The Economist

‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

September 13th 2024

A sharp round-up of the most important political news

SUBSCRIBER ONLY

The US in brief

A sharp round-up of the most important political news

The judge overseeing Donald Trump’s election-interference case in Georgia ruled that two of the charges against the former president were outside the state’s jurisdiction. The sprawling racketeering case originally involved 13 counts against Mr Trump. Five had since been dropped. Proceedings have been on pause since June to give an appeals court time to consider whether Fani Willis, the district attorney bringing the case, should be disqualified over a romantic relationship with a special prosecutor involved in it. The case will not go ahead until after the election.

A judge in North Dakota struck down a ban on abortion before foetal viability, ruling it incompatible with the state constitution’s guarantee of “inalienable rights”. The state’s Republican attorney-general will probably appeal against the ruling. Though the procedure will be legal again, North Dakota’s only abortion provider moved out of state after federal protections for abortion rights were ended in 2022.

New York City’s police commissioner, Edward Caban, resigned at the request of the city’s government amid a federal criminal investigation, reportedly into his brother’s nightclub-security business. Federal agents seized the commissioner’s phone last week. Four investigations into people linked to the city’s mayor, Eric Adams are under way. Mr Adams said he was “surprised” to learn of the inquiries and took them “extremely seriously”.

Harvey Weinstein was charged with further, unspecified sex crimes in New York. In April the state’s top court overturned the former Hollywood producer’s rape conviction in the state. (A separate conviction for similar crimes in California still stands). A retrial is due in November, but his lawyer said she would lobby for a delay if it includes the fresh charges.

A bomb threat was made against City Hall in Springfield, Ohio, the town where Mr Trump falsely claimed Haitians have been eating pets during Tuesday’s presidential debate. The town’s mayor told the Washington Post that the threat used “hateful language” against Haitians. Mr Trump repeated the lie at a rally in Arizona on Thursday, claiming that Haitians in Springfield were “walking off with the town’s geese”.

Stars, aligned

Taylor Swift’s endorsement of Kamala Harris had all the ingredients of an internet hit: star power, good timing—and cats. But Mr Trump has Elon Musk in his corner. Not only does the eccentric billionaire rack up millions of views every time he posts to X; he owns the platform. Do celebrity endorsements make any difference? Read our story to find out.

A view from elsewhere
During Tuesday’s debate neither candidate articulated “a coherent vision for the country,” wrote Patrick Gathara, a Kenyan journalist, for Al Jazeera, a media outlet owned by the Qatari state. In fact, moderators “struggled to get Trump and Harris to answer questions about their views and policies”. All too often, the debate “degenerated into name-calling, fearmongering and outright lying”. Americans are “unlikely to be impressed”.

Figure of the day

$189m, the amount the two campaigns have splurged on advertising in Pennsylvania, the state our model thinks most likely to tip the election. Read our story about whether Ms Harris can overcome the electoral college’s systematic bias against Democrats.

We want to hear from you about the debate
We’re keen to hear your take on how Tuesday’s debate went. If you have thoughts on the contest 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

How ugly will it get?

America’s election is mired in conflict

Donald Trump’s conspiracy machine is already gearing up for election night

A foregone confusion

What will happen if America’s election result is contested?

The system is now stronger, but so is public mistrust of it

Games

Pint-sized news quiz

Have you been following the headlines?

Play the archive

Dateline: The Economist history quiz

Can you guess when these extracts were published?

Today’s 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 winners are Peter & Jane Harvey in Barcelona, Spain. The answers were:

Monday: America’s second televised presidential debate, between Jimmy Carter and Gerald Ford, was held in 1976—a full 16 years after Richard Nixon took on John Kennedy in 1960.

Tuesday: John Anderson, an independent candidate, took on Ronald Reagan in the first presidential debate of 1980.

Wednesday: Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas debated one another seven times while running for one of Illinois’s Senate seats in 1858. They contested the presidency two years later. Their previous debates were printed as a book and used as campaign material.

Thursday: The first debate between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump in 2016 was the most watched ever, drawing in 84m viewers. Some 67m tuned in for Tuesday’s debate.

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.

Seen on X

Haitian immigrants aren’t just eating cats and dogs. They eat HUMANS.

—Laura Loomer, a bizarre and bizarrely popular right-wing conspiracy theorist, proves that no matter how crazy Mr Trump’s claims are, the internet will ratchet them up.

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

Also from The Economist

Our daily news app

Espresso is now free for students worldwide

The Economist’s concise daily briefing on the most important stories in business, politics and culture is now available to high school and university students aged 16 and older.

Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up here.

This email has been sent to: account@kait.dev. If you'd like to update your details please click here. Replies to this email will not reach us. If you don't want to receive these updates anymore, please unsubscribe here.

Join the conversation