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September 10th 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

Tonight Donald Trump and Kamala Harris, who have never met each other, will engage in their first, and perhaps only, presidential debate. The encounter may be the last opportunity either candidate has to shift decisively the course of an election that now looks like a toss-up. Many voters have little idea who Ms Harris is and what she stands for—she remains vague about policy. She’ll try to establish herself as the candidate of hope and competence. Mr Trump is much better known, but pundits and voters will be watching to see whether he, now the only senior citizen in the race, has the intellectual acuity to serve another four years as president.

A House of Representatives subcommittee released a report criticising Andrew Cuomo, New York’s former governor, for directing nursing homes to re-admit patients with covid-19 during the pandemic. New York’s health department has found that more than 13,000 nursing-home patients died of covid between March 2020 and February 2021. Mr Cuomo, a Democrat, will testify before the Republican-controlled subcommittee on Tuesday.

On Monday Google went on trial for violating antitrust laws for the second time this year. The Department of Justice alleges that the technology giant is monopolising online advertising. Google’s lawyers argue that “success is not illegal”. Last month a district-court judge in Washington, DC ruled in favour of trustbusters, deeming Google to be a “monopolist” because of its dominance of the search market.

Harvey Weinstein, a former Hollywood mogul, was rushed from a New York City prison to hospital, where he underwent emergency heart surgery. The 72-year-old was convicted of rape in California and New York. Accusations against him by several women helped galvanise the #MeToo movement. In April New York’s top court overturned his conviction in that state; prosecutors are working to secure a fresh indictment. Mr Weinstein denies all wrongdoing.

The Republican-controlled House Judiciary Committee posted on X, a social-media platform, an AI-generated image of Mr Trump, chest-deep in water, cuddling animals. The caption read, “Protect our ducks and kittens in Ohio!” What were the congressmen thinking? On Monday J.D. Vance and the Trump campaign repeated disinformation claiming that Haitian immigrants are abducting and eating Ohioans’ pets.

Correspondent’s dispatch: Back to class, back to the barricades

Rosemarie Ward
New York reporter

Daevon wore a keffiyeh much of last semester. But he hasn’t worn the Middle Eastern headscarf since classes started on September 3rd. He’s “waiting to see what the vibe is”. Daevon is not alone: there are fewer keffiyehs about, though stickers of Palestinian flags adorn many laptops. It is a far cry from last spring, when Columbia University was engulfed by pro-Palestine demonstrations.

The war in Gaza is still on people’s minds. On the first day of the term a few dozen protesters chanted outside Columbia’s gates, encouraging students to skip class and join in. Someone threw red paint on a statue.

University administrators worry that unrest will flare up again on or soon after the anniversary of Hamas’s attack on Israel on October 7th. During the summer the university made preparations for renewed disruption. Iam Clay, a theology student who occupied a campus building in April and was arrested, says that if Columbia tries to quash protests the students will be ready.

Debatable outcomes

Debates rarely have much impact on presidential elections. This year’s are an exception. Mr Biden pulled out of the presidential race after his disastrous performance against Mr Trump in June. Tonight’s match-up could be another game changer. As our story points out, Ms Harris has a chance to make a big impression on the many voters who don’t know her. And Mr Trump will strive to ensure that the impression is a negative one.

A view from elsewhere
“When I met Donald Trump ten years ago, he wasn’t crazy, he was charming,” wrote Nick Bryant in the Sydney Morning Herald, an Australian newspaper. But “the awesome power of the presidency fuelled his megalomania” and “his megalomania fuelled the madness of King Donald.” Clearly, he said, “the elevators in Trump Tower no longer appear to go to the top floor.”

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

Lexington

Why Kamala Harris has the advantage in debating Donald Trump

She’s better at it

The Economist explains

Will the debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump matter?

Normally presidential match-ups hardly move the needle—but this is no ordinary year

Prosecutor v promoter

Two charts assess Donald Trump’s distinctive debate style

Johnson, our language columnist, compares Trump-speak with Harris-ese

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.

Tuesday: In the first debate of 1980 Jimmy Carter, the Democratic incumbent president, did not square off against his Republican challenger, Ronald Reagan. Who did?

Monday: The first series of televised presidential debates were held in 1960. In which year was the next set?

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

128, the average number of words Donald Trump crammed into each minute during his speech at the Repulicans’ convention, compared with Ms Harris’s 97 at her party’s gathering. Read our story on the two candidates’ speaking styles.

Heard on Fox News

Donald Trump and J.D. Vance need to change the way they speak about women.

—Nikki Haley, a former ambassador to the UN under Mr Trump, offers the campaign some free advice.

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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