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September 6th 2024

A sharp round-up of the most important political news

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The US in brief

A sharp round-up of the most important political news

Hunter Biden pleaded guilty to nine tax-related offences, averting a trial that was due to start on Thursday. The president’s son, who is accused of failing to pay $1.4m in taxes, had proposed an unusual plea that would maintain his innocence but acknowledge that prosecutors had the evidence to convict him, and accepted punishment. The deal was rejected, leading Mr Biden to plead guilty without having secured an agreement with prosecutors. He faces a maximum penalty of 17 years in prison or a hefty fine when he is sentenced in December, in addition to up to 25 years he might serve for a firearms conviction in June.

Donald Trump said that if he is re-elected he would create a “government-efficiency commission” to audit the federal government and reduce spending—an idea floated by Elon Musk. He said that the billionaire owner of Tesla and X would head the body. Mr Musk said he looked forward to “serving America if the opportunity arises”.

Speaking a day after four people died in a school shooting in Georgia, J.D. Vance lamented that such incidents were a “fact of life” and suggested that the solution was better security in schools. The Harris campaign accused Mr Trump and his running-mate of consistently choosing the gun lobby and its loudest mouthpiece, the National Rifle Association, “over our children”.

Robert F. Kennedy junior, who dropped out of the race in August, called on supporters everywhere to vote for Donald Trump. The former third-party candidate had earlier encouraged fans in blue states to still vote for him to hurt Democrats’ chances. Mr Kennedy is trying to get off some states’ ballots so as not to siphon votes away from Mr Trump. So far Michigan, North Carolina and Wisconsin—all swing states—have refused.

The FBI reportedly raided the homes of three top aides to Eric Adams, New York City’s mayor. The officials targeted are two deputy mayors and the schools chancellor. It also seized the electronic devices of the city’s police commissioner. Mr Adams, who has not been accused of wrongdoing, last year had his mobile devices seized in what appears to be an unrelated campaign-finance investigation.

Advantage: Harris

Joe Biden’s shaky delivery in the debate in June distracted from just how poorly his opponent, Mr Trump, performed. The former president rambled and looped back on himself, emitting gassy bubbles of unreality that a sharper-witted opponent would have popped. Lexington thinks that when Ms Harris debates Mr Trump on September 10th she will have one huge advantage: she’s better at it.

A view from elsewhere
While traditionally Republicans are “pro-free trade” and the Democrats “champion protectionist agendas”, America will “use high tariffs” to “protect and promote its economy” whoever wins in November, wrote Iman Pambagyo in Jakarta Globe, an Indonesian news outlet. China is no great defender of free trade either. Perhaps it is time for Indonesia and fellow South-East Asian countries to take regional trade “more seriously”.

We want to hear from you
Readers are sending us lots of thoughtful emails so we’ve decided to publish some every Wednesday. If you have views on what is happening in America drop us a line at usib@economist.com. And, of course, we still welcome your feedback on this newsletter.

Editor’s picks

Our latest US coverage

“Comrade Kamala”

The Trump campaign fires a barrage of negative advertisements

It could well work

Growing pains

Three charts show that America’s imports are booming

Here’s why that could spell trouble

Play the archive

Dateline: The Economist history quiz

Can you guess when these extracts were published?

Today forecast

Our forecast reckons that Donald Trump and Kamala Harris have nearly equal chances of winning the election in November.

Daily quiz

From Monday to Thursday we’ll quiz you on all things America. This week’s winner is Sonia Barrad in Long Beach, California. The answers were:

Monday: The official name of the “Sears Tower” is the Willis Tower.

Tuesday: Electricity had its American debut at the Chicago World’s Fair in 1893. So too did the incandescent lights and ferris wheel it powered.

Wednesday: In John Hughes’ “Ferris Bueller’s day off” the eponymous character pretends to be ill to go on a tour of Chicago with his mates.

Thursday: McDonald’s founded Hamburger University.

From Monday to Thursday we’ll quiz you on all things America. This week’s winner is Sonia Barrad in Long Beach, California. The answers were:

Monday: The official name of the “Sears Tower” is the Willis Tower.

Tuesday: Electricity had its American debut at the Chicago World’s Fair in 1893. So too did the incandescent lights and ferris wheel it powered.

Wednesday: In John Hughes’ “Ferris Bueller’s day off” the eponymous character pretends to be ill to go on a tour of Chicago with his mates.

Thursday: McDonald’s founded Hamburger University.

From Monday to Thursday we’ll quiz you on all things American. This week’s winner is Doug Turner in West Chester, Pennsylvania. The answers were:

Monday: The first Labor Day parade was held in New York City. Workers of various trades marched from City Hall to a park uptown and had a picnic. Beer was, apparently, plentiful.

Tuesday: The federal government recognised Labor Day as a national holiday after sending troops to break up the Pullman strike, which paralysed rail traffic in the Midwest in 1894.

Wednesday: The Department of Labour’s headquarters is named for Frances Perkins, the first woman to lead the department, or any cabinet agency for that matter. Six women have led the department, more than any other.

Thursday: Many other countries celebrate workers on May 1st.

See how to take part in the quiz at the bottom of this page.

If you enjoyed this week’s quiz, play Dateline, The Economist’s new history game.

Figure of the day

$99, the price of an annual print subscription to the Onion. Read our story about how, ten years after going online-only, the satirical newspaper is being published on paper again. (No joke.)

Heard on Fox News

We’re not weird. We’re other things perhaps. But we’re not weird.

—Donald Trump says the word “weird” 22 times in 36 seconds while trying to disarm the accusation. He evidently has not heard of the “backfire effect”, a cognitive bias whereby attempts to debunk a claim reinforce it.

Read all of our recent coverage of the 2024 election. Confused about a term? Check out our A-Z of American politics.

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