The most shocking moments of the US election campaign
It’s been a whirlwind of a presidential election campaign, consisting of an assassination attempt (and another alleged one), changing candidates and some bizarre claims on the campaign trail. Americans headed to their polling stations yesterda
Trump shot at rally
On 13 July, Donald Trump became the first president or candidate to be shot since Ronald Reagan in 1981.
The former president escaped with a bullet wound to his ear in the attack as he was giving a speech to supporters in Butler, Pennsylvania.
Eight shots had been fired by 20-year-old Thomas Crooks, who was positioned on the roof of a nearby building, before he was killed by a Secret Service counter sniper.
Corey Comperatore, a former volunteer fire chief, was shot dead in the crowd as he tried to shield his family from the bullets.
As Trump was mobbed by Secret Service agents seeking to shield him, he took a moment to pump his fist and shout “fight” to his cheering admirers in the audience.
Musk endorses Trump
On the night of the shooting, billionaire Tesla boss Elon Musk posted on X saying: “I fully endorse President Trump and hope for his rapid recovery.”
This proved significant for Trump, not just for the X owner’s immense social media presence and general clout - but also for his wallet.
Between July and September, Musk donated $75m (£58m) to a campaign group he set up to support Trump’s presidential bid, and gave about $44m (£34m) in the first half of October, financial disclosures show.
He’s also spoken at a number of Trump’s rallies.
Biden drops out of the running
Pressure had been piling on president Joe Biden for some time before he withdrew from the race in July.
The 81-year-old’s frequent blunders during speeches, particularly during a disastrous debate with Trump a month prior, threw cold water over his push for a second term.
He instantly threw his support behind his vice president Kamala Harris, urging Democrats to donate to her campaign as he pulled out.
Harris runs for office
She got the president’s backing instantly, but Harris still needed to be formally chosen as the Democrats’ new presidential nominee.
The 60-year-old had a couple of potential challengers just after Biden dropped out, but it never looked in doubt once former president Barack Obama endorsed her.
In the end, no challengers formally presented themselves ahead of the deadline, meaning Harris was declared the Democratic candidate in early August.
In her first speech after accepting the nomination, she called for unity, saying this was “a chance to chart a new way forward”.
‘Childless cat ladies’
Now-infamous comments made by Trump’s running mate JD Vance in 2021 resurfaced shortly after the brat endorsement.
Vance, speaking to Fox News at the time, had said Harris and other Democrats were “a bunch of childless cat ladies... miserable at their own lives and the choices that they’ve made”.
“The entire future of the Democrats is controlled by people without children,” he said.
Friends star Jennifer Aniston criticised Vance’s remarks as she shared the clip on Instagram, writing in the caption: “I truly can’t believe this is coming from a potential VP of The United States.”
The Ohio senator said he stood by the sentiment but that his remarks weren’t a criticism of people who decide not to have children.
“This is not about criticising people who, for various reasons, didn’t have kids,” he said. “This is about criticising the Democratic Party for becoming anti-family and anti-child.”
The Harris campaign hit back at Vance’s comments, saying “every single American has a stake in this country’s future”.
Trump questions Harris’s racial identity
In a move that drew gasps from the audience at a convention hosted by the National Association of Black Journalists in Chicago, Trump questioned the racial identity of Harris, asking: “Is she Indian or is she black?”
He said: “I’ve known her a long time, indirectly not directly… and she was always of Indian heritage, and she was only promoting Indian heritage.
“I didn’t know she was black, until a number of years ago when she happened to turn black, and now she wants to be known as black, so I don’t know, is she Indian or is she black?”
Harris is the daughter of a Jamaican father and an Indian mother, both immigrants to the US.
In response, Harris said the comments were “the same old show” and that “America deserves better”.
‘That’s my dad!’
Minnesota governor Tim Walz was relatively unknown when Harris picked him as her vice presidential running mate at the start of August.
But he truly made his mark with a landmark speech at the Democratic National Convention a couple of weeks later, telling his party’s faithful it was “time to turn the page” on Donald Trump.
It was the sort of speech you’d fully expect from a former American football coach like Walz, as he urged his comrades to “leave it all out on the field” until election day.
There was seemingly no one more inspired by Walz than his son Gus, who stood up midway through his speech and, through tears, proudly exclaimed: “That’s my dad!”
‘They’re eating the pets…’
You’d be forgiven for assuming cats would only play a key part in the election campaign once.
But the “childless cat lady” comments were in fact overshadowed by completely unsubstantiated clairepeated by Trump and Vance about Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, eating residents’ household pets.
In a presidential debate between him and Harris, Trump said: “In Springfield, they’re eating the dogs, the people that came in, they’re eating the cats… They’re eating... they’re eating the pets of the people that live there.
“And this is what’s happening in our country, and it’s a shame.”
Harris, who could be seen laughing and saying “this is unbelievable”, responded when it was her turn: “Talk about extreme.”
It was the headline-grabber in what has proved to be the only debate between the candidates, but they also clashed over issues including abortion, the economy and illegal immigration.
Taylor Swift backs Harris
Almost straight after the debate, Taylor Swift told her 283 million Instagram followers she would be voting for Harris.
The singer urged them to “do your research” - but said AI-generated images of her supporting Trump made her realise “I need to be very transparent about my actual plans”.
The post was accompanied by a photo of the singer holding her cat Benjamin Button, and she signed off with “Taylor Swift - Childless Cat Lady”.
Trump initially dismissed Swift’s endorsement of his rival for the presidency by simply saying he was “not a Taylor fan”.
But days later, as public opinion polls showed Harris gaining significant ground on him, the former president took to his Truth Social media account to add: “I HATE TAYLOR SWIFT!”
‘Assassination attempt’ on Trump at golf course
A second apparent attempt on Trump’s life was thwarted by the Secret Service on 15 September as the former president played golf at his course in West Palm Beach in Florida.
Ryan Routh was arrested after a rifle was seen poking through bushes near where Trump was playing.
He had allegedly been staking out for around 12 hours before an agent spotted him and opened fire. He was detained less than an hour later, having fled the scene.
Trump used the incident to demonstrate his resilience.
“Nothing will slow me down,” he wrote in a statement. “I will NEVER SURRENDER! I will always love you for supporting me.
“Unity. Peace. Make America Great Again. May God bless you.”
Routh was later charged with trying to assassinate Trump.
Musk promises millions of dollars to swing state voters
Seven battleground states - Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin - are widely believed to be where the election will be won or lost.
As a result, well over a billion dollars is said to have been spent on presidential ads targeted at the more than 60 million people living in them.
Musk has thrown his wealth behind Trump in a way that’s never been seen before: by promising to give away $1m (£772,000) each day until 5 November to registered voters in swing states.
All the voters have to do to become eligible is sign his online free speech and gun rights petition.
The first $1m was awarded to a man named John Dreher during a campaign event in Pennsylvania on 19 October.
The X owner was subsequently summoned to an emergency court hearing in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, accused of operating an illegal lottery and trying to influence voters.
But the lawsuit has been placed on hold while a federal court considers whether to take up the case, meaning Musk is free to continue the giveaway
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