American presidential election: Trump or Harris, the United States at the time of choice

UNITED STATES – After months of an unprecedented campaign in every respect, the time to vote has arrived. Election day has arrived in the United States, where voters who have not voted in advance or by mail must decide, this Tuesday, November 5, Kamala Harris and Donald Trump.

Between the Democrat who succeeded Joe Biden at short notice and the Republican who denounces in advance a rigged election if it does not allow him to return to the White House, the climate will have been particularly tense. At the time of choice, it is impossible to say whether the former California prosecutor or the billionaire will win the election, as the vote is so close in the seven undecided states where the election will be played.

1. The five craziest moments of an unprecedented American presidential campaign

Need to find your way in this incredible election. It changed on the day of the debate between Joe Biden and Donald Trump on CNN at the end of June. Attacked for months on his health by his opponents, the 81-year-old Democrat appears extremely weakened in the face of his rival. It was then the true beginning of an extraordinary campaign with its twists and turns, including two assassination attempts against Donald Trump and the withdrawal of the outgoing president in favor of his vice-president Kamala Harris, as you can see in the video at the top of the article and in the article below:

2. Between polarization and violence, the fear of “civil war” in the United States

There are pro-guns versus anti-guns. Feminists against “tradwives”. Defenders of the right to abortion against those who defend the right to life… When choosing its 47th president, American society has rarely been so divided and the extent of this divide is represented by the personalities of Kamala Harris and Donald Trump. To the point that some observers fear a civil war the day after the election.

“There are very strong tensions (…). The two blocks feel like they live on two different planets”points out Mathieu Gallard, research director at Ipsos, in our article below:

3. Insults, weapons… Democrats flirt with excess to cast a wide net against Trump

KAMIL KRZACZYNSKI / AFP

Kamala Harris and her running mate Tim Walz during a campaign rally on August 20 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Joe Biden insinuating that Trump voters are ” garbage “Kamala Harris calling her opponent “fascist”… As the date of November 5 got closer and as the polls became more and more close, the Democratic camp strengthened its strategy by taking direct inspiration from its opponent to better fight him, at the risk of flirting with excess.

“In July, during her nomination as party candidate, Kamala Harris abandoned Joe Biden’s strategy of “negative campaigning”, that is to say, leading a campaign based on the denigration of the opponent, by ‘occurrence of Donald Trump’, recalls Alexis Pichard, doctor in American civilization, however, in our article below:

4. How Kamala Harris is working to win back this key electorate

MICHAEL M. SANTIAGO / Getty Images via AFP

Vice President Kamala Harris on October 14, 2024 in Pennsylvania.

In the home stretch, the objective of both candidates was to convince the last voters who could tip the scales. For Kamala Harris, it is about black men who are increasingly numerous in their eyes at Donald Trump. They voted 90% for Joe Biden in 2020, a level that fell to 78% voting intentions for Kamala Harris, as detailed in the article below:

5. The « fake news » of Trump are not even the biggest problem of the American election

PATRICK T. FALLON / AFP

Donald Trump, here in Las Vegas at the end of October 2024, does not bother with the truth to campaign.

It’s no secret that Donald Trump and the Republican camp have, since 2016, elevated the handling of disinformation to the rank of art. But for his third candidacy, the billionaire still uses and abuses more than ever “ fake news “. Everywhere, all the time. Whether on social networks, during his meetings and even during the debate against his opponent Kamala Harris.

And that’s unfortunately not the biggest problem in this race for the White House. According to Stéphanie Lamy, a specialist in disinformation strategies, a much darker and much more dangerous design lies behind the Republicans’ lying strategy: to undermine democracy. The explanations in our article:

6. Why Elon Musk’s support for Donald Trump is problematic on every level

MICHAEL SWENSEN/Getty Images via AFP

In the home stretch of the campaign, Elon Musk is increasing his number of meetings, like here in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, a key state for the November 5 election.

Elon Musk, who had already reached out to Donald Trump by allowing his return to his social network X before officially supporting him, clearly passed the second at the end of the campaign by appearing in person at a meeting in Pennsylvania. Problematic support in more than one way, as this article shows:

7. How Donald Trump finds himself trapped by Kamala Harris with the age argument

SAUL LOEB / AFP

Kamala Harris’ strategy of attacking Donald Trump’s age and health is far from being a coincidence at the end of the American electoral campaign.

As America prepared to choose its president between the two oldest candidates in history, Kamala Harris came to shake up the old established order. The Democratic candidate celebrated her sixtieth birthday in the home stretch of the campaign. An anniversary that counts at a time when questions of age and health occupy a predominant place in this election, going so far as to push the outgoing president to throw in the towel.

And the strategy deployed by Donald Trump to discredit Joe Biden and his ability to govern for four more years tends to backfire on him, highlights the article below:

8. Trump or Harris? Why the proclamation of the result may take time

JEFF KOWALSKY / AFP

A voter in Detroit, Michigan.

If you’re hoping to know the name of the new American president when you wake up on Wednesday, November 6, you may be disappointed. The chances of knowing the winner on election night are “ almost zero”, even assures Seth Bluestein, Republican delegate in Philadelphia, from CNN. And this despite new rules taken in several states to speed up the counting process compared to 2020, where Joe Biden’s victory was only made official four days after the vote.

We take stock of the numerous complications which are likely to delay the announcement of the winner in the article below:

9. The loyalty of major voters, this gray area of ​​the American presidential election

Loyalty is not a quality that we necessarily associate with politics. And yet, it is on it that the voting system for the American presidential election is partly based. The United States elects its president by indirect universal suffrage, which means that citizens actually vote for electors, who in turn are responsible for electing the president and vice-president.

It is usually the Democratic and Republican parties who nominate them, so both camps select people loyal to their side. However, some major voters have already deviated from their commitment, as we explain in the video above and in the article below: