Biggest moments from the US elections: From failed Trump assassinations to Biden dropping out

The 2024 presidential election has been the most critical and compelling one in US history.

As the largest economy and military power in the world, the results of these elections may have a greater impact on other countries, especially in the backdrop of two seismic global conflicts.

With incumbent Joe Biden dropping out of the race, Kamala Harris stepping in, and several assassination attempts on Trump, the path leading to Election Day, November 5, has been rather dramatic.

We revisit the key moments during the US elections.

A convicted felon

A New York jury found Donald Trump guilty of all 34 charges in a scheme to illegally influence the 2016 election by paying hush money to porn actor Stormy Daniel, who revealed graphic details about their alleged sexual encounter.

This conviction made Trump the first former American president to be found guilty of felony crimes on May 30.

Trump faces charges that carry a maximum sentence of four years in prison. He entered a not guilty plea and denied any misconduct on his side. It was also an attempt to stop him, he said.

“This was a disgrace,” he had shouted outside the court that day. “This was a rigged trial by a conflicted judge who was corrupt.”

Quick Reads

View All

US changing its nuclear playbook? States offered deals to host radioactive waste: Report

‘America will not become a nation of renters’: Trump blames Biden for soaring housing prices in US

Biden vs Trump debate

President Joe Biden squared off against Republican nominee Donald Trump for the opening presidential debate on June 27 in Atlanta.

For many viewers, it was a painful watch.

While Trump made personal jabs and based his responses on falsehoods that moderators failed to question, Biden sometimes seemed unable to finish a line of thinking due to his shaky, scratchy voice and awkward pauses.

Democrats were alarmed by Biden’s dismal showing and began to wonder if he was still a suitable contender for the White House.

The partial immunity

On 1 July, the Supreme Court ruled that Trump is at least partly immune from criminal prosecution for anything he did in his “official capacity” as president.

The decision, which came as a major victory for Trump, destroys the likelihood of a criminal trial for Trump over trying to subvert the 2020 election occurring before the new election in November 2024.

Failed assassination attempts

On July 13, a gunman opened fire at a Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, in what was called an assassination attempt against the former US president.

While Trump was grazed on his right ear, one attendee was killed and two others were critically injured.

Thomas Matthew Crooks reportedly fired eight bullets with an AR-15-style rifle from the rooftop of a nearby building. The 20-year-old gunman was killed by a Secret Service, and the motive behind the attack remains unclear.

Wearing an ear bandage, Trump used the attacks as his rallying cry for re-election at the Republican National Convention shortly after the assassination attempt.

A second aspiring assassin is said to have targeted Trump at his golf club in West Palm Beach, Florida, on September 15, just nine weeks later. Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, was captured by Secret Service agents when he was hiding in the bushes brandishing a gun.

The billionaire’s support

Elon Musk, the wealthiest man on the planet, formally declared his support to Trump – a move many suspected after he bought Twitter and rebranded the platform as ‘X’.

He has also been a huge supporter to the Trump campaign, giving away $1 million every day to Pennsylvanians who registered to vote. This action prompted a judge to order him to appear in court for conducting a “illegal lottery.”

Biden’s dropout

After weeks of mounting pressure from Democrats and donors, Biden announced his decision that he will no longer seek re-election.

“It has been the greatest honour of my life to serve as your President,” Biden wrote in a letter posted to social media. “I believe it is in the best interest of my party and the country for me to stand down and to focus solely on fulfilling my duties as President for the remainder of my term.”

While stepping aside, he endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris to replace him.

‘A new way forward’

Harris launched her presidential campaign on July 21 and secured the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination in early August, becoming the first Black woman to lead a major party’s nominee.

She declared the election an opportunity for the country to “chart a new way forward” and encouraged voters to write the “next great chapter in the most extraordinary story ever told.”

With the development, the impact was immediate.

She raised more than $1 billion in less than three months and drew boisterous crowds to energetic rallies focusing on reproductive rights, economic help for the middle class and safeguarding US democracy.

RFK Jr. drops out

Robert F Kennedy Jr, a lifelong Democrat, turned independent and leading third party presidential candidate, he announced his support for Trump.

Kennedy had faced a string of scandals, including accusations he had assaulted a former babysitter.

The running mates

In July, Trump announced Ohio Senator JD Vance would join him in the race as his running mate. It was a dramatic change for the author of the hit memoir Hillbilly Elegy, who once described himself as a “never Trumper.”

Soon after that, Vance made headlines for his controversial definition of leading Democrats, “ A bunch of childless cat ladies.”

Meanwhile, Harris announced Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as her VP pick, who soon captured national attention with his effective takedown of Republicans.

“These guys are just weird,” he had said.

The only debate

Harris and Trump faced off in what was their first and only presidential debate on September 11.

The debate’s headlines focused on the former president’s remark regarding Haitian immigrants rather than Harris’s win: “They are eating the dogs in Springfield,” Trump claimed. “They are eating the cats. They are eating the pets of the people that live there.”

The remarks were echoed by his running mate, who repeated that the campaign promises to carry out the largest mass deportation in history.

The final pitches

The most hectic days are always those preceding Election Day. This year was no different.

While candidates traded insults and billions of people glued to the poll predictions, there was no clear lead for either Trump nor Harris.

Harris drew a crowd of more than 75,000 people in Washington, DC, referring to Trump as “another petty tyrant,” while Trump smeared immigrants and arrived at a rally in a garbage truck, a stunt to attack Democrats.

With inputs from agencies