Biden made Trump bigger

The 2024 presidential election and the struggle for public opinion: How Biden, Trump, and the American public mourn the defeat of a conservative candidate

Then came the debate, and Biden’s decision to step aside, and Harris’s ascent as the Democratic nominee. Harris has been able to do what Biden could or would not: fight — and win — the battle for attention. She had help, to be sure. The online meme makers found a gold mine in an anecdote about coconuts. Charli XCX’s “kamala IS brat.”

In 2020, when Trump was the unpopular incumbent, that strategy worked for Biden. In 2024, when Biden was the unpopular incumbent, it was failing him. It was failing in part because Biden no longer had the communication skills to foreground Trump’s sins and malignancies. It was failing in part because some voters had grown nostalgic for the Trump-era economy. It was failing in part because Biden’s age and stumbles kept turning attention back to Biden and his fitness for office, rather than keeping it on Trump and Trump’s fitness for office.

President Biden pulled out of the presidential election in 2024 to avoid creating a distraction in a high stakes race that he said will determine the future of the country for decades.

Although polls showed the two men in a tight race, Biden’s halting performance in a June debate with Trump resulted in some polls giving the Republican an advantage in key swing states. The pressure campaign on Biden was launched after the panic among Democrats caused him to withdraw.

Biden told CBS he has no choice but to do what he can to defeat Trump and that it was a great honor to be president.

Biden said some congressional Democrats wanted him to stay on the ticket because they thought it’d hurt their chances in the election. He said he thought it would be a distraction.

Biden said he is still concerned about the election and the months that will follow. There would be no peaceful transfer of power if Harris beats Trump, he said, noting the attack on the Capitol.

At a rally in Las Vegas, Harris said she intended to focus on the economy, including lowering costs on everyday goods, capping rent increases and reducing the price of prescription drugs — all policies she supported alongside President Biden in the White House.

Harris told the crowd that she would work with Congress to get rid of federal taxes on tips for service workers, just as Trump has proposed.

JD Vance on CNN: How do we go about deporting as many as 20 million people in the U.S. illegally?

On Sunday, Donald Trump’s pick for vice president,JD Vance, appeared on several political talk shows to talk about a range of issues, including abortion and immigration.

Vance addressed how the government might go about deporting as many as 20 million people in the U.S. illegally, something Trump has suggested he would do in a second term.

“I think it’s interesting that people focus on, ‘well, how do you deport 18 million people?’” he said. “Let’s start with one million — that’s where Kamala Harris has failed — and then we can go from there.”

Vance also responded to criticism from Harris’ running mate, Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota, who coined the term “weird” as an attack against the Trump/Vance ticket.