Donald Trump announces that he wants to turn America into a dictatorship. Kamala Harris isn’t even a U.S. citizen. These rumors, along with many others surrounding the 2024 presidential election, have people extremely worried. In times like these where social media is a news source for many, fake news travels fast. So does anyone actually know the facts of the election? There are so many false stories going around that it is hard to understand what is true and what’s not. The election is hard enough to understand without everyone making up their own version of it. So written below is the election in a nutshell, or an “election for dummies” guide.
Every 4 years the United States holds the presidential election. The last election occurred in 2020 when Joe Biden was elected as president, and Harris was elected as his vice-president. They are a part of the Democratic Party, which is one of the two main political parties in the U.S. The other party is the Republican Party. This is the party former president and vice-president Trump and Mike Pence belong to. There are many people that ran this year from both parties, such as Nikki Haley, Marianne Williamson, Ron Desantis, and Dean Phillips, but most of these people dropped out early in the race. These names aren’t as commonly heard as Biden’s, Trump’s, Harris’s, and Pence’s because those are the front runners, or those were the front runners. Pence dropped out of the election in October 2023, just months before the primary election. The primary election took place in Illinois on March 19, 2024. The purpose of the primary election is to nominate candidates to compete in the general election. This year Trump and Biden were the winners of that election. According to AP news, Pence stated, “‘It’s become clear to me: This is not my time,”’ when ending his campaign for the presidency. He wasn’t the only major candidate to drop out. President Biden issued a statement on July 21, 2024, stating that it was his duty as president to drop out of the race. He expressed his fear for the country if Trump won a second term and said he knew he had to drop out because his chances of winning were slim. Harris took his place and is proving to be more popular than both men. Her vice-presidential candidate is Tim Walz, while Trump’s running mate is J.D. Vance.
As of right now the national polls dictate that 50% of people are voting Harris, while only 46% are voting Trump.
There was recently a televised debate between the two candidates, which is one of the reasons why Harris is leading. There isn’t an official debate winner, but America tends to pick one. This year they widely decided that Harris won the debate. She was said to have spoken eloquently, and she held herself well. She is currently the top presidential choice, but the real winner won’t be known until Election Day, November 5, 2024. That’s just under two months away, so I guess everyone will be on the edge of their seats until then!
Works Cited:
- 2024 Presidential Candidates. (n.d.). The Hill. Retrieved September 16, 2024, from https://thehill.com/2024-presidential-candidates/
- COLVIN, J. (2023, October 28). Mike Pence drops out of 2024 presidential race: ‘No regrets’. AP News. Retrieved September 16, 2024, from https://apnews.com/article/mike-pence-2024-president-campaign-republican-trump-0ec44fc2a5b8683f34883e0ea72b2ab2
- Election | History, Polls, Results, Date, & Facts. (2024, September 11). Britannica. Retrieved September 16, 2024, from https://www.britannica.com/topic/election-political-science
- Electoral Politics 101: Why Elections and Voting Matter. (n.d.). Indivisible. Retrieved September 16, 2024, from https://indivisible.org/resource/electoral-politics-101-why-elections-and-voting-matter
- Luscombe, R. (2024, August 11). Biden says it was his ‘obligation to the country’ to drop out of presidential race. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/aug/11/biden-reasons-dropping-out-presidential-race
