Summer 2024 Timeline of 10 Major Events in US Politics

Politics this summer has been incredibly hectic, from Trump’s “hush money” trial to Biden dropping out of the presidential race altogether. Read the timeline below to recap 10 major events that happened and will happen this summer, in U.S politics.

1. Biden and Trump Debate (June 27, 2024, in Atlanta, Georgia) CNN https://www.cnn.com/2024/06/27/politics/read-biden-trump-debate-rush-transcript 

Many believe this debate was a “disaster”. The beginning of the debate started routinely where both candidates stayed on topic and responded to each argument. Trump and Biden stated what they did for the economy and how the other side negatively impacted it. On the topic of abortion, Biden kept replying to Trump’s argument by stating something followed by “he’s lying”. Soon after, Trump began to state Biden as the reason why people were being killed due to his (Biden’s) policy towards the U.S. border control. Following this, the two candidates continued to argue and throw out personal attacks. After this, the topic of foreign relations with Ukraine and Gaza arose. Both candidates attacked each other’s policies on foreign aid, with Trump referring to Biden as a, “very bad Palestinian. He’s a weak one.” Biden, responding to Trump’s comments, said, “I’ve never heard so much foolishness.” Trump might’ve gotten under his skin, which prompted a weak response, and could be viewed as a childish and an unprofessional way to respond. Later on, the topic of January 6th was brought up: an event where many Trump supporters stormed the capital in an attempt to make a statement after Trump’s loss in the election.  In addition, Trump’s 34 felony convictions were brought up, but instead of giving his detailed thoughts and beliefs, former president Trump pointed fingers at President Biden’s son for also being a felon, which was yet another personal attack. The debate transformed into  Biden and Trump arguing about each other’s personal lives, with many finding this debate to be unserious and a negative reflection of U.S. politics.

2. Trump shot at a rally (July 13, 2024) NBC News https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/trump-describes-detail-shot-assassin-rcna162647 

Trump was shot at his campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. He was speaking about his border policy, and shortly after was shot in the ear just ¼ inches from a vital area that would have cost his life. Trump discussed this at his rally in Milwaukee, stating that he would not be here if he hadn’t moved his head at the last moment. Unfortunately, two other individuals were left injured and one was left dead: the shooter, identified as 20 year old Thomas M. Crooks. The motive behind the assassination attempt is still under investigation.

3. Biden dropped out of the presidential race (July 21, 2024) AP News https://apnews.com/article/biden-drops-out-2024-election-ddffde72838370032bdcff946cfc2ce6?utm_source=copy&utm_medium=share 

It was a huge shock in July when President Biden dropped out of the 2024 presidential election. Prior to this news, people had been debating whether Biden was fit to be president, due to concerns about his age and cognitive ability. Promptly after this news, Vice President Kamala Harris announced her campaign for the presidency.

4. Kamala Harris announces campaign for Presidency (July 21, 2024) NBC News https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-elections/presidential-candidates-tracker 

Not long after Biden announced he was dropping out of the presidential race, Vice President Harris announced her bid to run for president. Soon after, President Biden and former President Obama gave full support and endorsed her campaign. Previously, in 2019, Harris had launched her campaign for the presidency but later dropped out, eventually becoming Vice President and joining Biden in office. 

5. VP Picks: JD Vance (announced July 15, 2024) and Tim Walz (announced August 6, 2024) AP News / JD Vance: https://apnews.com/article/election-2024-trump-vice-president-vance-ohio-6500580aab0b451b0a176b9e9bf9901b / AP News / Tim Walz: https://apnews.com/article/harris-running-mate-philadelphia-rally-multistate-tour-02c7ebce765deef0161708b29fe0069e

JD Vance (Republican Party) is currently a U.S. Senator representing the state of Ohio, who former president Trump announced to be his pick for Vice President. Although the public has dug up past videos of Vance criticizing Trump, Vance has stated his retraction of those statements. 

Time Walz (Democratic Party) is the current governor of Minnesota, and Vice President Kamala Harris announced his joining her in the race for office. Many Democrats felt uneasy in late July when Harris announced her campaign, which meant she had to have a strong pick for Vice President.

6. RNC (July 15-18) vs DNC (August 19-22) Newsweek and USA TODAY://www.newsweek.com/dnc-tv-ratings-compared-rnc-1942197 / https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/music/2024/08/21/democratic-national-convention-2024-music-performers/74892920007/

Many people at home watching the RNC (Republican National Convention) and DNC (Democratic National Convention) felt that these conventions were so different that they felt like they did not belong to the same country. Many viewed the DNC to be more fun and exciting with many familiar faces such as current President Biden, former President Barack Obama, and first lady Michelle Obama. Even some musical superstars performed, such as Stevie Wonder and John Legend. In contrast, many viewed the RNC to be mellow and straightforward, but there were also artists there such as Lee Greenwood and Kid Rock. Overall, the views of the DNC were higher with over 20 million viewers and the RNC had roughly 18.1 million viewers. 

7. Presidential Debate (September 10th, 2024) USA Today https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2024/09/03/when-is-presidential-debate-kamala-harris-donald-trump/75055110007/ 

This is a highly anticipated debate, especially since U.S. citizens haven’t seen Trump and Kamala face to face yet. The debate is set to take place in Philadelphia’s National Constitution Center, on September 10th. In late July Trump expressed his disfavor towards ABC News, which left some with the impression that he may not be attending, but now most expect him to be there. The debate will be aired on ABC.

8. Trump’s sentence date is set for September 18th Forbes https://www.forbes.com/sites/alisondurkee/2024/09/03/trumps-legal-cases-including-his-sentencing-whats-happening-through-election-day-amid-big-week-in-court/ 

Trump’s conviction date is supposed to be September 18th, but Trump’s lawyers have proposed a schedule to delay the date of the charges. It’s still uncertain if Trump can push the date until after election day. In addition to this, September 26th is supposed to be Trump’s trial for his appeal to the $450 civil fraud decision.

9. Politics All over TikTok

Over the entire summer of 2024, Harris And Trump’s TikTok campaign pages have both been seen to utilize trends used by younger audiences. For example, both campaigns have used the “Symphony” trend, which is where people use a photo of AI dolphins in the background while having texts that are usually funny or vulgar statements. Kamala Harris’ TikTok account is @Kamalahq which has accumulated 4 million followers, and Donald Trump’s account is @teamtrump, which has accumulated 336k followers. The comments of @Kamalahq get more attention on TikTok than @teamtrump, but Kamala receives more mixed comments while Trump’s comments are mainly from his supporters. These accounts are interesting attempts to get young adults to vote for that respective candidate, or just to attract a high youth voter turnout.

10.  Presidential Polling (ongoing) 270 To Win https://www.270towin.com/2024-presidential-election-polls/ 

Currently, the presidential election poll has been showing favorable results for Harris with most states (20 states out of 29 states that have poll results posted) except for Arizona, North Carolina, Nebraska, Florida, West Virginia, Texas, Utah, Montana, and Ohio. However, it’s important to keep in mind these polls are not 100% accurate, and are just a rough estimation of the general population.