Nearly 240 million American voters will go to the polls on Tuesday, November 5, to elect the next tenant of the White House. While waiting to know who, Democrat Kamala Harris or Republican Donald Trump, will win, we look back at the notable moments of the 2024 presidential campaign.
► November 15, 2022: Trump announces his candidacy
“To restore America to its glory and greatness, I announce my candidacy for President of the United States. » It is with these words that Donald Trump launches into the American presidential campaign, Tuesday November 15, 2022.
From his residence in Mar-a-Lago, Florida, the Republican castigates Joe Biden’s record in a speech punctuated by lies and self-congratulatory messages.
But to compete again with his Democratic opponent in the race for the White House, Donald Trump must still win his party’s primary. Which he will do without difficulty, notably by eliminating the governor of Florida Ron de Santis, his former vice-president Mike Pence, and the diplomat Nikki Haley.
► April 25, 2023: Biden enters the race
Like four years ago, it is through a video that Joe Biden announces that he is once again a candidate for the presidency of the United States, Tuesday April 25, 2023.
Accompanying his message with images of the attack on the Capitol, the Democrat positions himself as a defender of “individual freedoms”and calls on his voters to help him “finish the job”.
“Every generation has a moment when it must defend democracy. I think it’s ours”he adds on social networks.
► March 5, 2024: Trump and Biden win Super Tuesday by a wide margin
Super Tuesday, the first Tuesday in March preceding the American presidential election, is always a crucial moment for candidates wishing to obtain their party’s nomination. That day, both Democrats and Republicans held their primaries in 15 states simultaneously.
Unsurprisingly since he faced no serious opposition, Joe Biden won the fifteen states at stake. For his part, Donald Trump narrowly missed the grand slam by conceding the state of Vermont to his rival Nikki Haley.
► June 27, 2024: first debate between the two candidates
After a timid start, the American campaign took a sharp turn on June 27, with the first debate between the two candidates. More than the substance, it is the state of health of Joe Biden which holds the attention of CNN viewers.
The tenant of the White House is searching for his words, stammering… Donald Trump doesn’t need more. “I really don’t know what he just said at the end of that sentence. I don’t think he knows it himself.”laughs the Republican candidate, challenging the 81-year-old president to submit to a cognitive test.
Difficult weeks then begin for Joe Biden, where he will try to prove, despite the growing doubts of his supporters, Democratic officials and major party donors, that he can still “do the job”.
The NATO Summit on July 10 and 11 will once again fuel doubts. Joe Biden multiplies the gaffes, announcing Russian President Vladimir Putin in place of Volodymyr Zelensky, or evoking the “Vice President Trump” instead of Kamala Harris.
► July 13, 2024: first assassination attempt on Donald Trump
At the end of the day on July 13, Donald Trump had barely begun his speech to his supporters gathered in Butler, Pennsylvania, when a bullet passed through the crowd and nearly killed him. Hit only in the ear, the Republican is safe. Barely up, he raises his fist in a gesture of defiance, before being evacuated by his security services.
This « assassination attempt »as the FBI quickly describes it, leaves two dead: the shooter and a passerby. Two spectators were also seriously injured.
Trump, almost back from the dead, will be greeted triumphantly at the Republican convention to be held a few days later.
In mid-September, police foiled another alleged assassination attempt against the former president.
► July 21, 2024: Biden withdraws from the race for the White House
Suffering from Covid-19 and recovering in his home in Delaware, Joe Biden announces that he will end his campaign on July 21. The octogenarian gives way to his vice-president, Kamala Harris, “in the interest of my party and the nation”he specifies.
This decision was received as a relief by many Democrats, who saw his stubbornness as a loss of opportunity for the party.
► August 22, 2024: Kamala Harris officially inaugurated by the Democrats
Less than three months before the presidential election, Kamala Harris is officially nominated as candidate at the Democratic convention, which takes place from August 19 to 22 in Chicago.
In front of thousands of cheering supporters, the Vice President of the United States makes history, becoming the first black woman and the first woman of Indian origin nominated for the race for the White House.
► September 10, 2024: first and last debate between Harris and Trump
In front of the cameras of the ABC News channel, in Philadelphia (Pennsylvania), Donald Trump and Kamala Harris engage in their first and probably last televised duel.
For an hour and thirty minutes, the Democrat tried to give a presidential image, while her Republican opponent descended into conspiracy theories, going so far as to accuse migrants living in Springfield (Ohio) of “eat cats and dogs”.
► November 5, 2024: election day
American voters are called to the polls on Tuesday, November 5, to choose 538 electors who will nominate the president. But many will have already slipped their ballot into the ballot box. Some states like Virginia or Minnesota actually offer a “early voting” since the end of September.
The results will be particularly scrutinized in the “swing states”, these most undecided states, which swing either to the Republican side or to the Democratic side, and thus decide the outcome of the election. This year, there are seven: Michigan, Georgia, North Carolina, Arizona, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
► January 20, 2025: entry into office of the new president
The term of each president of the United States officially begins at the inauguration ceremony, which always takes place on January 20.
The winner of the election, Kamala Harris or Donald Trump, will therefore take the oath on Monday January 20, 2025 at noon, on the steps of the Capitol, by pronouncing the ritual formula in front of the President of the Supreme Court: “I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States and to the best of my ability preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States. »
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