [[undocumented immigration]] crisis at the southern border.<ref>{{cite web | last=Grant | first=Will | title=Is Kamala Harris a 'failed border tsar' as Trump says? | website=BBC Home | date=2024-08-14 | url=https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c3gdjjlydp4o}}</ref> 

By January 2022, Harris' Vice Presidency was in crisis. Polls showed that her approval rating was an abysmal 28%, which was even lower than [[Dick Cheney]].<ref>{{cite web | last=Zurcher | first=Anthony | title=Kamala Harris one year: Where did it go wrong for her? | website=BBC Home | date=2022-01-20 | url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-60061473}}</ref>{{efn|You know you're fucked when you're rated below a war criminal}} Through late 2023, her approval rating did not recover.<ref>{{cite web | last=Leader | first=Lauren | last2=Contributor | first2=Opinion | title=Kamala Harris is far from the worst vice president: Why do polls say otherwise? | website=The Hill | date=2023-07-19 | url=https://thehill.com/opinion/campaign/4103153-kamala-harris-is-far-from-the-worst-vice-president-why-do-polls-say-otherwise/}}</ref> Emblematic of the struggles of her Vice Presidency was an appearance in [[Germany]] in October 2023, in which Harris bombed a speech in front of foreign leaders, and Biden's staffers only half-heartedly tried to fill the resulting silence with some applause.<ref name="searchharris">{{cite web | last=Herndon | first=Astead W. | title=Kamala Harris Is Struggling to Make the Case for Herself | website=The New York Times | date=2023-10-10 | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/10/magazine/kamala-harris.html }}</ref>

As election season started to heat up in 2023, many Democrats and party donors started to signal their lack of faith in the prospect of keeping Harris on the presidential ticket with Biden (or, god forbid, running her as their candidate).<ref>{{cite web | last=Jasmine Wright | first=Edward-Isaac Dovere | title=Democratic leaders want the party to stop its Kamala Harris pile-on ahead of 2024 | website=CNN | date=2023-03-12 | url=https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/12/politics/kamala-harris-democratic-party/index.html }}</ref> A significant motivating factor behind Biden's decision to run for reelection was his team's conviction that Harris would completely flop in an election contest against Donald Trump—a belief shaped and bolstered by Harris' failures in the 2020 Democratic primary contests and Harris' disastrous poll numbers as Vice President.<ref>{{cite web | last=Levitz | first=Eric | title=The Case for Biden to Drop Kamala Harris | website=Intelligencer | date=2023-09-13 | url=https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2023/09/the-case-for-biden-to-drop-kamala-harris.html }}</ref> Democratic Representative Jamie Raskin and former House Speaker [[Nancy Pelosi]] both drew ire from Harris' team for refusing to say that they thought Harris remained the strongest running mate for Biden in 2024.<ref name="searchharris"/><ref>{{cite web | last=Konig | first=Joseph | title=Pelosi declines to say if Harris is 'best' for Biden ticket | website=Spectrum News NY1  | date=2023-09-14 | url=https://ny1.com/nyc/all-boroughs/politics/2023/09/14/-he-thinks-so-and-that-s-what-matters---pelosi-won-t-say-if-harris-is-best-for-biden-ticket}}</ref> After Senator [[Elizabeth Warren]] snubbed Harris by hedging on the question of keeping Harris as VP during an interview, Harris refused to take her phone calls for some time afterward.<ref>{{cite web | last=Parnes | first=Amie | last2=Trudo | first2=Hanna | last3=Amie Parnes | first3=Hanna Trudo | title=Bipartisan dinner soothes Harris-Warren tensions | website=The Hill | date=2023-03-15 | url=https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/3902121-bipartisan-dinner-soothes-harris-warren-tensions/ }}</ref> The Biden administration finally decided to feature Harris in its advertising and send her on some high-profile assignments, but no amount of effort could completely erase the doubt.<ref name="searchharris"/>

===The unlikely comeback of Donald Trump===
[[File:Trump in court for his hush money trial.webp|thumb|right|350px|Trump appears at Manhattan Criminal Court during his hush-money trial, May 2024.]]
Donald Trump, meanwhile, faced the prospect of a completely destroyed political career after inciting the [[2021 U.S. coup attempt]], enduring a second [[impeachment]], and being confronted with a litany of civil and criminal legal proceedings.<ref>{{cite web | author=The New York Times | title=Trump Criminal Cases, Explained: Charges and Status of Each Inquiry | website=The New York Times | date=2023-07-26 | url=https://archive.ph/tdC4Q}}</ref> Trump's problems mounted further when the [[FBI]] raided his residence at the Mar-a-Lago and discovered that the former president had irresponsibly left boxes of classified documents lying around.<ref>{{cite web | last=Collins | first=Kaitlan | last2=Liptak | first2=Kevin | last3=Polantz | first3=Katelyn | last4=Murray | first4=Sara | last5=Perez | first5=Evan | last6=Orr | first6=Gabby | last7=Berman | first7=Dan | title=FBI executes search warrant at Mar-a-Lago, Trump says | website=CNN | date=2022-08-08 | url=https://www.cnn.com/2022/08/08/politics/mar-a-lago-search-warrant-fbi-donald-trump/index.html}}</ref> After so many Trump-endorsed candidates failed during the [[2022 midterm elections]], Republican Party insiders started to call for the party to move on from Donald Trump.<ref>{{cite web | title=Facing GOP blame for midterms, Trump pushes ‘stable genius’ line | website=MSNBC.com | date=2022-11-10 | url=https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/facing-gop-blame-midterms-trump-pushes-stable-genius-line-rcna56616}}</ref> A [[New York]] jury also found Trump civilly liable for defaming and sexually assaulting advice columnist E. Jean Carroll.<ref>{{cite web | last=Neumeister | first=Larry | last2=Sisak | first2=Michael R. | last3=Peltz | first3=Jennifer | title=Jury finds Trump liable for sexual abuse, awards accuser $5M | website=AP News | date=2023-05-10 | url=https://apnews.com/article/trump-rape-carroll-trial-fe68259a4b98bb3947d42af9ec83d7db}}</ref>

Unfortunately, things changed completely in 2023. Being indicted three times that year—first in [[New York]] for financial crimes, then in federal court for mishandling classified documents, then again in federal court for attempting to obstruct the peaceful transfer of power after the [[2020 U.S. presidential election]]—made Trump's popularity rebound with Republicans who percieved these charges as being mere politically-motivated persecution.<ref name="trumpopback">{{cite web | last=Zurcher | first=Anthony | title=Why Trump's poll lead went up after criminal indictments | website=BBC Home | date=2023-07-31 | url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-66274979}}</ref> The federal prosecution of Trump resulted in the worst of both worlds. The mere fact of the prosecution fueled Trump's popularity with Republicans as a "persecuted" outsider, and Attorney General Merrick Garland's feckless reluctance to fully commit to the effort resulted in the legal cases happening too late and too slow to have any effect on Trump's momentum.<ref>{{cite web | last=Needham | first=Lisa | title=The wreckage Merrick Garland leaves behind | website=Public Notice | date=2024-11-08 | url=https://www.publicnotice.co/p/merrick-garland-failures-explained}}</ref> In May 2024, a grand jury convicted Trump on 34 felony counts related to falsifying business records to conceal that he had paid hush money to [[porn]] star {{wpl|Stormy Daniels||}} to stop her from revealing his affair with her.<ref>{{cite web | title=Photos: Trump convicted in hush money case | website=CNN | date=2023-03-31 | url=https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/31/politics/gallery/trump-indictment/index.html}}</ref> This had little impact on a presidential contest that was now Trump's to lose.

The resurgence of support for Trump was reflected in his polling lead over [[Ron DeSantis]] in the upcoming Republican primaries, which was narrow in February and insurmountable in July.<ref name="trumpopback"/> He dominated the Republican primary season even without trying; his opponents were asked about him during the debate in August despite Trump's absence.<ref>{{cite web | title=Donald Trump pulled off the ultimate comeback. See how we got here | website=CNN | date=2024-11-06 | url=https://www.cnn.com/interactive/2024/11/politics/trump-election-comeback-cnnphotos/}}</ref> He went on to win the contests easily and secure the Republican nomination.<ref>{{cite web | last=Press | first=Associated | title=Trump clinches 2024 Republican nomination | website=PBS News | date=2024-03-12 | url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/trump-clinches-2024-republican-nomination}}</ref> 

Then, on July 13th, Trump got another boost in support when a gunman attempted to assassinate him and fatally shot one of Trump's supporters during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.<ref>{{cite web | last=Kurtzleben | first=Danielle | title=Trump is returning to Butler, the site of the 1st assassination attempt against him | website=NPR | date=2024-10-05 | url=https://www.npr.org/2024/10/05/g-s1-26462/donald-trump-butler-pennsylvania-rally-assassination-attempt}}</ref> A few months later, another gunman was apprehended after setting up a "sniper's nest" near Trump's Florida residence.<ref>{{cite web | last=Lybrand | first=Holmes | title=Man accused of second attempted Trump assassination pleads not guilty | CNN Politics | website=CNN | date=2024-09-30 | url=https://www.cnn.com/2024/09/30/politics/ryan-wesley-routh-trump-assassination-attempt-plea/index.html}}</ref>

<center><gallery widths=225px heights=225px>
File:Classified intelligence material found during search of Mar-a-Lago.jpg|Classified documents found by the FBI in Mar-a-Lago.
File:Ron DeSantis & Nikki Haley (53460469154).jpg|[[Ron DeSantis]] and [[Nikki Haley]] debate during the primaries.
File:Republican Party presidential primaries results, 2024.svg|2024 Republican primary results. {{Legend|#283681|Donald Trump}}{{Legend|#FE6100|Nikki Haley}}
File:Donald Trump (53786991227).jpg|Trump at a rally in [[Arizona]], June 2024.
</gallery></center>

===The disastrous decisions of Joe Biden===
[[File:President Joe Biden delivers remarks from the Oval Office.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Biden explains his unprecedented decision to end his reelection campaign after winning his party's primaries, 24 July 2024.]]
{{cquote|We finally beat Medicare.|||One of the numerous gaffes from Biden's disastrous debate performance.<ref>[https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2024/06/biden-trump-debate-how-bad-was-it.html "You Can’t Expect People to Vote for This," Ben Mathis-Lilley, Slate]</ref><ref>[https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2024/06/biden-trump-debate-how-bad-was-it.html Joe Biden Mumbles and Stumbles the Democrats Into Crisis]  by Jose Pagliery and Jake Lahut, Daily Beast.</ref>}}
On 25 April 2023, Biden announced his decision to seek reelection,<ref>[https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-election-2024-president-democrats-trump-9c72115656855da89a41cac3f79aa65b Biden announces 2024 reelection bid: ‘Let’s finish this job’]. ''Associated Press.'' April 25, 2023.</ref> despite the fact that he would be 86 at the end of a potential second term and his approval rating at the point of this announcement had slipped to its lowest point ever at 37%.<ref>[https://news.gallup.com/poll/505202/biden-begins-reelection-bid-low-point-presidency.aspx Biden Begins Reelection Bid at Low Point in His Presidency]. ''Gallup.'' April 27, 2023.</ref>

Probably thanks to the lingering memory of what happened to President [[Jimmy Carter]] after [[Ted Kennedy]] tried to unseat him in the 1980 Democratic primaries, Joe Biden faced little formal opposition in the 2024 Democratic contests.<ref>[https://www.cnn.com/2023/11/08/politics/democrats-biden-carter-what-matters/index.html  Democrats are praying 2024 is not 1980 and Biden is not Carter]. November 8, 2023.</ref> Joke candidates like [[Marianne Williamson]] and liquor magnate Rep. Dean Phillips of [[Minnesota]] both announced their intent to challenge Biden for the Democratic nomination (alongside some even bigger joke candidates). Williamson didn't win a single delegate and Phillips' best finish was 19.7% of the vote in New Hampshire, which sounds good on its face for a challenger to an incumbent until you consider that Joe Biden didn't campaign in New Hampshire due to his dissatisfaction with local rules, wasn't even on the ballot, and won 63.8% of the vote as a write-in candidate.<ref>[https://newhampshirebulletin.com/2024/01/23/biden-wins-the-new-hampshire-democratic-primary-without-showing-up/ Biden wins the New Hampshire Democratic primary, without showing up], Ethan DeWitt, ''New Hampshire Bulletin'' 23 January 2024.</ref> Biden's biggest primary challenge ended up being nobody at all. A protest campaign encouraging primary voters to cast "uncommitted" ballots to signal that Biden had lost their support over his enabling of [[Israel]]'s war crimes in Gaza<ref name="primprot">[https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/commentisfree/2024/apr/27/uncommitted-voters-democratic-party-palestine Uncommitted voters are not apathetic. The Democratic party is]. ''The Guardian.'' 27 Apr 2024.</ref> gained some attention by winning over 100,000 "uncommitted" ballots in the critical swing state of [[Michigan]], meaning that "uncomitted" actually technically won delegates.<ref name="uncomitmap">[https://www.npr.org/2024/03/06/1236295096/super-tuesday-results-uncommitted-biden-gaza-israel 'Uncommitted' movement spreads to Super Tuesday states]. ''NPR.'' March 6, 2024.</ref> "Uncommitted" also received 12.7% in [[North Carolina]], 19% in [[Minnesota]] and 29% (!) in [[Hawaii]].<ref name="uncomitmap"/> In New York, which does not have an "uncommitted" option, 11.5% of voters returned blank ballots.<ref name="uncomitmap"/> So while Biden didn't do badly as Carter did in 1980, this was still a very ominous sign for an incumbent president seeking reelection. 

Biden also decided to face Donald Trump in a formal debate on June 27, before either of them had been officially nominated by their parties. With concerns over Biden's age at fever-pitch and the president's poll numbers reaching new lows, the stakes for Biden heading into that debate could not have been higher. He failed utterly, instead appearing forgetful and barely coherent.<ref name="dempanic">[https://apnews.com/article/bidentrumppresidentialdebate-0e7577e9a354a69f50675494fea54ca9 A halting Biden tries to confront Trump at debate but sparks Democratic anxiety about his candidacy]. ''Associated Press.'' June 28, 2024.</ref> Panic ensued from inside the Democratic Party<ref name="dempanic"/> as Biden's bad poll numbers against Trump fell even further to the point where Democratic leaders, donors, voters, and strategists feared Biden's failure would cause a total wipeout of Democrats in down-ballot races.<ref>[https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2024/07/11/amid-doubts-about-bidens-mental-sharpness-trump-leads-presidential-race/ Amid Doubts About Biden’s Mental Sharpness, Trump Leads Presidential Race]. ''Pew Research Center.'' July 11, 2024.</ref> Biden later admitted that he had "screwed up" during the debate.<ref>[https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/crgrwgnvqgvo Biden says he 'screwed up' debate but vows to stay in election]. ''BBC News.'' 4 July 2024.</ref>

Over the next 25 days, Biden endured pressure from top-level Democrats to drop out of the race despite having already won the Democratic primaries.<ref>[https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/timeline-biden-withdrawal-trump-debate-25-days-us-politics-rcna162965 Timeline: From the Biden-Trump debate to Biden’s withdrawal: 25 days that shook American politics]. ''NBC News.'' July 21, 2024.</ref> He unwisely stayed firm in his decision to stay in until former House Speaker [[Nancy Pelosi]] and Biden's former boss [[Barack Obama]] both got involved.<ref>[https://apnews.com/article/biden-democrats-drop-out-election-2024-3f9e3d15431fd4974771a54e1d0e4ea7 Biden is isolated at home as Obama, Pelosi and other Democrats push for him to reconsider 2024 race]. ''Associated Press.'' July 18, 2024.</ref> On 21 July, Biden dropped out and endorsed Kamala Harris as his successor; Harris staged a complete takeover of the Democratic nomination within 48 hours.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/24/us/politics/kamala-harris-democrats-nomination.html How Kamala Harris Took Command of the Democratic Party in 48 Hours]. ''New York Times.'' July 26, 2024.</ref> Biden was the first president to end an ongoing reelection bid since [[Lyndon Johnson]] in 1968, and he was the first president ever to do so after already having won his party's primaries.<ref>[https://www.npr.org/2024/07/22/nx-s1-5048115/biden-harris-drop-out-election-analysis 6 political takeaways from Biden's decision to step aside]. ''NPR.'' July 22, 2024.</ref>

This left Harris, a weak candidate in her own right, facing a disastrous situation. She had much less time than usual to organize a campaign, she had to pull the Democrats back from the brink of oblivion (Biden was apparently on track to lose over 400 electoral votes<ref>{{cite web | last=Ventura | first=Juliann | title=‘Pod Save America:’ Biden’s internal polling showed Trump winning 400 electoral votes | website=The Hill | date=2024-11-09 | url=https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4981792-pod-save-america-bidens-internal-polling-showed-trump-winning-400-electoral-votes/}}</ref>), and come up with a winning message against Donald Trump. It would take a damn good candidate to accomplish these things. Harris wasn't that candidate.

<center><gallery widths=225px heights=225px>
File:Biden - I'm running for RE-ELECTION.jpg|Please don't. 
File:Democratic Party presidential primaries results by delegate allocation, 2024.svg|2024 Democratic primary results. {{legend|#224192|Joe Biden}}{{legend|#9243b7|Jason Palmer {{efn|Yes, he's on the map; no, we don't know who this guy is either.}}}}
File:Joe Biden during the disaster debate(2).jpg|Joe Biden looking lost during his debate with Trump. 
File:Harris at the DNC.jpg|Kamala Harris at the 2024 Democratic National Convention.
</gallery></center>

==Campaign issues==
[[File:Trump will fix it Grand Rapids Michigan.webp|thumb|right|395px|Trump at a rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan.]]
===It's the economy, stupid===
{{cquote|For me, it’s work. It’s the economy. It’s groceries.|||Pennsylvania voter Regino Cruz explains why he voted for Trump.<ref>{{cite web | title=Record voter gains among Latinos for Trump mainly boiled down to their top issue | website=NBC News | date=2024-11-06 | url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/trump-economy-latino-vote-2024-election-rcna178951}}</ref>|}}
Harris' campaign heavily suffered from negative perceptions about the economy. Despite economic numbers looking nice on paper, everyday Americans struggled with a tougher job market, increased prices, much higher debts, and much lower savings.<ref>{{cite web | last=Narea | first=Nicole | title=Why Democrats couldn’t sell a strong economy, in 3 charts | website=Vox | date=2024-11-07 | url=https://www.vox.com/2024-elections/383397/economy-inflation-2024-election-democrats-trump }}</ref> Not to mention record-high homelessness<ref>{{cite web | last=Meador | first=Sophia | title=US homelessness hits record levels | website=Public Health Newswire | url=http://publichealthnewswire.org/?p=homeless-report|}}</ref> and evictions,<ref>{{cite web | last=Lab | first=Eviction | title=Preliminary Analysis: Eviction Filing Patterns in 2023 | website=Eviction Lab | date=2024-04-22 | url=https://evictionlab.org/ets-report-2023/ |}}</ref> and the administration's abandonment of renters experiencing the crushing burden of paying for a place to live.<ref>Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University. [https://www.jchs.harvard.edu/sites/default/files/reports/files/Harvard_JCHS_Americas_Rental_Housing_2024.pdf America's Rental Housing 2024].</ref>

The Biden administration's attempts to spin the economy as being good based on government's on-paper numbers came off as being very tone-deaf,<ref>{{cite web | last=Stewart | first=Emily | title=Can Joe Biden convince Americans the economy is actually good? | website=Vox | date=2023-08-01 | url=https://www.vox.com/23815490/joe-biden-economy-bidenomics-jobs-inflation-2024-election}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | last=Nichols | first=Hans | title=Biden's challenge: Convince voters this isn't the economy they think it is | website=Axios | date=2024-01-14 | url=https://www.axios.com/2024/01/14/biden-economy-message-election |}}</ref>{{efn|If you want another example of tone-deaf, here's [[Joe Scarborough]] telling us that [https://archive.ph/7tO00 America is doing just great under Biden and that we should all be more patriotic because of it].|}} and Harris failed to adequately explain to voters how she would address these problems.<ref name="harrisecon"/> Harris' lack of engagement on the economy frustrated Black and Latino voters, who had been saying for over a year that they were experiencing a much greater degree of financial hardship than the Biden administration's rosy numbers would indicate.<ref>{{cite web | last=Paz | first=Christian | title=Black and Latino Americans haven’t experienced the same economy as everyone else | website=Vox | date=2023-12-16 | url=https://www.vox.com/2024-elections/23992436/black-latino-americans-economy-biden-democrats-voters-poll-inflation|}}</ref>

Trump, meanwhile, exploited the economy issue by unveiling a broad array of vague promises, such as cutting taxes, placing tariffs on imports, and eliminating regulations to encourage home-building.<ref>{{cite web | last=Lobosco | first=Katie | last2=Luhby | first2=Tami | title=Here’s what Trump is proposing for the economy | website=CNN | date=2024-11-06 | url=https://www.cnn.com/2024/11/06/politics/heres-what-trump-is-proposing-for-the-economy/index.html}}</ref> A closer look at his tax proposals revealed that they would actually raise taxes on all but the top 5%.<ref>{{cite web | title=A Distributional Analysis of Donald Trump’s Tax Plan | website=ITEP | date=2024-10-07 | url=https://itep.org/a-distributional-analysis-of-donald-trumps-tax-plan-2024/}}</ref> While experts warned that his economic plan would both worsen inflation and damage the economy,<ref>{{cite web | last=Wiseman | first=Paul | last2=Rugaber | first2=Christopher | title=Trump's economic plans would worsen inflation, experts say | website=AP News | date=2024-10-15 | url=https://apnews.com/article/trump-inflation-tariffs-taxes-immigration-federal-reserve-a18de763fcc01557258c7f33cab375ed}}</ref> frustrated voters responded to the mere fact that Trump was promising any change at all.

Trump also integrated a few populist proposals into his pitch to voters. He promised to eliminate taxes on tips while rallying in Nevada, a state where 25% of the workforce are employed in the hospitality industry.<ref>{{cite web | last=Picciotto | first=Rebecca | title=Trump says he will eliminate taxes on workers' tips in a play for Nevada voters | website=CNBC | date=2024-06-10 | url=https://www.cnbc.com/2024/06/10/trump-taxes-on-tips-nevada.html}}</ref> Belatedly realizing this was an effective idea, Harris echoed the proposal while also in Nevada.<ref>{{cite web | last=Picciotto | first=Rebecca | title=Harris matches Trump proposal to ban taxes on tips at Las Vegas rally | website=CNBC | date=2024-08-11 | url=https://www.cnbc.com/2024/08/11/harris-trump-tax-tips-election.html}}</ref> He also promised to eliminate taxes on Social Security payments and on overtime pay. While seemingly simple, these policies would actually cause serious consequences like causing tipping expectations to proliferate even more, add tens of billions to the deficit, and deprive Social Security of a major source of income.<ref>{{cite web | last=Wamsley | first=Laurel | title=Trump has promised lower taxes. These are 3 ways it could impact you | website=NPR | date=2024-11-26 | url=https://www.npr.org/2024/11/25/nx-s1-5203099/trump-tax-cuts-social-security-tipped-income}}</ref>

===Threats to democracy===
{{cquote|Democracy is on the ballot. Your freedom is on the ballot.|||Joe Biden, 6 January 2024.<ref>[https://www.reuters.com/world/us/biden-marks-jan-6-with-election-year-warning-democratic-threats-2024-01-05/ Trump seeks 'revenge and retribution' Biden says] ''Reuters'' 6 January 2024.</ref>}}
After Trump's involvement with [[January 6th]], his denial of and attempts to overturn the 2020 election, and his increasingly fascistic tone on the campaign trail, it was a fairly obvious line of attack for Democrats to cast Trump as a threat to American democracy. Throwing [[Project 2025]], the Supreme Court's decision that sitting presidents are immune from prosecution, and Trump's promises to drastically increase the size of the federal government<ref>{{cite web | last=Savage | first=Charlie | title=Trump’s Immunity Claim Joins His Plans to Increase Executive Power | website=The New York Times | date=2024-04-24 | url=https://archive.ph/bHLHz}}</ref> into the mix, and the "democracy is under threat" line of attack ought to have become quite compelling.

Harris outright called Trump a [[fascist]] during an October town hall event in Pennsylvania.<ref>{{cite web | last=McDuffie | first=Will | last2=Abdul-Hakim | first2=Gabriella | last3=Farrow | first3=Fritz | last4=Murphy | first4=T. Michelle | title=Harris slams Trump as 'fascist,' says John Kelly is 'putting out a 911 call' to Americans | website=ABC News | date=2024-10-24 | url=https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/harris-expected-advantage-kellys-critical-comments-trump-cnn/story?id=115069432}}</ref> By the end of the campaign cycle, it appeared to be working, an ABC News/Ipsos poll found that about 49% of registered voters saw Trump as a wannabe fascist.<ref>{{cite web | last=Langer | first=Gary | last2=Sparks | first2=Steven | title=Half of Americans see Donald Trump as a fascist: POLL | website=ABC News | date=2024-10-25 | url=https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/donald-trump-fascist-concerns-poll/story?id=115083795 }}</ref> 

The democracy message ultimately fell flat. While most voters didn't like Trump's rhetoric or his authoritarian tendencies, they perceived the Harris campaign's focus on the democracy message as an effort to ignore tangible issues in favor of focusing on abstract hypotheticals.<ref>{{cite web | last=Hubler | first=Shawn | title=Why Harris’s Push for Democracy Didn’t Land With Voters | website=The New York Times | date=2024-11-06 | url=https://archive.ph/FkiD1}}</ref> The Harris campaign failed to make Trump's threat to democracy seem real to voters. For many Republican-supporters, Trump's campaign also successfully flipped the narrative by describing Democrats as a threat to democracy for "weaponizing the Justice Department" against Donald Trump.<ref>{{cite web | last=Masquelier-Page | first=Alice | title=Majority of US adults say democracy is on the ballot but they differ on the threat: AP-NORC poll | website=The Associated Press | date=2024-08-08 | url=https://www.ap.org/news-highlights/spotlights/2024/majority-of-us-adults-say-democracy-is-on-the-ballot-but-they-differ-on-the-threat-ap-norc-poll/}}</ref> Early in the campaign, Trump had nonsensically called Joe Biden "the destroyer of American democracy."<ref>{{cite web | last=Riccardi | first=Nicholas | last2=Price | first2=Michelle L. | title=Trump calls Biden the 'destroyer' of democracy despite his own efforts to overturn 2020 election | website=AP News | date=2023-12-03 | url=https://apnews.com/article/trump-biden-democracy-election-2024-f2f824f056ae9f81f4e688fe590f41b4}}</ref>

===Abortion===
[[File:V20240122LJ-1095 (53892584445).jpg|thumb|right|350px|Harris campaigns on abortion rights in [[Wisconsin]].]]
{{main|Abortion}}
One of the bigger faceplants from the Harris campaign was placing too many eggs into the "abortion" basket. Democratic successes in the [[2022 midterm elections]] after the Supreme Court overturned the ''[[Roe v. Wade]]'' decision left Democratic strategists with a fatally overinflated sense of how much abortion would matter to women and to voters in general.<ref>{{cite web | last=Ollstein | first=Alice Miranda | title=Democrats are counting on abortion rights to win this battleground state | website=POLITICO | date=2024-03-25 | url=https://www.politico.com/news/2024/03/25/abortion-2024-elections-arizona-00148683 }}</ref> Democrats also understood that abortion was one of the very few issues where they had the upper hand in 2024. While the economy and immigration issues could be easily tied to the Biden administration, the ongoing political chaos and mounting death-count<ref>{{cite web | last=Szal | first=Roxanne | title=Rest in Power: A Running List of the Preventable Deaths Caused by Abortion Bans | website=Ms. Magazine | date=2024-11-04 | url=https://msmagazine.com/2024/11/04/women-die-abortion-ban-elections-vote/}}</ref> due to the end of nationwide legal abortion could be laid at Trump's doorstep due to his appointment of the Supreme Court justices who made that decision. 

In October, Democratic campaigns spent about $214 million on broadcast TV ads focusing on abortion, which amounted to 45% of all ad expenditures.<ref name="abortbet">{{cite web | last=Cillizza | first=Chris | title=Analysis: Did Democrats place a losing bet on abortion? | website=CNN | date=2022-11-02 | url=https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/02/politics/democrats-losing-bet-abortion/index.html}}</ref> This absolutely dwarfed expenditures on advertisements focusing on any other issue. To the contrary, polls showed that 51% of voters viewed the economy as the most pressing issue, with abortion at a paltry 15%.<ref name="abortbet"/> 

To further capitalize on the abortion issue, Democrats successfully placed ballot referendums to protect abortion rights in ten states around the country in the hopes of further driving up turnout.<ref>{{cite web | last=Rakich | first=Nathaniel | title=Abortion-rights ballot measures may not help Democrats as much as they think | website=ABC News | date=2024-07-30 | url=https://abcnews.go.com/538/abortion-rights-ballot-measures-democrats/story?id=112114926}}</ref> Instead of helping Harris win, it seems like the referendums backfired by allowing voters to support Trump while simultaneously voting for the referendums to protect abortion rights.<ref>{{cite web | last=Blake | first=Aaron | title=Did abortion ballot measures backfire on Democrats? | website=Washington Post | date=2024-11-08 | url=https://archive.ph/oomhG#selection-526.0-526.1}}</ref> The referendums gave pro-choice Republicans the perfect excuse to justify voting for Trump while still thinking that abortion would be safe. Trump's messaging—disavowing a national abortion ban and punting the issue to state-level politics—once again proved effective with voters.<ref>{{cite web | last=Vakil | first=Caroline | last2=Manchester | first2=Julia | last3=Caroline Vakil | first3=Julia Manchester | title=Democrats’ election abortion strategy falls flat | website=The Hill | date=2024-11-07 | url=https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4977629-democrats-election-abortion-strategy-falls-flat/}}</ref> The abortion-rights referendums performed better than Harris in every state in which they appeared.<ref>{{cite web | last=Washington | first=Jessica | title=Voters Overwhelmingly Chose to Protect Abortion | website=The Intercept | date=2024-11-06 | url=https://theintercept.com/2024/11/06/abortion-kamala-harris-trump-election/}}</ref>

===Immigration (they're eating the dogs!)===
[[File:Trump Arizona border fence 2024.jpg|thumb|right|385px|Trump tours the US-[[Mexico]] border in [[Arizona]], August 2024.]]
{{main|Undocumented immigration}}
Almost from the moment Biden took office, illegal border crossings spiked dramatically to the point where the year 2022 set an all-time record with 2.21 million people being apprehended at the southern border.<ref>{{cite web | last=Wu | first=Ashley | title=Why Illegal Border Crossings Are So High | website=The New York Times | date=2023-10-29 | url=https://archive.ph/3VPQu}}</ref> The Democratic mayors of large cities like New York and Chicago started begging the administration for financial and material assistance to cope with the massive influx of over 200,000 migrants filling their homeless shelters. New York governor Kathy Hochul asked for and received $2.4 billion to assist New York City with caring for migrants<ref>{{cite web | last=Catalini | first=Mike | last2=Savage | first2=Claire | last3=Press | first3=Associated | title=New York governor wants to spend $2.4 billion to help deal with migrant influx in new budget proposal | website=PBS News | date=2024-01-16 | url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/new-york-governor-wants-to-spend-2-4-billion-to-help-deal-with-migrant-influx-in-new-budget-proposal}}</ref> while city mayor Eric Adams claimed the sum wasn't even half of what the city needed.<ref>{{cite web | last=Ashford | first=Grace | last2=Fahy | first2=Claire | title=NYC Mayor Eric Adams Says $2.4 Billion Is Not Enough for Migrant Crisis | website=The New York Times | date=2024-02-06 | url=https://archive.ph/T2nAZ}}</ref> [[Texas]] governor Greg Abbott took advantage of the situation by sending thousands more migrants who crossed the border into his state on buses to New York City.<ref name="nycrisis">{{cite web | last=Ferré-Sadurní | first=Luis | title=What to Know About Migrants Coming to NYC From the Border | website=The New York Times | date=2024-08-19 | url=https://archive.ph/rmCTg#selection-4528.0-4528.1}}</ref> After the city's homeless shelters filled up, the city started paying to house migrants in hotels, sparking public outrage at the cost to the city budget and genuine expressions of helplessness from Democratic officials.<ref>{{cite web | last=Stack | first=Liam | last2=Mays | first2=Jeffery C. | title=Migrant Housing Plans in NYC Are Repeatedly Met With Outrage | website=The New York Times | date=2023-05-18 | url=https://archive.ph/GNbHK}}</ref>

This is a story that played out again in major Democratic cities like Chicago,<ref>{{cite web | last=Bosman | first=Julie | title=Chicago Already Feels Strains of a Migrant Influx as Title 42 Ends | website=The New York Times | date=2023-05-10 | url=https://archive.ph/pFwZN}}</ref> Washington DC,<ref>{{cite web | last=Olivo | first=Antonio | title=While bused migrants overwhelm other cities, D.C. scales back services | website=Washington Post | date=2024-03-12 | url=https://archive.ph/RhvSK}}</ref> Denver,<ref>{{cite web | last=Gazette | first=The | title=Denver to slash spending on immigration crisis to $12.5 million next year | website=Denver Gazette | date=2024-09-17 | url=https://denvergazette.com/news/denver-to-slash-spending-on-immigration-crisis-to-12-5-million-next-year/article_40c010a8-7535-11ef-9fa9-fbc23a729169.html}}</ref> and El Paso.<ref>{{cite web | last=Bernstein | first=Sharon | title=El Paso, Texas 'at a breaking point' amid jump in migration, mayor says | website=Reuters | date=2023-09-24 | url=https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/el-paso-texas-at-breaking-point-migrants-flood-border-mayor-says-2023-09-23/}}</ref> The state of [[New Jersey]], in which many migrants were dropped off on the way to New York City, signaled very strongly that it wanted nothing to do with the migrants.<ref>{{cite web | last=Nieto-Munoz | first=Sophie | title=Immigrant advocates alarmed at comments directed at migrants dropped off in New Jersey • New Jersey Monitor | website=New Jersey Monitor | date=2024-01-04 | url=https://newjerseymonitor.com/2024/01/04/immigrant-advocates-alarmed-at-comments-directed-at-migrants-dropped-off-in-new-jersey/}}</ref> Amid widespread public fury in the critical swing state of [[Arizona]], politicians from both parties said their state was in crisis.<ref>{{cite web | last=Torres | first=Casey | last2=Kobley | first2=Lauren | title=Arizona lawmakers agree there‘s an immigration crisis but disagree on solutions | website=https://www.azfamily.com | date=2024-10-26 | url=https://www.azfamily.com/2024/10/26/arizona-lawmakers-agree-theres-an-immigration-crisis-disagree-solutions/}}</ref> As cities cried for help, federal aid proved insufficient, leading to real fears that some of these cities could end up in serious financial crises.<ref>{{cite web | last=Lee | first=Juhohn | title=The immigration crisis may bankrupt cities such as New York, Denver and Chicago as federal funds fall short of needs | website=CNBC | date=2024-02-24 | url=https://www.cnbc.com/2024/02/24/immigration-crisis-may-bankrupt-new-york-denver-and-chicago-experts.html}}</ref>

All of this fueled a major nationwide backlash to immigration; a July 2024 Gallup poll showed that 63% of American voters supported increasing border security and limiting asylum claims and 55% wanted overall immigration levels sharply reduced.<ref>{{cite web | last=Gallup | first=Inc. | last2=Jones | first2=Jeffrey M. | title=Sharply More Americans Want to Curb Immigration to U.S. | website=Gallup.com | date=2024-07-12 | url=https://news.gallup.com/poll/647123/sharply-americans-curb-immigration.aspx}}</ref> A month earlier, Biden had signed an executive order harshly limiting the number of migrants who could apply for asylum.<ref>{{cite web | last=Kight | first=Stef W. | title=Details of Biden's new border action and what it means for migrants | website=Axios | date=2024-06-04 | url=https://www.axios.com/2024/06/04/what-bidens-new-border-action-means-for-migrants}}</ref> It is unfortunate but true: this is the kind of national environment in which Republicans thrive.

New York Republicans, and even many Democrats, campaigned on resolving the migrant crisis and helping to secure the southern border.<ref>{{cite web | last=Campbell | first=Jon | title=Outside the city, Democrats and Republicans run on outcry over migrants in NYC | website=Gothamist | date=2024-10-23 | url=https://gothamist.com/news/immigration-new-york-suburbs-congress}}</ref> In his typically nasty and dehumanizing way, Trump campaigned vigorously against immigration and successfully placed it at the forefront of the national conversation.<ref>{{cite web | last=Swan | first=Jonathan | last2=Haberman | first2=Maggie | last3=Igielnik | first3=Ruth | title=Trump Thinks the Border Got Him Elected in 2016. He’s Convinced It Will Do So Again. | website=The New York Times | date=2024-10-19 | url=https://archive.ph/1SNFO}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | last=Bradner | first=Eric | last2=Sullivan | first2=Kate | title=Trump describes US as an occupied country in dark closing message focused on immigration | website=CNN | date=2024-11-05 | url=https://www.cnn.com/2024/11/04/politics/donald-trump-closing-message/index.html}}</ref> Although Trump muddled his message with strange claims like the infamous "they're eating the dogs!"<ref>{{cite web | last=Wendling | first=Merlyn Thomas & Mike | title=Donald Trump repeats baseless claim about Haitian immigrants eating cats and dogs in Springfield, Ohio | website=BBC Home | date=2024-09-10 | url=https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c77l28myezko}}</ref> his message resonated with voters and especially among those who lived in the impacted cities.<ref>{{cite web | last=Garsd | first=Jasmine | title=In New York, immigration weighed heavily and divisively among immigrants themselves | website=NPR | date=2024-11-06 | url=https://www.npr.org/2024/11/06/g-s1-32885/in-new-york-immigration-weighed-heavily-and-divisively-among-immigrants-themselves}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | last=Jordan | first=Miriam | title=Voters Were Fed Up Over Immigration. They Voted for Trump. | website=The New York Times | date=2024-11-06 | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/06/us/trump-immigration-border.html}}</ref> The immigration issue even fueled major shifts towards Trump from traditionally Democratic-leaning demographics<ref>{{cite web | last=Tesler | first=Michael | title=How immigration swung voters of color to Trump | website=ABC News | date=2024-11-20 | url=https://abcnews.go.com/538/immigration-swung-voters-color-trump/story?id=116016407}}</ref> like Black Americans, Asian-Americans, and ''especially'' Latino Americans.<ref>{{cite web | last=Contreras | first=Russell | title=Trump's gains with Latinos echo anti-immigrant sentiment of the past | website=Axios | date=2024-11-07 | url=https://www.axios.com/2024/11/07/donald-trump-immigration-latino-civil-rights}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | last=Noe-Bustamante | first=Luis | title=Latinos’ Views on the Migrant Situation at the U.S.-Mexico Border | website=Pew Research Center | date=2024-03-04 | url=https://www.pewresearch.org/race-and-ethnicity/2024/03/04/latinos-views-on-the-migrant-situation-at-the-us-mexico-border/}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | title=Why Trump’s threats of mass deportation appealed to some Latino voters | website=MSNBC.com | date=2024-11-08 | url=https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/trump-latino-voters-economy-mass-deportation-rcna178995}}</ref>

===Foreign policy===
[[File:Cancel the DNC protests in Chicago 2024.webp|thumb|right|400px|"No Genocide Joe in Chicago": protesters oppose Chicago hosting the 2024 Democratic National Convention.]]
====American enabling of Israeli atrocities====
The October 7<sup>th</sup> 2023 attack on [[Israel]] by the terrorist group [[Hamas]] and the subsequent genocidal onslaught by Israel on [[Palestine]]—specifically the Gaza Strip—irreversibly destroyed Joe Biden's reputation amongst young voters<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/jun/16/ro-khanna-biden-young-voters-israel-gaza|title=Democrat Khanna: Biden is ‘running out of time’ with young voters over Gaza war|last=Helmore|first=Edward|date=June 16, 2024|publisher=[[The Guardian]]}}</ref> as well as ruining the already tattered international reputation of the United States. Not good. The Biden administration was blindly supportive of Israel and delivered billions of dollars of military aid allowing Israel to enact genocide on the people of Gaza<ref>[https://www.cfr.org/article/us-aid-israel-four-charts "U.S. Aid to Israel in Four Charts"] - Jonathan Masters and Will Merrow (May 31, 2024). The Council on Foreign Relations.</ref> despite numerous attempts from international organizations, activist groups, politicians and even other countries to persuade them otherwise.

Both Donald Trump and Joe Biden pledged to support Israel, with Trump even telling Israel to "[[genocide|finish the job]]"<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20240628-trump-let-israel-finish-the-job-in-gaza/|title=Trump: 'Let Israel finish the job' in Gaza|publisher=Middle East Monitor|date=June 28, 2024}}</ref> and claiming that he would crush pro-Palestine protests and deport demonstrators.<ref>{{cite web | last=Dawsey | first=Josh | last2=DeYoung | first2=Karen | last3=LeVine | first3=Marianne | title=Trump told donors he will crush pro-Palestinian protests, deport demonstrators | website=Washington Post | date=2024-05-27 | url=https://archive.ph/aC8kc}}</ref> Trump also his close partnership with pro-Israel billionaire Miriam Adelson{{efn|{{wpl|Sheldon Adelson}}'s widow, in case you were wondering.}}, who influenced his decision to move the US embassy from Tel Aviv to [[Jerusalem]] during his first term.<ref>{{cite web | last=Elia-Shalev | first=Asaf | title=Miriam Adelson gives $100 million to Trump campaign, making good on reported pledge | website=The Times of Israel | date=2024-10-17 | url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/miriam-adelson-gives-100-million-to-trump-campaign-making-good-on-reported-pledge/ | access-date=2024-11-26}}</ref>

Unfortunately, Harris failed to differentiate herself from Joe Biden on Gaza. The Democratic National Committee firmly ruled out the possibility of allowing a Palestinian speaker,<ref>{{cite web | last=Cappelletti | first=Joey | title='The answer is no': Pro-Palestinian delegates say their request for a speaker at DNC was shut down | website=AP News | date=2024-08-22 | url=https://apnews.com/article/uncommitted-palestinian-convention-harris-918812eb0e19b9669f8b9b9cd88c6360}}</ref> which resulted in Harris losing support from the many supporters of the uncommitted movement and the quickly-dissolved "Muslim Women for Harris" group.<ref>{{cite web | last=Walker | first=Adria R | title=Muslim Women for Harris disbands and withdraws support for candidate | website=the Guardian | date=2024-08-22 | url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/aug/22/muslim-women-kamala-harris-disbands}}</ref> During interviews, Harris flat-out stated that she would not limit the supply of American weapons to Israel and would not approach Israel in a substantively different manner than Biden.<ref>{{cite web | last=Lim | first=Clarissa-Jan | title=Let's dispel the myth that Harris will be any different from Biden on Gaza and Israel | website=MSNBC.com | date=2024-08-30 | url=https://www.msnbc.com/top-stories/latest/kamala-harris-israel-gaza-cnn-biden-rcna168949 }}</ref> Another major faux-pas came when security at a Harris event in Michigan kicked a Muslim attendee out of the venue for no reason while threatening him with arrest.<ref>{{cite web | last=Burke | first=Melissa Nann | title=Harris campaign 'regrets' Muslim's removal from rally, says he's welcome | website=detroitnews.com | date=2024-10-22 | url=https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/politics/2024/10/22/harris-campaign-regrets-muslims-removal-from-rally-says-hes-welcome/75796758007/}}</ref> In a last desperate appeal on November 4th, Harris promised to end the Israel-Gaza War while speaking in Michigan, but she did not explain how she would accomplish this.<ref>{{cite web | title=Harris says will end Gaza war in final election appeal to Arab Americans | website=Al Jazeera | date=2024-11-04 | url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/11/4/harris-says-will-end-gaza-war-in-final-election-appeal-to-arab-americans}}</ref>

A YouGov/IMEU poll from January 2025 found that 20% of swing state voters who had backed Biden in 2020 and then voted for someone other than Harris in 2024 cited "ending Israel's violence in Gaza" as their primary motivator behind changing their vote.<ref name="imeu">{{cite web | title=IMEU Policy Project Post-Election Polling Shows Gaza Cost Harris Votes | website=IMEU Policy Project | date=2025-01-15 | url=https://www.imeupolicyproject.org/postelection-polling}}</ref> This issue was the second-most cited reason for switching their votes, only behind the economy (33%).<ref name="imeu"/> 

Additionally, Democratic turnout sharply dropped across the board while Trump managed to win the heavily Arab-American city of Dearborn, Michigan (which Biden had won with 70% of the vote in 2020).<ref>{{cite web | last=Bayoumi | first=Moustafa | title=Not changing course on Gaza was a colossal mistake by Kamala Harris | website=the Guardian | date=2024-11-11 | url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/nov/11/election-harris-gaza-policy}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | title=How Trump won the biggest Muslim-majority city in America | website=MSNBC.com | date=2024-11-11 | url=https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/trump-harris-arab-muslim-voters-dearborn-michigan-rcna179385}}</ref> In contrast, Michigan's Democratic Senate candidate Elissa Slotkin won her election; she had called for conditioning aid to Israel.<ref name="slotkintlaib">{{cite web | title=Harris’s Gaza Policy Was a Disaster on Every Level | website=The Nation | date=2024-11-19 | url=https://archive.ph/1zNMx#selection-860.0-860.1}}</ref> Democratic Representative Rashida Tlaib also handily won reelection with over 62% of the vote from Dearborn, which, again, Trump won.<ref name="slotkintlaib"/> It should be clearly stated here, that this result is the fault of Kamala Harris and her campaign, not Muslim-American voters.

====NATO and Ukraine====
Whereas Harris signaled that she would follow Biden's course on aiding [[Ukraine]] in its conflict with [[Russia]] and continue supporting [[NATO]], Trump promised an "America First" foreign policy agenda that would see the United States behave in a transactional nature towards both allies and adversaries.<ref>{{cite web | last=Hirsh | first=Michael | title=Trump Wants Deals on Ukraine and Israel. Here’s Why He’ll Struggle. | website=POLITICO | date=2024-11-24 | url=https://archive.ph/Bae0Q}}</ref> Trump also once again signaled skepticism towards NATO and said the US should "fundamentally reevaluate" NATO's mission.<ref>{{cite web | last=Swan | first=Jonathan | last2=Savage | first2=Charlie | last3=Haberman | first3=Maggie | title=Fears of a NATO Withdrawal Rise as Trump Seeks a Return to Power | website=The New York Times | date=2023-12-09 | url=https://archive.ph/B39l5}}</ref> Trump, naturally, did not explain what this meant.

Additionally, Trump not only advocated for revoking military aid to [[Ukraine]], but to "[[Appeasement|negotiate peace between the two]]". This would, in reality, entail leaving Ukraine as a sitting duck whilst [[Russia]] installs a puppet government.<ref>[https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-reviews-plan-halt-us-military-aid-ukraine-unless-it-negotiates-peace-with-2024-06-25/ "Exclusive: Trump handed plan to halt US military aid to Kyiv unless it talks peace with Moscow"] - Gram Slattery and Simon Lewis for ''Reuters'' (June 25, 2024).</ref> He justified this stance by with his descriptions of Ukraine as a "demolished" country that could not hope to resist the Russian invasion any longer and by blaming Biden and Harris for having "egged it all on" by supplying arms to Ukraine.<ref>{{cite web | last=Cooper | first=Jonathan J. | title=Trump says Ukraine is 'demolished' and dismisses its defense against Russia's invasion | website=AP News | date=2024-09-25 | url=https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-ukraine-putin-zelenskyy-0f4d539aa73a943474d779716e5fe42a}}</ref> [[Zelensky]], for his part, was conciliatory towards Trump and said in October 2024 that, "Trump talks a lot, but I didn’t hear him say he would reduce support for Ukraine."<ref>{{cite web | last=Hansler | first=Jennifer | title=Trump’s victory could mean US withdraws support for Ukraine in war with Russia | website=CNN | date=2024-11-06 | url=https://www.cnn.com/2024/11/06/politics/trump-election-ukraine-war-russia-intl/index.html}}</ref>

===Trump's cognitive decline===
[[Donald Trump#Mental health issues|Trump has shown noticeable cognitive decline]] since he first ran for president. The mainstream media has largely chosen to ignore this. According to Jeffrey Goldberg, editor-in-chief of ''The Atlantic'', the mainstream media rationale for this is:<ref>[https://www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/archive/2024/06/the-unadorned-truth-about-donald-trump/678816/ The Unadorned Truth About Donald Trump: We must treat him like any other candidate for high office who is emotionally and mentally unstable.] by Jeffrey Goldberg (June 27, 2024) ''The Atlantic''.</ref>
{{cquote|It works like this: Trump sounds nuts, but he can’t be [[Insanity|nuts]], because [[circular reasoning|he’s the presumptive nominee for president of a major party, and no major party would nominate someone who is nuts]]. Therefore, it is our responsibility to sand down his [[rhetoric]], to identify any kernel of meaning, to make light of his bizarro statements, to [[Rationalization|rationalize]].}}
Will Bunch of ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' wrote:<ref>[https://archive.ph/wip/qiZKz Yesterday's false claim by Trump that Harris is generating fake big crowds with AI was a true Captain Queeg moment, maybe the most bat-guano crazy thing I've seen in 40 years of covering presidential elections: Neither NYT nor Washington Post is promoting it on their home page] by Will Bunch (3:58 AM · Aug 12, 2024) ''Twitter'' (archived from 16 Aug 2024 17:01:56 UTC).</ref>
{{cquote|[The] false claim by Trump that Harris is generating fake big crowds with [[AI]] was a true Captain Queeg moment,{{efn|From {{wpl|The Caine Mutiny|''The Caine Mutiny''}}}} maybe the most bat-guano crazy thing I’ve seen in 40 years of covering presidential elections.}}

==The campaign trail==
{{DemTicket2024}}
===The Harris campaign: a comedy of errors (but the joke was on all of us)===
Harris had an extraordinarily strong start once she took Biden's place as the presumptive nominee due to a wave of relief from Democrats who had resigned themselves to defeat after Biden's disastrous summer.<ref>{{cite web | last=Hartman | first=Travis | last2=Magtulis | first2=Prinz | title=Democrats’ new optimism | website=Reuters | date=2024-08-22 | url=https://www.reuters.com/graphics/USA-ELECTION/HARRIS-ENTHUSIASM/znvnxaemkvl/}}</ref> Biden's dismal polls against Trump quickly rebounded into a healthy lead for Harris by the time August rolled around.<ref>{{cite web | last=Mumford | first=Camille | title=August 2024 National Poll: Harris 50%, Trump 46% | website=Emerson Polling | date=2024-08-15 | url=https://emersoncollegepolling.com/august-2024-national-poll-harris-50-trump-46/}}</ref> Hidden within that enthusiasm was the hope that Harris would differentiate herself from Joe Biden. She initially did this. On the economy, an issue that hobbled Biden's campaign from the start, Harris was able to flip the script and go on the offensive by (rightfully<ref>{{cite web | last=Lang | first=Rachel | title=Are Markups Driving the Ups and Downs of Inflation? | website=SF Fed | date=2024-05-13 | url=https://www.frbsf.org/research-and-insights/publications/economic-letter/2024/05/are-markups-driving-ups-and-downs-of-inflation/}}</ref>) blaming corporate greed and price-gouging for rising prices<ref>{{cite web | last=Hanauer | first=Nick | title=A Very Good Sign: Kamala Harris Is Going Right at Corporate Greed | website=The New Republic | date=2024-08-16 | url=https://newrepublic.com/article/184937/harris-price-gouging-corporations}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | last=Miller | first=Zeke | title=Harris zeroes in on high food and housing prices as inflation plays a big role in the campaign | website=AP News | date=2024-08-15 | url=https://apnews.com/article/harris-economy-inflation-food-prices-campaign-c3bbfd8aa3bfd2be3e98d021f0a182ac}}</ref> and then labeling Trump as a servant of those same Big Business interests.<ref>{{cite web | last=Foer | first=Franklin | title=Why Biden’s Team Thinks Harris Lost | website=The Atlantic | date=2024-11-07 | url=https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2024/11/biden-harris-2024-election/680560/}}</ref> 

So what went wrong? First, corporate media started bitching. Like, a lot.<ref>{{cite web | last=Tedeschi | first=Ernie | title=Blaming Greedflation for High Food Prices Is Misguided | website=Bloomberg.com | date=2024-09-24 | url=https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2024-09-24/blaming-high-food-prices-on-greedflation-is-misguided}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | last=Rampell | first=Catherine | title=When your opponent calls you ‘communist,’ maybe don’t propose price controls? | website=Washington Post | date=2024-08-15 | url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/08/15/kamala-harris-price-gouging-groceries/}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | title=Harris and the Greed Theory of Inflation | website=National Review | date=2024-09-26 | url=https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/harris-and-the-greed-theory-of-inflation/}}</ref> Second, Harris' brother-in-law Tony West, an executive at [[Uber]], got involved in her campaign and advised her to tone down the attacks on Big Business, because of course he fucking would.<ref>{{cite web | last=Kranish | first=Michael | last2=Pager | first2=Tyler | last3=Zakrzewski | first3=Cat | title=Tony West, Harris’s brother-in-law, is corporate insider and campaign adviser | website=Washington Post | date=2024-10-29 | url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/10/29/tony-west-kamala-harris-uber-campaign/}}</ref> Billionaires like [[Mike Bloomberg]] (former mayor of NYC), {{wpl|Mark Cuban|}} (the ''Shark Tank'' guy), {{wpl|Sam Altman|}} (OpenAI), Sheryl Sandberg (former COO of [[Facebook|Meta]]), and {{wpl|David Ellison|}} (overseer of a major corporate merger between Skydance and Paramount) rewarded the new direction of her campaign with endorsements and big-money donations.<ref>{{cite web | last=Burleigh | first=Emma | title=Elon Musk is campaigning for Donald Trump but these are the billionaires and business titans supporting Kamala Harris | website=Fortune | date=2024-10-18 | url=https://archive.ph/sgpib}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | last=Gibson | first=Kate | title=More than 90 business leaders endorse Kamala Harris for president | website=CBS News | date=2024-09-06 | url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/kamala-harris-endorsed-by-business-leaders/}}</ref> She ended up with over a ''billion'' dollars, and she blew it all!<ref>{{cite web | last=Barrow | first=Bill | last2=Cappelletti | first2=Joey | title=Kamala Harris raised $1 billion-plus in defeat. She's still sending persistent appeals to donors | website=AP News | date=2024-11-16 | url=https://apnews.com/article/harris-postelection-fundraising-dnc-gaetz-trump-donors-806eeb3b92eced3242aeb29a964ca259 |}}</ref> To continue courting those donations and attempt to appeal to moderate voters, Harris shifted her message rightwards.<ref>{{cite web | last=Agnew | first=Harriet | last2=Masters | first2=Brooke | last3=Fedor | first3=Lauren | last4=Fontanella-Khan | first4=James | title=Kamala Harris’s Wall Street charm offensive begins to pay off | website=Financial Times | date=2024-10-04 | url=https://www.ft.com/content/2941e79d-cdc0-457e-a7a3-9c08f1f6e635?accessToken=zwAGI6hbZtookc8pQeedzcBFftOno5wI8fbmNQ.MEUCIQCrC_QcyNKHBij2L6Z5vHkyHYZ_PauCebpBxAYurxjKegIgQSnfTNj1FkIsfPj154iCiRm2EbDEC3mgcfi1kepnVAw&sharetype=gift&token=7dc7a8e5-eb19-4186-88a4-04cfcad142f3 |}}</ref> She didn't even pivot in any meaningful way, but she did it instead by replacing popular Democratic policies with vague platitudes. As political science professor and ''Slate'' contributor David Faris wrote in September,<ref>{{cite web | last=Faris | first=David | title=Kamala Harris’ Campaign Is Not Working | website=Slate Magazine | date=2024-09-10 | url=https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2024/09/kamala-harris-polls-trump-debate-campaign-shake-up.html}}</ref>
 
{{cquote|To its credit, the Harris–Walz campaign finally put up a policy page over the weekend. But when you actually click on the various links, they don’t offer much detail that you couldn’t glean from one of their stump speeches. The campaign’s health care "plan," for example, is 256 words long and consists largely of a recap of the Biden administration’s very limited accomplishments. Apart from a vague promise to cancel medical debt, it seems to rest on the laurels of past reforms and communicates no interest in or commitment to further improving America’s nightmare health care system. The child care plan promises only that a President Harris would work on "ensuring hardworking families can afford high-quality child care, all while ensuring that care workers are paid a living wage and treated with the dignity and respect they deserve." That's a lot of "ensuring" without very much "planning."|}}

[[File:Kamala Harris and Liz Cheney in Wisconsin.jpg|thumb|right|375px|An unjustifiably cheerful Kamala Harris campaigns with Liz Cheney in Wisconsin, 3 October 2024.]]

By October, the damage was done. As billionaire campaign surrogate Mark Cuban giddily put it,<ref>{{cite web | last=Duehren | first=Andrew | last2=Hirsch | first2=Lauren | title=How Kamala Harris’s Economic Plan Has Been Shaped by Business Leaders | website=The New York Times | date=2024-10-14 | url=https://archive.ph/4yfHr}}</ref> 

{{cquote|She says she's open to inputs from independents and Republicans, she means it. People are trying to say, 'Here are the progressive and liberal principles that have always been the principles of the Democratic Party.' Those are gone. It’s Kamala Harris's party now.|}}

Harris tried to fill the gap in messaging with more shiny endorsements, such as her touting of a report from investment banking firm [[Goldman Sachs]] that viewed her economic plan favorably compared to Trump's.<ref>{{cite web | last=Edwards | first=Joe | title=Fact check: Harris claims top bankers prefer her economic policy to Trump's | website=Newsweek | date=2024-09-20 | url=https://www.newsweek.com/fact-check-kamala-harris-oprah-winfrey-election-economic-policy-trump-1956782}}</ref> It should go without saying that no candidate, especially a Democrat, should ever go around saying "this Fortune 500 investment banking company run by and for rich assholes thinks my economic plan is great!" She doubled down by touting the endorsement of [[Iraq War]] architect and [[torture]] enthusiast [[Dick Cheney]]<ref>{{cite web | title=Torturers for Harris | website=The Nation | date=2024-09-18 | url=https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/kamala-harris-dick-cheney-endorsement/}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | last=Burgis | first=Ben | title=There’s No Pride in a Dick Cheney Endorsement | website=Jacobin | date=2024-10-25 | url=https://jacobin.com/2024/10/harris-dick-cheney-endorsement-election}}</ref> while campaigning with his arch-conservative daughter Liz.<ref>{{cite web | last=Megerian | first=Chris | last2=Price | first2=Michelle L. | title=Harris campaigns with Liz Cheney at the GOP's birthplace while Trump rallies in Michigan | website=AP News | date=2024-10-03 | url=https://apnews.com/article/kamala-harris-cheney-wisconsin-trump-89396853e5521c3870a3c88e04cbfd99}}</ref> We don't know who the hell that was ''supposed'' to appeal to, but it ''actually'' appealed to nobody.<ref name="lizfiasco"/> Touting endorsements from banks and conservatives alienated the Democratic base and ate up valuable time that could have been spent reaching out to blue-collar workers and Latino voters.<ref name="lizfiasco"/> Harris also put time and effort into campaigning with celebrities like Beyoncé, Oprah Winfrey, Megan Thee Stallion, George Clooney, Leonardo DiCaprio, and various others. The only thing this accomplished was adding credence to Trump's argument that Harris cared more about out-of-touch elitists than the working class.<ref>{{cite web | last=Helmore | first=Edward | title=Dozens of stars backed Harris’s campaign and yet she lost. Is the era of celebrity endorsements over? | website=the Guardian | date=2024-11-17 | url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/nov/17/harris-celebrity-endorsements}}</ref> It turns out that campaigning with fabulously rich people while the average American is struggling with debt and grocery bills isn't a good look. 

Then, if that all wasn't enough, she decided to make one of the most catastrophic gaffes in modern campaign history. During an October 8th appearance on ''The View'', a friendly talk show environment, Harris answered a softball question about what she would have done differently from Biden had she been president with the astoundingly bad answer,<ref name="nothing"/> 

{{cquote|"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, the work that we have done."|}}

Scarcely believing their luck, Trump's staffers immediately cut together an ad using that quote to tie her to the unpopular decisions of Joe Biden and spent millions broadcasting it across the battleground states.<ref>{{cite web | last=Haberman | first=Maggie | title=In Trump Ad, ‘Not a Thing That Comes to Mind’ Ties Harris to Biden’s Liabilities | website=The New York Times | date=2024-10-22 | url=https://archive.ph/D5p9r}}</ref> 

The results of this strategy are damning. Harris spent half as much time focusing on the most important issues—prices and the cost of living—than did Donald Trump.<ref>{{cite web | last=Loewer | first=Milan | title=Analysis: Kamala Harris Turned Away From Economic Populism | website=Jacobin | date=2024-11-26 | url=https://jacobin.com/2024/11/harris-campaign-economic-populism-democracy}}</ref> Black and young voters said they felt frustrated and unheard.<ref>{{cite web | last=Shivaram | first=Deepa | title=Not going back: How Harris failed to turn the page on Trump in her 107-day sprint | website=NPR | date=2024-11-07 | url=https://www.npr.org/2024/11/07/nx-s1-5181045/how-harris-lost-trump-2024}}</ref> Her momentum in the polls stalled and then turned negative in October as voters started to notice that the only arguments of real substance from her campaign were just the same old attacks on Trump.<ref>{{cite web | last=Timotija | first=Filip | title=GOP pollster Frank Luntz: Harris momentum ‘froze’ when she went ‘anti-Trump’ | website=The Hill | date=2024-10-23 | url=https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4948668-republican-pollster-frank-luntz-kamala-harris-momentum-frozen/}}</ref> One of the biggest tragedies of this election cycle was that [[Tim Walz]], who did a pretty good job, ended up shackled to an ideologically-bankrupt and uninspiring campaign that didn't let him fully employ his skills or his ideas.<ref>{{cite web | last=Marcetic | first=Branko | title=Tim Walz’s Talents Are Wasted on This Campaign | website=Jacobin | date=2024-10-02 | url=https://jacobin.com/2024/10/vp-debate-walz-vance-progressives}}</ref>

===The Trump campaign: they did everything wrong, but everything went right===
{{GOPTicket24}}
This is [[RationalWiki]]. We're not going to tell you that Trump ran a good campaign. His campaign was vile, stupid, and morally reprehensible. He promised to weaponize the Justice Department against his political enemies.<ref>{{cite web | last=Arnsdorf | first=Isaac | last2=Dawsey | first2=Josh | last3=Barrett | first3=Devlin | title=Trump and allies plot revenge, Justice Department control in a second term | website=Washington Post | date=2023-11-05 | url=https://archive.ph/WToKE}}</ref> He promised a batshit plan to place tariffs on most imports, thereby drastically raising consumer prices.<ref> {{cite web | last=Stambor | first=Zak | title=Trump’s tariff plans could cause clothes, furniture, and toys prices to skyrocket | website=EMARKETER | date=2024-11-06 | url=https://www.emarketer.com/content/trump-tariff-plans-prices-skyrocket}}</ref> He promised to gut the federal government at every level, abolish the Department of Education, and order the [[United States Armed Forces]] to assist in the largest domestic deportation operation in American history.<ref>{{cite web | last=Colvin | first=Jill | title=Trump's plans if he returns to the White House include deportation raids, tariffs and mass firings | website=AP News | date=2023-11-12 | url=https://apnews.com/article/trump-policies-agenda-election-2024-second-term-d656d8f08629a8da14a65c4075545e0f}}</ref> 

Accompanying Trump's idiotic plans were his even more idiotic statements. He said people can't eat bacon anymore because of wind energy,<ref>{{cite web | last=Page | first=Myriam | title=Trump bizarrely claims people have stopped eating bacon because of wind power | website=The Independent | date=2024-08-30 | url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/donald-trump-bacon-rally-wind-power-b2604316.html}}</ref> he said the Democrats want to take away people's windows,<ref>{{cite web | last=Moran | first=Lee | title=Critics Shatter Trump’s Latest Rant, Which Is About … *Checks Notes*… Windows | website=HuffPost | date=2024-09-20 | url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/donald-trump-windows_n_66ed31a6e4b083d40a2cd332}}</ref> he said that immigrants from [[Haiti]] were eating people's pets (they weren't),<ref>{{cite web | last=Millhiser | first=Ian | title=Republicans’ racist, cat-eating conspiracy theory, briefly explained | website=Vox | date=2024-09-09 | url=https://www.vox.com/2024-elections/370760/jd-vance-racist-cat-eating-haitian-immigrants}}</ref> announced "I HATE TAYLOR SWIFT" on [[Truth Social]],<ref>[https://archive.ph/ht3mQ Donald J. Trump, ''Truth Social''.] 15 September 2024.</ref> and he said he'd win [[California]] if [[Jesus Christ]] counted the votes.<ref>{{cite web | last=Timotija | first=Filip | title=Trump says he would win California if ‘Jesus … was the vote counter’ | website=The Hill | date=2024-08-28 | url=https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4851377-donald-trump-dr-phil-2024-election-ballots-california-jesus/}}</ref> 

Other Trump statements were more ominous. He said he never sexually assaulted E. Jean Caroll because she "wouldn't have been the chosen one."<ref>{{cite web | last=Ibssa | first=Lalee | last2=Kim | first2=Soo Rin | last3=Walsh | first3=Kelsey | title=Trump denies sexual assault claim of accuser by saying he wouldn’t have 'chosen' her | website=ABC News | date=2024-09-06 | url=https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trump-denies-sexual-assault-claim-accuser-wouldnt-chosen/story?id=113458776}}</ref> He said people "should be put in jail" for criticizing his Supreme Court justices.<ref>{{cite web | title=Trump suggests criticizing judges ‘should be illegal,’ despite his own record | website=MSNBC.com | date=2024-09-25 | url=https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/trump-suggests-criticizing-judges-illegal-record-rcna172633}}</ref> He said crime should be addressed with "one real rough, nasty, violent day."<ref>{{cite web | last=Wren | first=Adam | title=Trump says ‘violent day’ of policing will end crime | website=POLITICO | date=2024-09-29 | url=https://archive.ph/aWHvp}}</ref> He said that [[Jews]] would have "a lot to do with" his potential election defeat because they were "voting for the enemy,"<ref>{{cite web | last=Cameron | first=Chris | last2=Gold | first2=Michael | title=Trump Says That if He Loses, ‘the Jewish People Would Have a Lot to Do’ With It | website=The New York Times | date=2024-09-20 | url=https://archive.ph/x50cp}}</ref> called his political opponents "vermin,"<ref>{{cite web | last=Kurtzleben | first=Danielle | title=Why Trump's authoritarian language about 'vermin' matters | website=NPR | date=2023-11-17 | url=https://www.npr.org/2023/11/17/1213746885/trump-vermin-hitler-immigration-authoritarian-republican-primary}}</ref> and said that immigrants are "poisoning the blood of our nation."<ref>{{cite web | title=Trump says immigrants are ‘poisoning the blood of our country.’ Biden campaign likens comments to Hitler. | website=NBC News | date=2023-12-17 | url=https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/trump-says-immigrants-are-poisoning-blood-country-biden-campaign-liken-rcna130141}}</ref> All too many attacks against Harris from Trump and other Republicans were rooted in [[racism]] and [[sexism]].<ref>{{cite web | last=Ware | first=Jacob | title=Misogynoir in Today’s America: Exploring the History of the Racist, Sexist Attacks on Kamala Harris | website=Council on Foreign Relations | date=2024-10-29 | url=https://www.cfr.org/blog/misogynoir-todays-america-exploring-history-racist-sexist-attacks-kamala-harris}}</ref> It was a hateful, stupid campaign, and every second Trump stayed in the race was an insult to the United States.

But he won.

Trump's campaign strategy targeted alienated Americans who were disgusted with the state of politics and the news media, to whom Trump's antics and the backlash they inspired only proved that he was an enemy of the system they hated.<ref name="trumpstrat">{{cite web | last=Contorno | first=Steve | last2=Holmes | first2=Kristen | last3=Treene | first3=Alayna | title=How Donald Trump completed a historic political comeback | website=CNN | date=2024-11-06 | url=https://www.cnn.com/2024/11/06/politics/how-donald-trump-won/index.html}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | last=Buck | first=Brendan | title=Trump makes a big bet on low-propensity voters | website=MSNBC.com | date=2024-10-22 | url=https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/trump-bet-low-propensity-voters-2024-election-rcna176522}}</ref> He appealed to young men, who for one reason or another felt left behind by the Democrats.<ref>{{cite web | last=Wolfson | first=Sam | title=‘A fatal miscalculation’: masculinity researcher Richard Reeves on why Democrats lost young men | website=the Guardian | date=2024-11-08 | url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/nov/08/young-men-donald-trump-kamala-harris}}</ref> His campaign exploited divisions in the Democratic coalition with tactics like airing ads urging Arab-Americans to spurn Harris and vote for [[Jill Stein]].<ref name="trumpstrat"/> Trump personally appeared on numerous podcasts, including [[Joe Rogan]]'s, to spread his message to people who were disconnected from traditional political outreach.<ref>{{cite web | last=Pastis | first=Stephen | title=Here Are The Biggest Moments From Trump’s ‘Bro’ Podcast Tour | website=Forbes | date=2024-10-29 | url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/stephenpastis/2024/10/29/here-are-the-biggest-moments-from-trumps-bro-podcast-tour-ahead-of-joe-rogan-appearance/}}</ref> His anti-establishment appeals stood in sharp contrast to Kamala Harris, who presented herself as a defender of "institutions," shied away from unscripted interviews, and gave a [[non sequitur]] "I'm from a middle class family" response to any question she didn't want to deal with.<ref>{{cite web | last=Hammond | first=Samuel | title=Why Kamala Harris couldn’t convince an anti-establishment America | website=the Guardian | date=2024-11-19 | url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/nov/19/kamala-harris-democrats-anti-establishment-election}}</ref>

His victory exposed a major flaw in Harris' campaign strategy: focusing too much on attacking Trump and not enough time on explaining her own plans.<ref>{{cite web | title=A slice of voters explain why they're wavering on Harris and Trump | website=NBC News | date=2024-11-04 | url=https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/slice-voters-explain-wavering-harris-trump-rcna178535}}</ref> So many of Harris' attacks on Trump, despite being truthful (and 8 years old at this point), fell flat. Trump is a [[xenophobe]]? He won Latino men.<ref name="nbcexit">{{cite web | last=Jett | first=Jennifer | title=National Exit Polls: Election 2024 Results | website=NBC News | date=2024-11-05 | url=https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-elections/exit-polls}}</ref> Full stop. He won them. Trump's sexist? He did better with women than he did in either of his last two campaigns.<ref name="nbcexit"/><ref>{{cite web | last=Sherman | first=Carter | title=2024 US elections takeaways: how female voters broke for Harris and Trump | website=the Guardian | date=2024-11-06 | url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/nov/06/election-trump-harris-women-voters}}</ref> Trump's a racist? He made significant inroads with Black voters.<ref>{{cite web | last=Bailey | first=Phillip M. | last2=Collins | first2=Michael | title=After Kamala Harris' loss, Black voters ask what went wrong | website=USA TODAY | date=2024-11-07 | url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2024/11/07/kamala-harris-loss-black-voters/76088194007/}}</ref>{{efn|Although 80% of black voters still went for Harris.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://apnews.com/article/election-harris-trump-women-latinos-black-voters-0f3fbda3362f3dcfe41aa6b858f22d12|title=How 5 key demographic groups voted in 2024: AP VoteCast|work=Associated Press|date=November 7, 2024}}</ref>}} Trump's a threat to democracy? He actually won a decent chunk of voters who listed "democracy" as their first concern.<ref>{{cite web | last=Perry | first=Stephanie | last2=Egan | first2=Patrick J. | title=NBC News Exit Poll: Voters express deep concern about America's democracy and economy | website=NBC News | date=2024-11-05 | url=https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/nbc-news-exit-poll-voters-express-concern-democracy-economy-rcna178602}}</ref>

==Results==
[[File:Harris campaign watch party abandoned.webp|thumb|right|385px|The Harris campaign's abandoned watch party on the morning of November 6th. Harris did not address her supporters until late in the afternoon.<ref>{{cite web | last=Abdul-Hakim | first=Gabriella | last2=Shah | first2=Zohreen | last3=Wang | first3=Selina | last4=El-Bawab | first4=Nadine | title=Harris doesn't speak as tearful supporters leave watch party | website=ABC News | date=2024-11-06 | url=https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/harris-speak-tearful-supporters-leave-watch-party/story?id=115550498 |}}</ref>]]
The real takeaway to be had here is that the enlightened establishment Democrats, while correctly lambasting Trump as a fascistic moron who doesn't know anything about anything, effectively committed the exact same mistakes as they did in 2016 and bet on Trump being hated more than the current status quo, and as a result, fucking lost to him twice.<ref>{{cite web | last=Marcetic | first=Branko | title=Democratic Party Elites Brought Us This Disaster | website=Jacobin | date=2024-11-06 | url=https://jacobin.com/2024/11/election-harris-trump-democrats-strategy}}</ref> But that's what they hoped for, right?<ref>{{cite web | last=Ali | first=Safia Samee | title=Harris campaign is ‘self-congratulatory’: DNC committee member | website=The Hill | date=2024-11-27 | url=https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/5011051-democratic-national-committee-lindy-li-kamala-harris-campaign-finance/ |}}</ref> At least the Democratic consultants got their payout!<ref>{{cite web | last=Payne | first=Russell | title="Everyone is taking their skim": How Democratic consultants cashed in on Harris' losing campaign | website=Salon | date=2024-11-24 | url=https://www.salon.com/2024/11/24/everyone-is-taking-their-skim-how-democratic-consultants-cashed-in-on-harris-losing-campaign/}}</ref>

Trump's victory was decisive. He was the first Republican to win the popular vote [[2004 U.S. presidential election|since 2004]], and he was the first president to return to the White House after previously losing reelection since [[Grover Cleveland]] in {{wpl|1892 United States presidential election|1892|}}.<ref>{{cite web | title=Grover Cleveland held a presidential record for over a century. His legacy still inspires his hometown | website=CBS News | date=2024-11-09 | url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/grover-cleveland-president-two-terms-caldwell-new-jersey/}}</ref> Trump improved his margins in every single state from 2020, with the largest rightward shifts being seen in [[California]], [[New York]], [[New Jersey]], [[Texas]], and [[Florida]].<ref>{{cite web | last=Santos | first=Melissa | title=Washington state had the smallest rightward shift in 2024 | website=Axios | date=2024-11-27 | url=https://www.axios.com/local/seattle/2024/11/27/washington-presidential-election-republican-shift}}</ref> 

The realignment based on socioeconomic class was stark: Trump outright (but narrowly) won the cohort of voters who make less than $50,000 per year and the cohort of voters who make between $50,000 and $99,000 per year.<ref name="lowincome">{{cite web | title=and other data points from the election | website=Financial Times | date=2024-11-09 | url=https://www.ft.com/content/6de668c7-64e9-4196-b2c5-9ceca966fe3f}}</ref> Meanwhile, voters who make more than $100,000 per year significantly shifted towards Harris, a major reversal from what the Democratic Party's base of support should look like.<ref name="lowincome"/>

Harris also lost a massive amount of support from most key Democratic demographics. While Biden won Latino men by 23 points in 2020, Trump won them by 10 in 2024<ref name="cnnsuppo">{{cite web | title=How 2024 exit polls compare with the 2020 and 2016 elections | website=CNN | date=2024-11-06 | url=https://www.cnn.com/interactive/2024/politics/2020-2016-exit-polls-2024-dg/}}</ref> and flipped the most Hispanic county in America into the Republican column for the first time since 1896.<ref>{{cite web | last=King | first=Jordan | title=Donald Trump flips most Hispanic county in America | website=Newsweek | date=2024-11-06 | url=https://www.newsweek.com/starr-county-texas-most-hispanic-county-donald-trump-1981230 |}}</ref> He also won the previously Democratic stronghold of Miami-Dade County in Florida.<ref>{{cite web | last=Hanks | first=Douglas | title=Is Miami Trump country? See how Miami-Dade cities voted for president in 2024 | website=Miami Herald | date=2024-11-08 | url=https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/article295199029.html |}}</ref> Compared to Biden, Harris also lost 20 points with Latina women, 4 points with Black men, and 13 points with voters between 18 and 29 years old.<ref name="cnnsuppo"/> Although Harris gained a small amount of support from Black women in 2024 compared to Biden, she still did 5 points worse with them than [[Hillary Clinton]] had in 2016.<ref name="cnnsuppo"/> Trump's strategy of targeting low-propensity voters also manifested in the final results: while Biden won first-time voters by 32 points in 2020, Trump won them by 11 points in 2024.<ref name="cnnsuppo"/> Asian-American voters also shifted towards Trump by 5 points,<ref>{{cite web | title=Asian Americans favored Harris but shifted right by 5 points | website=NBC News | date=2024-11-06 | url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/asian-americans-exit-poll-harris-trump-rcna179005}}</ref> causing Trump to win Merced County, California, which has one of the highest Asian-American populations in the United States and was previously a Democratic stronghold.<ref>{{cite web | title=Analysis: Some of Trump’s largest gains came in highly-educated counties | website=NBC News | date=2024-11-23 | url=https://www.nbcnews.com/data-graphics/2024-election-results-map-trump-made-biggest-gains-rcna180793}}</ref>

The loss of support for Harris had a significant impact on traditionally-Democratic states. New Jersey, for example, saw its closest margin for a Democrat (5.9 points, far short of Biden's 16 points) since [[Bill Clinton]]'s narrow victory in that state [[1992 U.S. presidential election|in 1992]] (2.37 points) due to decreased Democratic turnout.<ref>{{cite web | last=Chang | first=Sena | last2=Roth | first2=Charlie | title=2024 election shows rightward shift in NJ politics, Princeton affiliates analyze | website=The&#x20;Princetonian | date=2024-11-19 | url=https://www.dailyprincetonian.com/article/2024/11/princeton-news-broadfocus-new-jersey-red-wave-2024-election-presidential-congress-shift-conservative}}</ref> New York also shifted massively to the right. In New York City, Trump gained about 94,000 more votes than he had in 2020 while Harris won around 573,000 fewer than Biden had.<ref name="kamalanyc">{{cite web | last=Campbell | first=Jon | last2=Sundaram | first2=Arya | title=Donald Trump made gains throughout NYC as Dem margins plummeted | website=Gothamist | date=2024-11-08 | url=https://gothamist.com/news/as-donald-trump-made-gains-throughout-nyc-dem-margins-plummeted}}</ref> The working-class borough of Queens jumped 35% to the right.<ref name="kamalanyc"/> Despite having a home state advantage in California, Harris also lost 5 points and 10 counties compared to Biden.<ref>{{cite web | last=Walters | first=Dan | title=Opinion | website=CalMatters | date=2024-11-13 | url=https://calmatters.org/commentary/2024/11/democrats-republicans-california-voters-right/}}</ref> Much of California's shift towards Trump is also attributable to the state's worsening attitude towards crime, as demonstrated by the overwhelming voter support for {{wpl|2024 California Proposition 36|Proposition 36|}}, imposing harsher sentences on theft and drug crimes,<ref>{{cite web | last=Arango | first=Tim | title=California Shifts Rightward on Crime in an Election Fueled by Frustration | website=The New York Times | date=2024-11-08 | url=https://archive.ph/ztlBh}}</ref> and the ouster of progressive<ref>{{cite web | last=Lacy | first=Akela | title=Campaign to Recall Oakland Reform District Attorney Gets Rolling | website=The Intercept | date=2023-07-12 | url=https://theintercept.com/2023/07/12/recall-oakland-da-pamela-price/}}</ref> District Attorneys in Democratic strongholds like Alameda County<ref>{{cite web | last=Russell | first=Kiley | title=Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price accepts recall results | website=NBC Bay Area | date=2024-11-18 | url=https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/east-bay/alameda-county-district-attorney-pamela-price-recall-results/3713155/}}</ref> and Los Angeles County.<ref>{{cite web | title=L.A. County district attorney, one of the most progressive in the country, loses re-election | website=NBC News | date=2024-11-06 | url=https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/la-district-attorney-progressive-loses-re-election-gascon-rcna175906}}</ref> 

In most cities across the country that shifted significantly towards Trump, decreased Democratic turnout was the cause. Alongside winning 573,000 fewer votes in New York City than Biden had, Harris fell short by 137,000 in Florida's {{wpl|Miami-Dade County|}}, 295,000 in Illinois' {{wpl|Cook County|}}, 620,000 in {{wpl|Los Angeles County|}}, and 115,000 in Texas' {{wpl|Harris County, Texas|Harris County|}}.<ref>{{cite web | last=Wu | first=Ashley | last2=Gamio | first2=Lazaro | last3=Gebeloff | first3=Robert | last4=Shao | first4=Elena | last5=Bender | first5=Michael C. | title=2024 Election Voter Turnout Map: See Where Trump Gained and Harris Lost | website=The New York Times | date=2024-11-20 | url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/11/19/us/politics/voter-turnout-election-trump-harris.html |}}[Archived https://archive.ph/ANIX2]</ref> Chicago's turnout in a presidential election hadn't been this low since 1996, and before that since 1944.<ref>{{cite web | last=Qin | first=Amy | title=Trump’s inroads in Chicago driven by staggering dropoff in votes for Democrats | website=Chicago Sun-Times | date=2024-11-18 | url=https://chicago.suntimes.com/elections/2024/11/18/donald-trump-voter-turnout-chicago-democrats-dropoff |}}</ref>

===Table===
All candidates who received over 1% of the popular vote.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Candidate
!Electoral vote
!Popular vote
!States carried
!Percentage
|-
|style="background:#FF0000 ; color:#FFF"|'''Donald Trump'''
|312
|77,302,580
|31 + [[Maine]]-2
|49.8%
|-
|style="background:#0000FF; color:#FFF"|'''Kamala Harris'''
|226
|75,017,613
|19 + [[District of Columbia|DC]] + [[Nebraska]]-2
|48.3%
|}

===Maps===
<gallery mode="packed" heights="300">
File:ElectoralCollege2024.svg|[[United States Electoral College|Electoral College]] votes from each state and the District of Columbia.{{efn|[[Maine]] and [[Nebraska]] both allocate their electoral votes by congressional district, with two votes going to the state at-large. Trump won Maine-2, and Harris won Nebraska-2.}}
File:2024 United States presidential election results map by county.svg|Results by county, shaded by the winner's vote share.
File:2024 United States presdential election results by margin of victory.svg|Results by margin of victory in each state.
File:U.S. 2020 to 2024 presidential election swing.svg|Swing in county margins from 2020 to 2024.
</gallery>

===Close states===
States where the margin of victory was under 1%:
# <span style="color:darkred;background:white">'''Wisconsin, 0.87% (29,397 votes) – 10 electoral votes'''</span>

States where the margin of victory was between 1% and 5%:
# <span style="color:darkred;background:white">'''Michigan, 1.41% (80,103 votes) – 15 electoral votes'''</span>
# <span style="color:darkred;background:white">'''Pennsylvania, 1.71% (120,266 votes) – 19 electoral votes'''</span> (tipping-point state)
# <span style="color:darkred;background:white">'''Georgia, 2.20% (115,100 votes) – 16 electoral votes'''</span>
# <span style="color:darkblue;background:white">'''New Hampshire, 2.78% (22,965 votes) – 4 electoral votes'''</span>
# <span style="color:darkred;background:white">'''Nevada, 3.10% (46,008 votes) – 6 electoral votes'''</span>
# <span style="color:darkred;background:white">'''North Carolina, 3.21% (183,046 votes) – 16 electoral votes'''</span>
# <span style="color:darkblue;background:white">'''Minnesota, 4.24% (137,947 votes) – 10 electoral votes'''</span>
# <span style="color:darkblue;background:white">'''Nebraska's 2nd congressional district, 4.59% (14,636 votes) – 1 electoral vote'''</span>

States/districts where the margin of victory was between 5% and 10%:
# <span style="color:darkred;background:white">'''Arizona, 5.53% (187,382 votes) – 11 electoral votes'''</span>
# <span style="color:darkblue;background:white">'''Virginia, 5.78% (260,310 votes) – 13 electoral votes'''</span>
# <span style="color:darkblue;background:white">'''New Jersey, 5.89% (252,450 votes) – 14 electoral votes'''</span>
# <span style="color:darkblue;background:white">'''New Mexico, 6.00% (55,411 votes) – 5 electoral votes'''</span>
# <span style="color:darkblue;background:white">'''Maine, 6.94% (57,514 votes) – 2 electoral votes'''</span>
# <span style="color:darkred;background:white">'''Maine's 2nd congressional district, 9.03% (33,297 votes) – 1 electoral vote'''</span>

==Concurrent elections==
[[File:US House 2024.svg|thumb|right|525px|2024 House results. Solid colors are flipped seats.]]
===House of Representatives===
{{main|United States House of Representatives}}
Despite a national shift towards the Republicans, House Democrats actually held up pretty well. Despite having to contend with [[North Carolina]]'s new [[gerrymander]] that cut three seats out from beneath them before the election even started,<ref>{{cite web | last=Bonner | first=Lynn | title=North Carolina congressional races in newly gerrymandered districts turning out as expected • NC Newsline | website=NC Newsline | date=2024-11-06 | url=https://ncnewsline.com/2024/11/05/north-carolina-congressional-races-in-newly-gerrymandered-districts-turning-out-as-expected/ |}}</ref> the Democrats prevented the Republicans from keeping anything more than a razor-slim majority.<ref>{{cite web | last=Jett | first=Jennifer | title=House Election 2024 Live Results: Republicans Win Majority | website=NBC News | date=2024-11-05 | url=https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-elections/house-results |}}</ref> The final House races took weeks to count (because of California),<ref>{{cite web | last=Jeong | first=Helen | title=Michelle Steel concedes Congressional District 45 to Derek Tran | website=NBC Los Angeles | date=2024-11-27 | url=https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/derek-tran-wins-district-45-michelle-steel/3553711/ |}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | last=Meza | first=Victoria | title=Gray versus Duarte is the last Congressional race still to be called by AP | website=CBS47 and KSEE24 | date=2024-11-28 | url=https://www.yourcentralvalley.com/news/local-news/californias-last-congressional-race-to-be-called-gray-leads/ |}}</ref> but the final result came in December: a '''220'''-seat Republican majority and '''215''' Democratic seats.<ref>{{cite web | last=Cohen | first=Ethan | last2=Forrest | first2=Jack | last3=Ferris | first3=Sarah | title=Democrats’ flip in California concludes final unresolved US House race | website=CNN | date=2024-12-04 | url=https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2024/12/04/politics/democrats-flip-california-house-race |}}</ref> 2024 was therefore a net loss of one seat for Republicans.

Due to Trump's victories in the Rust Belt, Republicans for the first time since 2016 have won a majority of the Congressional delegation in Michigan<ref>{{cite web | last=Burke | first=Melissa Nann | last2=Schwab | first2=Grant | last3=Ramseth | first3=Luke | last4=LeBlanc | first4=Beth | title=Michigan gets two new U.S. House members as Republicans pick up a seat | website=detroitnews.com | date=2024-11-07 | url=https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/politics/elections/2024/11/06/michigan-congress-tom-barrett-kristen-mcdonald-rivet-john-james-marlinga-hertel-junge/76098891007/ |}}</ref> and Pennsylvania.<ref>{{cite web | last=Levy | first=Marc | title=GOP flips 2 US House seats in Pennsylvania, as Republican Scott Perry wins again | website=AP News | date=2024-11-07 | url=https://apnews.com/article/pennsylvania-congress-2024-election-perry-mackenzie-bresnahan-3c79f724690fb734cdcc921512165b72 |}}</ref> Democrats, meanwhile, picked up two seats in [[the South]] due to a series of [[United States Supreme Court|Supreme Court]] decisions ruling that Republicans in [[Alabama]] and [[Louisiana]] had unfairly limited the number of Black-majority House districts in violation of the {{wpl|1965 Voting Rights Act|}}.<ref>{{cite web | last=Schouten | first=Fredreka | title=Redistricting battles have mostly ended. Here’s how they could determine the balance of power in the US House | website=CNN | date=2024-01-24 | url=https://www.cnn.com/politics/redistricting-states-congressional-maps-house/index.html |}}</ref> New York Democrats redeemed themselves after their poor showing in the [[2022 United States midterm elections|2022 midterms]] by winning back four of the five seats they lost that year.<ref>{{cite web | title=New York dealt House Democrats a blow in 2022. In 2024, they made a comeback. | website=NBC News | date=2024-11-12 | url=https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/new-york-dealt-house-democrats-blow-2022-2024-made-comeback-rcna179787 |}}</ref> 

Some House Democrats also scored impressive victories after fighting to hold their seats in Republican-leaning districts that Trump had won easily. {{wpl|Marcy Kaptur|}} held her seat in [[Ohio]]-9 by slightly over 0.5%,<ref>{{cite web | last=Smyth | first=Julie Carr | title=Ohio Democrat Marcy Kaptur extends tenure as longest-serving woman in US House with election win | website=AP News | date=2024-11-20 | url=https://apnews.com/article/election-2024-house-ohio-kaptur-defeats-merrin-570b8b898060bce8a3e56168d6b75592 |}}</ref> {{wpl|Marie Gluesenkamp Perez|}} held [[Washington]]-3 after unexpectedly flipping the safe-Republican seat two years ago,<ref>{{cite web | last=Johnson | first=Gene | title=Democrat Marie Gluesenkamp Perez wins reelection in Washington's closely watched 3rd District | website=AP News | date=2024-11-09 | url=https://apnews.com/article/marie-gluesenkamp-perez-washington-congressional-race-706bfe6f8d69d50e310bd60aeba050bf |}}</ref> and {{wpl|Jared Golden|}} survived by the skin of his teeth due to [[ranked choice voting]] in [[Maine]]-2, a seat that has voted heavily for Trump three times in a row.<ref>{{cite web | last=Davis | first=Emma | title=Golden declared winner after ranked-choice run-off for Maine’s 2nd District • Alaska Beacon | website=Alaska Beacon | date=2024-11-20 | url=https://alaskabeacon.com/2024/11/19/election-2024-golden-declared-winner-after-ranked-choice-run-off-for-maines-2nd-district/ |}}</ref>

===Senate===
Unfortunately, Democrats lost four seats in the Senate in 2024 with the final result at '''53''' Republican seats and '''47''' Democratic and Democratic-aligned seats.<ref>{{cite web | last=Jett | first=Jennifer | title=Senate Election 2024 Live Results: Republicans Take Control | website=NBC News | date=2024-11-05 | url=https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-elections/senate-results |}}</ref> All of the lost Democratic seats were in states that Trump won, and three were in states that are overwhelmingly Republican: {{wpl|Tim Sheehy|}} defeated {{wpl|John Tester|}} in [[Montana]], car-salesman {{wpl|Bernie Moreno|}} defeated left-populist {{wpl|Sherrod Brown|}} in [[Ohio]], and {{wpl|Jim Justice|}} won the seat in [[West Virginia]] vacated by the retiring [[Joe Manchin]] (essentially a freebie for Republicans).  Additionally, {{wpl|David McCormick|}} defeated {{wpl|Bob Casey Jr.|}} in Pennsylvania by a razor-thin margin of 0.2% and 16,000 votes.<ref>{{cite web | title=Sen. Bob Casey concedes Pennsylvania Senate race to Republican Dave McCormick | website=NBC News | date=2024-11-21 | url=https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/bob-casey-concedes-pennsylvania-senate-race-dave-mccormick-rcna181277 |}}</ref> 

In most races, Senate Democrats did far better in their states than Kamala Harris. Despite losing their seats, Tester did 7 points better than Harris in Montana, Brown did 4 points better than Harris in Ohio, and Casey did 1 point better than Harris in Pennsylvania.<ref name="harrisenate">{{cite web | last=Prokop | first=Andrew | title=One striking pattern hidden in the election results | website=Vox | date=2024-11-06 | url=https://www.vox.com/2024-elections/383197/kamala-harris-results-underperformed-democratic-senate-candidates |}}</ref> Senate Democrats also won their races in four states Harris lost:<ref>{{cite web | last=John | first=Arit | title=Despite presidential headwinds, these Senate Democratic candidates won states Harris lost | website=CNN | date=2024-11-11 | url=https://www.cnn.com/2024/11/11/politics/senate-democratic-candidates-kamala-harris/index.html |}}</ref> {{wpl|Elissa Slotkin|}} in [[Michigan]], {{wpl|Ruben Gallego|}} in [[Arizona]], {{wpl|Jacky Rosen|}} in [[Nevada]], and {{wpl|Tammy Baldwin|}} in [[Wisconsin]]. Baldwin's victory was especially satisfying, as her Republican opponent had focused on attacking her [[sexual orientation]].<ref>{{cite web | title=In Wisconsin's key Senate race, Eric Hovde's closing message focuses on Tammy Baldwin's sexual orientation | website=NBC News | date=2024-11-02 | url=https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/wisconsins-senate-race-eric-hovde-closing-message-tammy-baldwin-rcna178429 |}}</ref>

These results made the Senate elections somewhat unusual, as a greater number of states voted in different parties for Senate and President than 2020 and 2022 combined—states have stayed more consistently loyal to each party as political polarization has increased over the years.<ref>{{cite web | last=DeSilver | first=Drew | title=2024 elections show more partisan splits between states’ presidential and Senate votes than in recent past | website=Pew Research Center | date=2024-11-26 | url=https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2024/11/26/2024-elections-show-more-partisan-splits-between-states-presidential-and-senate-votes-than-in-recent-past/ |}}</ref> The results strongly indicate that voters repudiated Harris more so than the Democratic Party itself.<ref name="harrisenate"/>

As for other interesting races, {{wpl|Amy Klobuchar|}} of [[Minnesota]] ran over 12 points ahead of Harris,<ref>{{cite web | last=Murphy | first=Esme | title=DFL Sen. Amy Klobuchar won 12 counties that voted for Trump. Here's how she did it. | website=CBS Minnesota | date=2024-11-10 | url=https://www.cbsnews.com/minnesota/news/amy-klobuchar-election-2024-trump-harris/ |}}</ref> [[Bernie Sanders]] and [[Elizabeth Warren]] slightly underperformed compared to Harris (both are pretty old to be running in an election where old age was a major issue for both parties<ref>{{cite web | last=Rathke | first=Lisa | last2=Press | first2=Associated | title=82-year-old U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders is running for reelection to a fourth term | website=PBS News | date=2024-05-06 | url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/82-year-old-u-s-sen-bernie-sanders-is-running-for-reelection-to-a-fourth-term |}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | last=Research | first=CNN Editorial | title=Elizabeth Warren Fast Facts | website=CNN | date=2015-01-09 | url=https://www.cnn.com/2015/01/09/us/elizabeth-warren-fast-facts/index.html |}}</ref>). Former governor {{wpl|Larry Hogan|}} also performed significantly better than Trump in [[Maryland]] thanks to his personal popularity and moderate credentials.<ref>{{cite web | last=Coleman | first=J. Miles | title=The State-Level Differences Between the Presidential and Senate Races | website=Sabato's Crystal Ball | date=2024-11-14 | url=https://centerforpolitics.org/crystalball/the-state-level-differences-between-the-presidential-and-senate-races/ |}}</ref> Finally, independent [[labor union]] leader Dan Osborn made the Senate race in deep-red [[Nebraska]] startlingly close by running a working-class focused campaign and hammering incumbent {{wpl|Deb Fischer|}} for using the office to increase her personal wealth.<ref>{{cite web | last=Sanderford | first=Aaron | last2=Gonzalez | first2=Cindy | title=Red scare: Incumbent Fischer survives Osborn in Nebraska U.S. Senate race • Nebraska Examiner | website=Nebraska Examiner | date=2024-11-06 | url=https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2024/11/05/red-scare-incumbent-fischer-survives-osborn-in-nebraska-u-s-senate-race/ |}}</ref> It's really too bad he lost.

<gallery mode="packed" heights="300">
File:2024 United States Senate elections results map.svg|2024 Senate results. Solid colors are flipped seats (Arizona is shown as Democratic gain from Independent). 
File:Harris Trump and Senate candidates compared by county.png|Harris vs. Senate Democrats comparison (the 3 independents are also in blue). In blue counties, the Senate Democratic candidate did better than Harris, and in red counties, they did worse than her.
</gallery>

== Full list of presidential candidates ==
=== Democrats ===
* Vice President '''[[Kamala Harris]]''' of California, following Biden's withdrawal on July 21, 2024. ("You think you just fell out of a coconut tree?"<ref>Conor Murray (July 21, 2024). [https://www.forbes.com/sites/conormurray/2024/07/21/kamala-harris-coconut-tree-quote-explained-what-she-meant-and-why-its-going-viral-as-biden-drops-out/ "Kamala Harris’ ‘Coconut Tree’ Quote, Explained: What She Meant And Why It’s Going Viral As She Launches Campaign"]. ''Forbes''.</ref>)
==== Withdrawn ====
* President '''[[Joe Biden]]''' of Delaware
* Convicted felon '''[[Joe Exotic]]''' of Oklahoma
* [[Antivaxxer]] '''[[Robert F. Kennedy Jr.]]''' — later changed to run as an independent before endorsing Trump
* Congressman '''Dean Phillips''' of Minnesota (endorsed Biden)<ref> [https://amp.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/mar/06/dean-phillips-drops-out Biden challenger Dean Phillips drops out of US presidential race] ''The Guardian'' 6 March 2024</ref>
* Venture capitalist '''Jason Palmer''' of Maryland (endorsed Biden)
* Political commentator '''[[Cenk Uygur]]''' of California
* Spiritual writer and [[perennial candidate]] '''[[Marianne Williamson]]''' of California (suspended, un-suspended, re-suspended, then re-un-suspended her campaign — because perennialism)

=== Republicans ===
* Former President '''[[Donald Trump]]''' of Florida

==== Withdrawn ====
* Nondenominational pastor '''Ryan Binkley''' of Texas (endorsed Trump)
* Governor '''[[Doug Burgum]]''' of North Dakota (endorsed Trump)<ref>[https://apnews.com/article/doug-burgum-donald-trump-endorsement-iowa-99c20a435000816823140902cd9333f2 Trump is endorsed by a former rival, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, ahead of the Iowa caucuses] ''Associated Press News'' 14 January 2024</ref>
* Former Governor '''[[Chris Christie]]''' of New Jersey
* Governor '''[[Ron DeSantis]]''' of Florida (endorsed Trump)<ref>[https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/ron-desantis-planning-drop-presidential-bid-sunday-rcna134953 "Ron DeSantis suspends his presidential bid and endorses Trump"] by Alec Hernández, Matt Dixon, Dasha Burns and Jonathan Allen, NBC News, 2024 January 21</ref>
* Talk radio host '''[[Larry Elder]]''' of California (endorsed Trump)<ref>[https://apnews.com/article/larry-elder-drops-out-presidential-race-a3d3665cd50d1e0d2071ab8800075482 Radio host Larry Elder ends Republican presidential campaign and endorses Donald Trump] ''Associated Press News'' 27 October 2023</ref>
* Former U.N. Ambassador '''[[Nikki Haley]]''' of South Carolina
* Former Congressman '''Will Hurd''' of Texas
* Former Governor '''Asa Hutchinson''' of Arkansas
* Bishop '''[[E. W. Jackson]]''' of Virginia (endorsed Trump)<ref>[https://x.com/ewjacksonsr/status/1749863816194560315 On my podcast today I officially endorsed Donald Trump as 47th President of the United States. I wouldn’t vote for Niki Haley for dog catcher. Don’t trust her at all! NH GO FOR TRUMP! http://EWJacksonforAmerica.com](1:36 PM · Jan 23, 2024) ''Twitter''</ref>
* Businessman '''Perry Johnson''' of Michigan
* Former Vice President '''[[Mike Pence]]''' of Indiana
* Investor '''[[Vivek Ramaswamy]]''' of Ohio (endorsed Trump)<ref>[https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-67990383 Iowa caucuses 2024: Vivek Ramaswamy suspends campaign and endorses Trump] ''BBC News'' 16 January 2024</ref>
* Senator '''Tim Scott''' of South Carolina (endorsed Trump)<ref>[https://www.cnn.com/2024/01/19/politics/tim-scott-endorsement-trump/index.html Sen. Tim Scott endorses Trump in New Hampshire amid full-court press against Haley] ''CNN'' 20 January 2024</ref>
* Miami Mayor '''Francis Suarez''' of Florida

=== Independent/Third Party ===
* Activist '''Claudia De la Cruz''' of New York ([[Party for Socialism and Liberation]])
* [[Traditionalist Catholic]] podcaster '''Taylor Marshall''' of Texas
* Activist '''Chase Oliver''' of Georgia ([[Libertarian Party]])
* Physician '''[[Jill Stein]]''' of Massachusetts ([[Green Party]])
* Local politician '''Peter Sonski''' of Connecticut (Solidarity Party)
* Performance artist '''[[Vermin Supreme]]''' of Massachusetts (Pirate Party)
* Anti-abortion activist '''[[Randall Terry]]''' of West Virginia ([[Constitution Party]])
* Philosopher '''[[Cornel West]]''' of California

==== Withdrawn ====
* Attorney '''[[Robert F. Kennedy Jr.]]''' of California ([[American Independent Party]], [[Reform Party]]) (endorsed Trump) <ref>[https://apnews.com/article/rfk-jr-trump-speech-arizona-a2638f89ddcb5de03edbe4574ca17d45 RFK Jr. suspends his presidential bid and backs Donald Trump before appearing with him at his rally] ''Associated Press News'' 23 August 2023</ref>

==See also==
* [[2020 U.S. presidential election]]
* [[2016 U.S. presidential election]]
* [[2024 United Kingdom general election]]

==External links==
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9cVJr3eQfXc Green Day - Troubled Times]

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=note}}

==References==
{{reflist|2|80%}}

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Categories: 2024 US presidential election, Authoritarianism, Fascism, Government incompetence, Homophobia, Joe Biden, Racism, Sexism, Transphobia, Trumpism, United States politics, United States presidential elections, Xenophobia