[🇺🇸] USA Election 2024

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Uncertain political fallout from the new focus on January 6​

New focus on Trump’s refusal to accept the result of the last election and the January 6 attack on the Capitol might seem like a political disaster for the ex-president. But it’s a mark of Trump’s success in rewriting history that this is not necessarily an election-defining issue.

When Trump left Washington in January 2021, without attending Joe Biden’s inauguration and with the city divided by iron security fences, it would have been absurd to think that he could have a strong chance of returning to power in a non-consecutive second term.

His prospects next month show that while he horrifies many Americans, his conduct after the last election is not seen as disqualifying by millions of others. Trump has countered claims by opponents that he represents a grave peril to the Constitution by arguing that Biden and Harris are the real threat and has blamed their rhetoric for two assassination attempts against him. “I probably took a bullet to the head because of the things that they say about me,” Trump said at his debate with Harris last month. “They talk about democracy. I’m a threat to democracy. They’re the threat to democracy.”

Trump’s hold on the Republican base has also allowed him to browbeat most party leaders into supporting him and joining his effort to whitewash his conduct after the last election. He’s also again raising doubts about the integrity of the election system as early voting begins this year to hedge against another possible defeat.

 

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Trump’s success in convincing Republicans that he was the victim of political persecution helped him sail through the Republican primary. And the prospect of another Democratic president is even papering over some of the deepest Republican scars remaining from 2020. On Friday, for instance, the ex-president is set to appear with Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp in the swing state for a briefing on Hurricane Helene. Trump has spent years vilifying Kemp for failing to join his attempt to overturn Biden’s win there.

 

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New fears that Trump threatens democracy​

The possibility of a Trump return to power is especially ominous for many Americans because he has vowed to wage a second term of “retribution” and is threatening to jail his political opponents.

Yet Trump’s strongman instincts are exactly what makes him attractive to many Republican voters whom he has convinced the Biden administration has weaponized justice against him. There is no evidence to support Trump’s claims, even if some of the prosecutors in several of his criminal and civil cases, notably in Georgia and New York, were political figures who previously criticized the former president. Still, all of Trump’s criminal charges emerged from grand juries or genuine legal processes. And he was judged by a jury of his peers, like any other citizen, when convicted in a Manhattan trial arising from a hush money payment to an adult film actress.

As well as the federal election case, the ex-president is facing a similar one in Georgia based on racketeering statutes. A Trump-appointed judge threw out another Smith prosecution — over Trump’s handling of classified documents at his Florida club — although the special counsel is appealing her decision.

 

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Smith details a devastating story – but Trump has so far forestalled a trial​

In his latest filing to district court in Washington, Smith accused the ex-president of trying to overturn legitimate election results in seven states that he lost. The former president, who has pleaded not guilty in this and all criminal cases against him, is entitled to the presumption of innocence.

 

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Legal expert says one quote from Jack Smith in filing sums up his case against Trump
02:19 - Source: CNN

In such a toxic political environment, the special counsel was bound to encounter claims he was motivated by partisanship since, despite his nominal independence, he operates under the auspices of Biden’s Attorney General Merrick Garland. But a failure to prosecute the ex-president, who escaped political accountability when Republican senators declined to convict him in his second impeachment trial, would have created a precedent that might convince a future president to try to ignore an election loss.

 

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While Smith must still convince a jury that Trump broke the law, the historic facts are not in dispute.

The former president refused to accept the result of the 2020 election that he lost. His cases alleging fraud — often lacking evidence — were thrown out by multiple judges and even by the Supreme Court. He called a crowd to Washington and incited his supporters, who smashed their way into the Capitol and beat up police officers. The former president has hailed those who tried to block the electoral certification as heroes and has pledged to pardon them if he returns to power. His actions did not just represent a threat to the sacred American principle of peaceful transfers of power between presidents. They shattered trust among millions of Americans in the legal and electoral system.

 

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Biden made Trump’s threat to democracy the centerpiece of his now-shelved run for president, warning that his predecessor represents an unprecedented threat to America’s soul. But Harris, while warning of the dangers of Trump, has sought to focus primarily on the generational change she offers.

Her tactics are an acknowledgment that there are many other issues — including high grocery prices, the cost of housing, and the price of childcare — that occupy the minds of voters’ as much as somewhat intangible warnings of democracy on the brink.

In a CNN/SSRS poll in September, about 4 in 10 likely voters said the economy was the most important issue as they choose a candidate. Protecting democracy was second at 21%, immigration was at 12% and abortion was at 11%. Harris’ voters were more likely than others to choose protecting democracy as most important (37%) over the economy (21%).

Therefore, while the scenes on January 6, 2021, were horrifying, four years on they are not the dominant issue.

 

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Democrats lead in September advertising for House races as California and New York dominate​

From CNN's David Wright

Democrats outspent Republicans on advertising by a combined total of more than $31 million across 20 of the most competitive US House races in September, ad data shows, and held the edge in 17 of those contests.

Each of the races drew between about $5 to $10 million in ad spending during the month, with two toss-up contests in Alaska and Pennsylvania topping $10 million, according to data from the ad tracking firm AdImpact.

 

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The list of 20 races that saw the most ad spending last month stretches across the country, with five states hosting a pair of top contests, including California, New York, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Arizona.

And overall, including races not on the top 20 list, California and New York are dominating the House map – those two states accounted for nearly a quarter of all ad spending in House races in September (24%).

Counting all US House races, California saw more than $30 million worth of ad spending in the month, while New York saw $28.5 million. Pennsylvania ($20 million), Michigan ($17 million) and Arizona ($13 million) were also bombarded with ads.

Across the country, the parties combined for a total of about $245 million spent on advertising for House races in September – including all advertisers, campaigns and outside groups, from both parties – and Democrats led Republicans by about $153 million to $91 million.

 

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Biden says he and Harris are aligned and in constant contact​

From CNN's Nikki Carvajal

President Joe Biden, standing with White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, speaks during a surprise appearance to take questions during the daily briefing at the White House in Washington, DC, on Friday.

Susan Walsh/AP


President Joe Biden said he’s “singing from the same song sheet” as Vice President Kamala Harris as his administration deals with multiple crises on the domestic and international levels.

“I’m in constant contact with her,” he said while answering questions in the White House briefing room for the first time as president on Friday. “She’s aware … we’re singing from the same song sheet.”

He told reporters Harris “helped pass all the laws that are being employed now.”

“She was a major player in everything we’ve done, including the passage of legislation which we were told we could never pass,” Biden said. “She’s been, and her staff is interlocked with mine in terms of all the things we’re doing.”

Biden also joked that he was getting back into the presidential race

Asked if he wanted to reconsider dropping out of the race, Biden paused and turned around as he was walking out of the room.

“I’m back in!” he said with a smile.

 

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Biden on election outcome: "I'm confident it'll be free and fair; I don't know whether it will be peaceful"​

From CNN's Adrienne Vogt

President Joe Biden speaks during a news conference in the Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House on October 4 in Washington, DC.

Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

President Joe Biden made a surprise appearance at the podium during the White House news briefing, where he answered a question on the upcoming November election.

A reporter asked Biden: “I’d like to know how you’re feeling about how this election is going. And then also, do you have confidence that it will be a free and fair election and that it will be peaceful?”

Biden responded: “Two separate questions. I’m confident it’ll be free and fair; I don’t know whether it will be peaceful.”

“The things that Trump has said and the things that he said last time out, when he didn’t like the outcome of the election, were very dangerous,” he continued.

Biden also referred to a moment during the vice presidential debate this week, when GOP vice presidential candidate JD Vance was put on the spot by Democratic running mate Tim Walz during a discussion of the January 6, 2021, insurrection and former President Donald Trump’s false claims that he won the 2020 election.

 

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Harris plans to hit Trump and Vance for not committing to keep funding for auto plants​

From CNN's Aaron Pellish, Eva McKend and Ali Main

An employee installs components on a vehicle at the General Motors Co. Lansing Delta Township Assembly Plant in Lansing, Michigan, in February 2020.

Jeff Kowalsky/Bloomberg/Getty Images

Vice President Kamala Harris will hit Ohio Sen. JD Vance for refusing to commit to continuing federal support for a General Motors plant in Lansing, Michigan, during her remarks in Flint, Michigan on Friday, a senior campaign official told CNN.