The Economist

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September 23rd 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

PHOTO: DPA

Mike Johnson, the Republican speaker of the House of Representatives, unveiled a new bill to keep the federal government running after its funding runs out on September 30th. Unlike previous offerings, which were rejected by both Democrats and some in Mr Johnson’s own party, the current proposal runs for only three months, rather than six, and does not include a controversial rider that would require people to show proof of citizenship when registering to vote. The bill also includes $231m for the Secret Service in response to the agency’s request for more funding after a second attempt on Donald Trump’s life last week.

Several staff members resigned from Mark Robinson’s campaign to be governor of North Carolina, days after CNN published allegations that he had a history of posting controversial material on a pornography website. The state’s Republican lieutenant-governor denies the allegations. Though Mr Trump avoided mention of Mr Robinson at a rally in the state on Saturday, J.D. Vance, his running-mate, came to the lieutenant-governor’s defence, saying “allegations aren’t necessarily reality.”

Raphael Warnock, a Democratic senator from Georgia, said that a rule requiring the state’s ballots to be counted by hand as well as by machine was an attempt to turn “democracy on its head”. The decision, made by the state’s electoral board on Friday, would allow those running in the swing state to “pick their voters”, rather than the other way around, according to Mr Warnock.

Kamala Harris accepted an invitation from CNN to debate Mr Trump again on October 23rd, and challenged the former president to do the same. The vice-president’s team called for another match-up immediately after the first debate on September 10th, but Mr Trump refused. He restated his position on Saturday, saying it was “too late to do another”. There will be a vice-presidential debate on October 1st.

KAL flashback

Every Monday we will republish a cartoon by KAL from the archive. All eyes were on North Carolina this week as scandal erupted around Mr Robinson. But as Lexington wrote last year, readers ought to pay attention for other reasons—the Tar Heel State is the most fascinating political chess match in America outside Washington, DC.

A view from elsewhere

As Ms Harris pulls ahead in the polls, Messrs Trump and Vance are responding with “an intensification of wild allegations devoid of fact” and “racist fabrications”, wrote Hussein Ibish in the National, a state-owned newspaper in the United Arab Emirates. Mr Trump’s “pivot to the most extreme conspiratorial fringe” may remind voters “what bothered them enough about him” that they elected Mr Biden in 2020.

Figure of the day

27%, the probability that Pennsylvania decides the election, according to our forecast. Read our story about how the two camps are trying to win the battleground state.

We want to hear from you
Please send us your views on the second attempt on Mr Trump’s life and the effect it might have on the race to usib@economist.com. And, of course, we welcome your feedback on this newsletter.

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Have you been following the headlines?

Today’s forecast

Kamala Harris has pulled ahead in national polls. But because candidates must win the electoral college, not the popular vote, our forecast reckons that she and Donald Trump have nearly equal chances of becoming president.

Daily quiz

From Monday to Thursday we’ll quiz you on all things American. Diplomats descend on New York City this week for this year’s session of the United Nations General Assembly. Our questions for you are on UNGAs of yore.

Monday: Which American president gave a speech named “Atoms for Peace” to the UN General Assembly?

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.

Heard on Sky News Arabia

It was a joke. President Putin has a good sense of humour.

—Sergey Lavrov, Russia’s foreign minister, says that his boss was joking when he said that he supported Ms Harris.

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

Live digital event

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The world goes to the polls

By the end of the year more than 70 countries, representing half the world’s population, will have voted on their future. Join our editors as they analyse what’s at stake on Tuesday September 24th at 11:30pm BST / 6:30pm EDT / 3:30pm PDT.

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