By Jose Guerrero
While many enjoy their summer as a relaxing time of the year, in the world of politics it was everything but that. Elections, scandals, conflicts and controversy just kept on coming, and they hit the ground running. Here are some of the big headlines from this summer.
Donald Trump assassination attempt
On July 13, while giving a speech at a rally in Butler, PA, at least eight shots were fired at former president and current presidential candidate Donald Trump from the roof of a nearby building 400 feet away from him. Trump survived and faced a minor injury to his ear. Nonetheless, that gave him huge momentum for his campaign. It was a disaster for the Democrats, including then-leading nominee President Joe Biden. Especially after Biden’s poor performance in the first presidential debate in June, it did not look good at all for the Democrats as the assassination attempt made Trump look like a hero — even more so with that photo of him raising his fist while bleeding.
The MAGA National Convention
For four days, from July 15 to 18, the Republicans held the 2024 Republican National
Convention (RNC) in Milwaukee, WI. With all the momentum gained from the assassination attempt, it gave Trump the confidence to choose a very controversial pick for his vice presidential candidate, in the form of Ohio Senator JD Vance. The rest of the RNC can only be described as weird, with scenes such as Hulk Hogan ripping his shirt and even model Amber Rose being a speaker. A key thing to note is that some established Republicans weren’t present at the convention; George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Paul Ryan and even Arnold Schwarzenegger did not attend their own party’s convention as they have in the past.
Biden out, Harris in
Only three days after the RNC on July 21, President Biden dropped out of the race. While he did seek reelection, he talked to friends, family and other Democratic Party members who all said it was in his best interest for everyone if he dropped out. His successor became Vice President Kamala Harris, who immediately went from potential vice presidential nominee to being in the running for Commander in Chief. The crazier part was that many would have believed that the Democrats would have challenged Harris; instead, it turned out to be the opposite. Left-wing Democrats such as Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez from New York and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders quickly endorsed Harris. Even some Republicans have backed her, such as former Illinois representative Adam Kinzinger. With the support of both left and center-right politicians, this gives Harris a huge lead, especially in swing states, such as Pennsylvania, where moderate voters live. This made many Democrats change their tune from hopeless to hopeful, which was just in time for the Democratic National Convention (DNC).
A very celebratory Democratic convention
From Aug. 19 to 22, Democrats held their convention. Unsurprisingly, many had fears about it taking place in Chicago since the 1968 convention—which took place in the same city—was described as a disaster for Democrats.
The Democratic National Convention was an interesting one. Ever since Biden dropped out, Harris has been doing well in the polls. At the time, she was ahead of every key battleground state except Georgia and Arizona. Harris’ picked Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as her running mate, which was announced only two weeks before the convention. Walz is a really popular choice among moderate-swing voters, from his history as a moderate Democrat to the praise he’s even gotten from progressives for his policies put in place as governor, such as signing a law that provides free meals to all students in Minnesota public schools and another covering the cost of tuition to any public college in his state for students from families making less than $80,000 a year.
With the party looking more united than ever, it was more of a celebratory party than a political party. They had a DJ, speakers from the Republican Party who attended and endorsed Harris, and even rapper Lil Jon announcing the delegate votes from Georgia. There was also some flak thrown at JD Vance for a comment he made towards Harris and others for being “childless cat ladies” back in 2021 during a Fox News interview. In Oprah Winfrey’s speech about helping one another out, the idea of saving someone from a “house fire” came up: “We just try to do the best we can to save them. And if the place happens to belong to a childless cat lady too, well, we try to get that cat out too.” She then paused as the crowd burst out laughing.
Everything seemed hopeful and exciting from inside of the convention but it had a different tone on the outside, with demonstrations and clashes with police taking place. Although not nearly as confrontational as the 1968 protest, these altercations came from a pro-Palestine protest just outside the building who were calling to end the violence in Gaza, protection of civil rights for marginalized groups and reproductive rights.
The summer ends
It’s clear that this summer was everything but relaxing for the world of politics and the worst part is that this is only surface-level coverage. Reflecting on the events in the summer, it can be described as an “emotional roller coaster.” It started out poorly with Biden and Trump debating each other, making it look like we would have to choose between two very old candidates. Then the assassination made things worse as Trump, a man who many know to be on the extreme right, looked like he just won the election. (Even his campaign thought they were headed for a landslide victory.) As we head closer and closer to Election Day, the tension between both parties and candidates have only intensified, with both candidates aggressively campaigning for the support of undecided voters. As they fight for the battleground states and continue to debate on and off stage, we are less than 40 days away from the election. The stakes have never been higher.
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