CNN
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Donald Trump and Kamala Harris are entering the last 100 days of one of the fastest-moving and least predictable campaign seasons in memory, after a historic month upended the 2024 presidential race.
The ground has shifted under both political parties since June 27, when President Joe Biden’s poor performance in his debate with Trump threw the Democratic Party into chaos and prompted Trump’s team to eye an expanded electoral map.
The race was rattled yet again after the former president survived an assassination attempt in Pennsylvania. Just days later, he chose Ohio Sen. JD Vance as his running mate and rallied the Republican Party at its convention in Milwaukee.
Then, a week ago, Biden announced his exit from the race – and pointed to Harris, his vice president, as his successor. Within 36 hours, Harris had rallied the party behind her candidacy, locking down enough support from Democratic National Convention delegates to become the party’s presumptive nominee.
Then she hit the ground running, holding events with voters in the swing state of Wisconsin on Tuesday, a Black sorority on Wednesday and teachers on Thursday. Friday morning, she touted the endorsements of Barack and Michelle Obama.
Trump has responded to Harris’ apparent momentum with a series of personal attacks. At recent campaign stops, he has referred to her as “evil,” mocked her laugh and the pronunciation of her name, and said that “the American dream is dead” if Harris wins in November. The vice president responded at a Saturday fundraiser that the attacks by Trump and his running mate were “plain weird.”
Polls are only beginning to capture the new state of play in a race that now has no clear leader.
A Democratic vice presidential pick and convention, as well as potential debates between Harris and Trump and between their running mates, could further shake up the 2024 contest in the 100 days between now and Election Day, November 5.
Kevin Mohatt/Reuters
Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at a campaign event in West Allis, Wisconsin, on July 23, 2024.
The issues and lines of attack that are animating both campaigns are increasingly coming into view.
Trump’s campaign has focused on inflation, border security and crime – and the former president is arguing that Harris bears just as much blame as Biden on those issues and that she is more liberal than her boss.
However, Trump has also escalated his attacks on Harris, criticizing her in deeply personal terms at campaign events Friday and Saturday.
At a conservative Christian gathering in Florida on Friday, he said that Harris had been “a bum three weeks ago” before her ascension to the top of the Democratic ticket and dubbed her “the most incompetent, unpopular and far-left vice president in American history.” He also said he “couldn’t care less” about mispronouncing her first name.
Then, at a Saturday night rally in St. Cloud, Minnesota, Trump called Harris “evil” over her handling of the border and said that if “a crazy liberal like Kamala Harris gets in, the American dream is dead.”
He also mocked his Democratic opponent’s laugh, claiming that the media was trying to portray Harris as a “Margaret Thatcher,” referring to the late British prime minister, but that “it’s not gonna happen,” because “Margaret Thatcher didn’t laugh like that.”
A Harris spokeswoman responded to Trump’s Minnesota speech by slamming the GOP nominee as a “bitter, unhinged, 78-year-old convicted felon.”
On Friday, Trump said protesters who sprayed pro-Hamas graffiti in Washington on Wednesday were Harris supporters, even though the vice president condemned their actions. He criticized her for skipping Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to Congress, without noting that Harris met privately with Netanyahu and that his own running mate also didn’t attend the speech. And Trump said that Harris “doesn’t like Jewish people. She doesn’t like Israel. That’s the way it is, and that’s the way it’s always gonna be.” Harris’ husband, Doug Emhoff, is Jewish.
Trump, who continues to peddle falsehoods and raise fears about election fraud, also drew heat on social media for telling the Florida audience that if he wins in November, they won’t have to vote again.
“You won’t have to do it anymore, my beautiful Christians. I love you, Christians. I’m a Christian. … You gotta get out and vote,” the former president said. “In four years, you won’t have to vote again. We’ll have it fixed so good, you’re not going to have to vote.”
Harris, at a Western Massachusetts fundraiser on Saturday, said that the former president was pushing “wild lies” about her record and that the attacks by Trump and Vance were “plain weird.”
“I mean, that’s the box you put that in, right?” Harris told supporters.
In campaign events since emerging as the presumptive Democratic nominee, Harris is taking on Trump over abortion rights and casting him as a threat to freedom.
“We are seeing a full-on agenda that is now about restricting rights, and one of the most fundamental rights, the right to make decisions about your own body,” she said at the Massachusetts fundraiser. “If there are those who dare to take the freedom to make such a fundamental decision for an individual, which is about one’s own body, what other freedoms could be on the table for the taking?”
Harris has also been pointing to the former president’s legal troubles. In remarks to campaign staffers Monday – her first time delivering a brief version of her new stump speech – she recalled her time as San Francisco district attorney and California attorney general, saying that she “took on perpetrators of all kinds.”
“Predators who abused women, fraudsters who ripped off consumers, cheaters who broke the rules for their own game,” Harris said. “So hear me when I say, I know Donald Trump’s type.”
Will Lanzoni/CNN
Former President Donald Trump is seen at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee on July 18, 2024.
Among the next orders of business for Harris’ campaign is to accomplish two tasks in a period of days or weeks that Trump’s campaign achieved over months.
First, she must choose a running mate.
Former Attorney General Eric Holder is leading a team that is poring through financial documents, family histories, public statements, published documents, voting records, campaign experience and social media postings. Tony West, Harris’ brother-in-law and a former associate attorney general under Holder, is also playing a central role in the search.
Democrats close to the process say the roster of leading contenders being vetted still includes North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who has developed a close relationship with Harris and has also been previously vetted and confirmed by the Senate, is also under consideration, along with Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, sources say.
Many of those potential picks have been offering Harris’ campaign informal glimpses of how they’d perform as her running mate through appearances on cable news shows.
Democratic pollsters have been asked to test how Harris and the prospective candidates would fare in their home states – and in key battlegrounds – in hypothetical matchups against Trump and Vance.
Harris has told the team of lawyers and advisers conducting one of the most accelerated vice presidential searches in modern American history that she plans to name her running mate before August 7.
Then, Harris’ campaign and its allies must rapidly revise plans for the Democratic National Convention, which is set to start on August 19 in Chicago.
Instead of nominating Biden for a second term, Democrats will use the convention to showcase the outgoing president passing the baton to Harris – and could alter the party’s programming to better align with the vice president’s personality and political appeal.
Her campaign must also identify Harris’ best path toward 270 Electoral College votes. Biden’s hopes of a second term were thought to reside primarily in sweeping the “blue wall” states of Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. Harris, though, has been polling better among young and non-White voters – and could prove more viable in the Sun Belt states of Arizona, Georgia, Nevada and North Carolina that appeared to be moving away from Biden.
Will Lanzoni/CNN
Trump and President Joe Biden debate at CNN's Atlanta studios on June 27, 2024.
One of the biggest questions, now that Harris has replaced Biden as the presumptive Democratic nominee, is whether she will face Trump on the debate stage.
The June 27 clash on CNN between Trump and Biden had already transformed the race. And a Trump-Harris debate could shape the race’s final weeks perhaps more than any other event.
Biden and Trump had agreed to another debate – one that would take place on September 10, hosted by ABC. Harris said she would participate in that debate.
“I think the voters deserve to see the split screen that exists in this race on a debate stage. And so, I’m ready. Let’s go,” she told reporters Thursday.
However, Trump’s campaign released a statement indicating that the former president wouldn’t commit to any future debates until the Democratic nominee is formally selected.
“Given the continued political chaos surrounding Crooked Joe Biden and the Democrat Party, general election debate details cannot be finalized until Democrats formally decide on their nominee,” Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung said in a statement Thursday.
That prompted Harris to reply on social media: “What happened to ‘any time, any place?’”
Will Lanzoni/CNN
Former President Donald Trump appears with his wife, Melania, and son Barron on stage at his election night watch party in West Palm Beach, Florida, on November 6.
Austin Steele/CNN
Vice President Kamala Harris delivers
her concession speech on November 6 at Howard University in Washington, DC. “The outcome of this election is not what we wanted, not what we fought for, not what we voted for," she said. "But hear me when I say: The light of America’s promise will always burn bright."
Will Lanzoni/CNN
Trump supporters cheer at his election night watch party in West Palm Beach.
David Becker/Getty Images
Voters cast their ballots at a mall in Las Vegas on Election Day.
Austin Steele/CNN
Harris supporters watch election results come in at Howard University in Washington, DC.
Scott Olson/Getty Images
Trump speaks at an Election Day rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Joseph Prezioso/AFP/Getty Images
A resident checks in to cast their ballot in Dixville Notch, New Hampshire, just after midnight on Election Day. Harris
tied with three votes each in the tiny New Hampshire township.
Hannah Beier/Bloomberg/Getty Images
Harris takes the stage during a rally in Philadelphia on November 4.
John Locher/AP
An advertisement for Harris is displayed on the Sphere in Las Vegas on November 4.
Charly Triballeau/AFP/Getty Images
Trump dances on stage after speaking at a campaign rally in Pittsburgh on November 4.
Robyn Beck/AFP/Getty Images
Election workers prepare to process mail-in ballots in City of Industry, California, on November 4.
Jacquelyn Martin/AP/Pool
Harris shares a laugh with second gentleman Doug Emhoff after reuniting aboard Air Force Two on November 4. They had just taken off from Pittsburgh for her final campaign rally in Philadelphia.
Elijah Nouvelage/AFP/Getty Images
Trump speaks during a campaign rally in Macon, Georgia, on November 3.
Chary Triballeau/AFP/Getty Images
Harris makes
a surprise appearance on "Saturday Night Live" on November 2. “You got this,” Harris told her “SNL” alter ego, played by Maya Rudolph.
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Supporters cheer on Trump as he arrives for a campaign rally in Gastonia, North Carolina, on November 2.
David Paul Morris/Bloomberg/Getty Images
Election workers sort ballots during early voting in San Francisco on October 31.
Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters
Areli Sanchez holds a Puerto Rican flag during a Harris campaign rally in North Las Vegas, Nevada, on October 31. Puerto Rico has been in the headlines since a comedian at a Trump rally made comments
assailing the US island territory, calling it a "floating pile of garbage."
Doug Mills/The New York Times/Redux
Trump speaks from a garbage truck in Green Bay, Wisconsin, on October 30.
He was seizing on a garbled remark by President Joe Biden that seemed to insult Trump voters as “garbage.” Biden has personally denied calling Trump supporters “garbage,” saying his comment on a video call was misinterpreted. The White House, on cleanup duty, insisted the president was only talking about one person, the comedian who called Puerto Rico a “floating island of garbage” during a Trump rally.
Jim Bourg/Redux
Harris speaks from the Ellipse in Washington, DC, on October 29. The Harris-Walz campaign billed the speech as
her "closing argument" one week before the election.
Craig Hudson/Reuters
Biden is handed an "I Voted Early" sticker after he cast his vote in New Castle, Delaware, on October 28.
Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
Carlos Barria/Reuters
Trump attends a rally in Tempe, Arizona, on October 24.
Erin Schaff/The New York Times/Redux
Harris and former President Barack Obama walk and talk backstage before speaking at a campaign rally in Clarkston, Georgia, on October 24.
Elijah Nouvelage/Reuters
Trump supporters attend a campaign event in Duluth, Georgia, on October 23.
Jacquelyn Martin/AP
Harris is surprised by campaign staff with birthday decorations before Air Force Two departed from Atlanta on October 20. Harris just turned 60.
Allison Joyce/Bloomberg/Getty Images
Voters wait in line in Wilmington, North Carolina, during the first day of early voting there on October 17.
Jacquelyn Martin/AP
Harris hugs a child after speaking at a campaign event in Washington Crossing, Pennsylvania, on October 16.
Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post/Getty Images
Ryan Collerd/AFP/Getty Images
Staff members steam wrinkles out of the US flag that was being used as a backdrop for former President Obama, who would be campaigning for Harris in Pittsburgh on October 10.
Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images
Al Drago/Bloomberg/Getty Images
Republican JD Vance, left, and Democrat Tim Walz take part in a
vice presidential debate at the CBS Broadcast Center in New York on October 1. The matchup between Vance, the 40-year-old Ohio senator, and Walz, the 60-year-old Minnesota governor, took place in New York without a live audience.
Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images
Harris shakes hands with media mogul Oprah Winfrey at a rally in Farmington Hills, Michigan, on September 19.
Lynne Sladky/AP
Law enforcement officials work at the scene of the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida, on September 17. The FBI was investigating what it said was
an apparent assassination attempt on Trump — the second time in two months there’s been an apparent attempt on his life. Trump, who was playing golf at the time, was not harmed. A Secret Service agent spotted a rifle barrel with a scope sticking out of the fence of the golf course and “immediately engaged” with the person, firing shots at the man, Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw said.
Jae C. Hong/AP
Trump speaks during a news conference in Rancho Palos Verdes, California, on September 13. Trump, the Republican Party’s presidential nominee, suggested he might change his mind about a second debate with Harris: “I did great with the debates, and I think they’ve answered everything. But maybe if I got in the right mood, I don’t know.”
Michael Le Brecht II/ABC News
A countdown clock over debate moderators David Muir and Linsey Davis shows how much time Trump has left to answer a question during his
presidential debate with Harris on September 10. The debate, which took place in Philadelphia, was the first time Trump and Harris had met.
Adriana Zehbrauskas/The New York Times/Redux
Trump, left, greets Robert F. Kennedy Jr., at a campaign rally in Glendale, Arizona, on August 23. Kennedy had just suspended his independent campaign and
threw his support behind Trump.
Todd Heisler/The New York Times/Redux
Amara Ajagu watches Harris formally accept her party's presidential nomination at the
Democratic National Convention in Chicago on August 22.
Ajagu is one of Harris' young grandnieces. Harris is the first Black woman and first Asian American to lead a major-party ticket. If elected, she would be the first woman and Indian American president.
Rebecca Wright/CNN
On the night of Harris' speech, many delegates at the Democratic National Convention
wore white, the color associated with the suffragette movement.
Bernadette Tuazon/CNN
Walz is joined by his daughter, Hope; his son, Gus; and his wife, Gwen, at the Democratic National Convention on August 21. Walz said accepting the vice presidential nomination was
“the honor of my life.”
Julia Nikhinson/AP
A Trump supporter carries a Trump standup after a campaign rally in Asheboro, North Carolina, on August 21.
Austin Steele/CNN
Former President Barack Obama speaks at the Democratic National Convention on August 20.
He told the crowd that he is “feeling hopeful” because Harris is ready to step into the White House. “This convention has always been pretty good to kids with funny names who believe in a country where anything is possible,” Obama said. “Because we have a chance to elect someone who has spent her entire life trying to give people the same chances America gave her.”
Erin Schaff/The New York Times/Redux
Harris watches Walz speak as she sits backstage at their rally in Glendale, Arizona, on August 9.
Doug Mills/The New York Times/Redux
Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images
Vincent Alban/Reuters
Rachel Scott, senior congressional correspondent for ABC News, looks away as Trump speaks during a Q&A session at the National Association of Black Journalists convention on July 31. Scott asked Trump why Black voters should trust him given his past racist comments about members of Congress and political rivals like Nikki Haley and Barack Obama.
Trump called it a “very nasty question” and a “rude introduction.” Later in the session, Trump falsely claimed that Vice President Harris
“happened to turn Black” a few years ago.
Evan Vucci/AP
President Joe Biden
addresses the nation from the White House Oval Office on July 24, explaining his decision not to seek reelection. It’s the first time a one-term US president has dropped out of a reelection run in decades. "I believe my record as president, my leadership in the world, my vision for America’s future all merited a second term,” said Biden,
who had been fighting for his political life after a disastrous debate performance in June. “But nothing, nothing can come in the way of saving our democracy. That includes personal ambition. So, I’ve decided the best way forward is to pass the torch to a new generation. It’s the best way to unite our nation.”
Kevin Mohatt/Reuters
Harris, bottom left in the blue jacket, attends
her first campaign rally in West Allis, Wisconsin, on July 23. The former US senator from California, who previously served as the state’s attorney general, was endorsed by Biden to be his successor.
Julia Nikhinson/AP
Biden wears a mask while returning to the White House on July 23. He tested positive for Covid-19 a few days before he dropped out of the race, and he spent the weekend at his beach house in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. He was in Delaware when he announced his decision to drop out.
J. Scott Applewhite/AP
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, left, and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries leave a news conference after
endorsing Harris for president on July 23. “Kamala Harris and her candidacy has excited and energized the House Democratic Caucus, the Democratic Party and the nation,” Jeffries said.
Will Lanzoni/CNN
Trump raises his fist during the
Republican National Convention in Milwaukee on July 18. At the convention, Trump formally accepted his party’s presidential nomination for a third straight election. His keynote speech came five days after
he survived an assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania. “I stand before you in this arena only by the grace of almighty God,” he said.
Bernadette Tuazon/CNN
People watch the Republican National Convention from inside the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee on July 17.
Samuel Corum/AFP/Getty Images
Marine One takes off from the South Lawn of the White House, taking Biden to Las Vegas on July 15. Biden traveled to Las Vegas for campaign stops, speeches and interviews. Up to this point, he had been adamant that he was staying in the presidential race despite a growing list of Democratic lawmakers calling for him to step aside.
Demetrius Freeman/The Washington Post/Getty Images
Biden addresses the nation from the Roosevelt Room of the White House on July 14.
In a speech from the Oval Office later than day, he called on the country to "lower the temperature in our politics" following the assassination attempt on Trump.
Evan Vucci/AP
Trump, with blood on his face, raises his fist to the crowd as he is helped by Secret Service agents at his campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13. Trump’s right ear was struck by a bullet during an
assassination attempt, according to law enforcement.
The shooter was killed by the Secret Service, the agency said.
The FBI identified the shooter as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, and authorities told CNN that he was positioned on a building rooftop just outside the rally venue. One rally attendee, Corey Comperatore, was killed, and two others were critically injured.
Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
Blood can be seen on Trump's face as he is covered by Secret Service agents immediately after gunshots rang out in Butler on July 13.
Erin Schaff/The New York Times/Redux
Harris speaks at the Essence Festival of Culture in New Orleans on July 6.
She often defended Biden in the weeks following his debate with Trump.
Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images
A sign reading “Pass the torch, Joe” is held up at a campaign rally for Biden in Madison, Wisconsin, on July 5.
Drew Angerer/AFP/Getty Images
Journalists run across the Supreme Court plaza, carrying an opinion to a news correspondent, as the court handed down decisions in Washington, DC, on July 1.
The court ruled that Trump may claim immunity from criminal prosecution for some of the actions he took in the waning days of his presidency.
Haiyun Jiang/The New York Times/Redux
Biden talks on the phone as he heads to Camp David with his wife, Jill, and granddaughters Finnegan and Natalie on June 29. Following his debate with Trump, some Democratic officials said they wanted him to step aside from the 2024 race for the good of the party and the country.
Tom Brenner/The New York Times/Redux
Trump holds a campaign rally in Chesapeake, Virginia, on June 28.
Will Lanzoni/CNN
Trump and Biden take part in the
CNN presidential debate on June 27. It was the first time in history that a sitting US president faced a former president in a debate.
Biden’s poor performance set off alarm bells among top Democrats, leaving some to openly question whether he could stay atop the Democratic ticket.
Tristen Rouse/CNN
People watch the CNN presidential debate from Union Pub in Washington, DC.
Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images
Supporters of Trump hold up placards as they wait for him to speak at a rally in Philadelphia on June 22.
Doug Mills/The New York Times/Redux
Trump shakes hands with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell as he meets with GOP lawmakers in Washington, DC, on June 13.
Trump led House Republicans through a gripe-filled closed-door meeting, airing grievances about his legal and electoral challenges, attacking his critics in the room, and only briefly addressing policy matters like abortion and taxes, according to multiple GOP lawmakers in the room. It was Trump’s first time returning to the Capitol campus area since leaving office after the January 6, 2021, riot.
Justin Lane/Pool/Getty Images
Trump leaves the Manhattan Criminal Court in New York after
he was found guilty in his hush money trial on May 30. It was the first time in history that a former US president had been
convicted of a felony. A jury found Trump guilty on 34 charges of falsifying business records. Prosecutors alleged that the former president engaged in a cover-up scheme to hide reimbursement payments made to his former attorney, Michael Cohen, who had paid hush money to adult film star Stormy Daniels to stop her from going public about a past affair with Trump before the 2016 presidential election. Trump has denied the affair.
Yuri Gripas/The New York Times/Redux
Biden delivers remarks at a campaign event in Philadelphia on May 29. Biden and Harris rolled out an initiative called Black Voters for Biden-Harris.
Brian Snyder/Reuters
Trump attends a campaign event in Waukesha, Wisconsin, on May 1.
Jabin Botsford/Pool/Getty Images
Trump attends his hush money trial at the start of jury selection on April 15.
Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images
Former Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton join Biden on stage for
a campaign fundraising event at New York's Radio City Music Hall on March 28.
Matt Kelley/AP
Harris embraces Biden after a speech in Raleigh, North Carolina, on March 26.
The rare joint appearance highlighted the emphasis that the duo would place on health care, which they believe is a winning issue for Democrats ahead of November's election.
Kevin Lamarque/Reuters
Vinay Reddy, Biden's director of speechwriting, works at his laptop while White House economic advisor Lael Brainard talks on her phone outside a Mexican restaurant in Phoenix where Biden was holding a campaign event on March 19.
Maddie McGarvey/The New York Times/Redux
Trump speaks during a rally in Dayton, Ohio, on March 16.
Maansi Srivastava/The New York Times/Redux
Biden looks out at a crowd as he arrives to greet people during a campaign event in Saginaw, Michigan, on March 14.
Ruth Fremson/The New York Times/Redux
Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley walks off stage after announcing that she would be
suspending her presidential campaign on March 6. Haley made the announcement after a series of losses on Super Tuesday, and it left Trump as the presumptive GOP nominee.
Nic Antaya/Bloomberg/Getty Images
A volunteer holds a sign that says "vote uncommitted" outside of a polling station in Dearborn, Michigan, on February 27. Biden's victory in the Democratic primary came with a warning from progressives, young voters and Arab American Democrats
in the form of an "uncommitted" protest vote: change course on Israel's approach to the war in Gaza or risk losing a significant chunk of support in what could be a decisive general election state.
Alex Brandon/AP
Trump arrives to speak at the Conservative Political Action Conference in National Harbor, Maryland, on February 24.
Trump declared himself a "proud political dissident" at CPAC, telling a conservative gathering that his reelection would be "liberation day" for his supporters and "judgment day" for his political enemies.
Hilary Swift/The New York Times/Redux
Supporters of a write-in campaign for Biden gather for an election night watch party in Manchester, New Hampshire, on January 23. Biden was not among the 21 candidates listed on the ballot after New Hampshire defied the primary calendar set by the national Democratic Party. Despite not being on the ballot, Biden still won the primary.
Haiyun Jiang/Bloomberg/Getty Images
Haley speaks to supporters at her election night watch party in Concord, New Hampshire, on January 23. She said she would remain in the race after losing the primary there to Trump.
David Goldman/AP
Kara Simard — with her 5-year-old daughter, Violet — casts a primary vote at a polling site in Manchester, New Hampshire, on January 23.
Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters
From left, first lady Jill Biden, President Biden, Harris and second gentleman Doug Emhoff attend a campaign event in Manassas, Virginia, on January 23.
Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post/Getty Images
Trump delivers remarks at a campaign rally in Manchester, New Hampshire, on January 20.
Will Lanzoni/CNN
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis holds a town hall in Hampton, New Hampshire, on January 17. DeSantis edged out former Haley for a distant second-place finish in the Iowa Republican Caucuses, but
he dropped out of the race ahead of the New Hampshire primary.
Geoff Stellfox/The Gazette/AP
Isaac Hammond braves subzero temperatures to caucus in Malcolm, Iowa, on January 15.
The caucuses were the coldest ever, with temperatures below zero across much of the state.
Will Lanzoni/CNN
DeSantis and Haley take part in a
CNN debate in Des Moines, Iowa, on January 10.
Coconut trees and ‘childless cat ladies’
Perhaps the clearest indicator of the political earthquake that’s taken place in recent days is the shift in cultural vibes and viral moments.
Just a week ago, Republicans were riding high after a convention in Milwaukee at which Trump’s reaction to the assassination attempt days earlier – his right fist raised in the air as he mouthed “Fight” to the crowd – had become a rallying cry.
Now, Democrats – who were previously fretting about slow fundraising, a disengaged base and slippage in support among young, Black and Latino voters – are rallying behind a candidate with more cultural cachet among those same voters. And Republicans are on defense, with Trump’s vice presidential pick, Vance, having to defend prior comments that could alienate the suburban women the Trump ticket is courting.
Vance has come under fire over comments he made as a Senate candidate on Tucker Carlson’s Fox News show in 2021.
He told Carlson that the United States is being run by “a bunch of childless cat ladies who are miserable at their own lives and the choices that they’ve made, and so they want to make the rest of the country miserable, too.” He then specifically mentioned Harris, Buttigieg and New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez as examples.
Vance did not acknowledge that Harris has two stepchildren with her husband. Buttigieg, who has since become a father to two children, told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins on Tuesday that he and his husband were struggling with “a fairly heartbreaking setback in our adoption journey” when Vance made the remark.
Actress Jennifer Aniston criticized Vance for the comment as someone who has struggled to have children and said she prays his daughter is “fortunate enough to bear children.”
In an interview Friday with conservative host Megyn Kelly on SiriusXM, Vance said he was being sarcastic and the substance of what he said has been lost. He said he was criticizing the Democratic Party for becoming “anti-family.”
“The simple point that I made is that having children, becoming a father, becoming a mother, I really do think it changes your perspective, and in a pretty profound way,” Vance said.
Vance said it’s a “catastrophic problem” that the United States has the “lowest birth rate in our history in this country.” As CNN previously reported, the United States’ fertility rate has been trending down for decades, and in 2023 it reached the lowest rate in a century. Vance said his remarks about childless adults had been motivated in part by a conversation with his wife about balancing life as a working mother.
“What a weird society that we’ve set up where moms who want to work, the thought that a lot of them are having is, ‘I can’t have more babies because it’s going to be bad for my career,’” Vance said. “How about we make the workplace more accommodating to working moms and working dads so that we can promote a real culture of life?”
Harris, on the other hand, has been the beneficiary of a series of viral moments.
Charli XCX, the British pop singer, declared the vice president “brat,” which is the title of her sixth studio album and a Gen Z summer soundtrack. It set off an avalanche of posts on TikTok, X and other social media platforms featuring the same shade of bright green as the album cover and video compilations of Harris.
Then, there were the coconut memes, revisiting a May 2023 speech in which Harris spoke about “a difference between equality and equity.”
“None of us just live in a silo. Everything is in context,” she said in that speech. “My mother used to – she would give us a hard time sometimes – and she would say to us, ‘I don’t know what’s wrong with you young people. You think you just fell out of a coconut tree? You exist in the context of all in which you live and what came before you.’”
Since then, coconuts and coconut tree imagery have been used online in support of Harris, with Colorado Gov. Jared Polis even posting an endorsement of the vice president communicated through three emojis: a coconut, a palm tree and an American flag.
“What we’re seeing is a really classic example of when pop culture really gets intertwined with politics, and it takes a special kind of candidate and a special kind of leader to inspire that,” Florida Rep. Maxwell Frost, a 27-year-old Democrat, said on CNN. “It has to be organic. You can’t make it happen.”
There were signs that after a launch that had gone better than Democrats could have hoped, Harris’ previous remarks were coming under fresh scrutiny.
CNN’s KFile reported Friday that Harris voiced support for “defund the police” in a radio interview in June 2020 amid nationwide protests for police reform, just months before denouncing the movement after she had joined the Biden presidential campaign.
“This whole movement is about rightly saying, ‘We need to take a look at these budgets and figure out whether it reflects the right priorities,’” Harris said on a New York-based radio program on June 9, 2020, adding that US cities were “militarizing police” but “defunding public schools.”
On Saturday, ahead of the campaign rally in Minnesota, the Trump campaign released a video that slammed Harris for her “soft on crime policies,” highlighting her 2020 support on social media for a fund that bailed out protesters in the aftermath of the police murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
The Minnesota Freedom Fund is one of several US charities dedicated to helping low-income defendants post bail that boomed in the aftermath of Floyd’s death. However, the fund, in addition to other charitable bail groups, later came under fire after some defendants who were bailed out were arrested again for alleged acts of violent crime.
As Trump’s campaign adjusts its tactics for the race against Harris, the former president has made clear on social media and on the trail that he plans to make political ideology an issue.
“We’re not ready for a Marxist President,” Trump said Thursday on Truth Social, “and Lyin’ Kamala Harris is a RADICAL LEFT MARXIST, AND WORSE!”
Trump had long criticized Biden over border security. He is similarly blasting Harris – who early in Biden’s presidency was tapped to tackle the root cause of migration from Central America. The Republican National Committee on Thursday posted a video on social media featuring assorted clips of Harris saying that an undocumented immigrant was not a criminal.
Down-ballot Republicans have similarly begun attacking Harris as too liberal.
In Pennsylvania, Dave McCormick, who is challenging Democratic Sen. Bob Casey in one of the year’s most important races, posted a video Tuesday featuring Casey praising Harris – followed by a series of clips of Harris speaking in support of eliminating private health insurance, passing the progressive “Green New Deal,” abolishing US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, a mandatory gun buyback program and more.
On Friday, McCormick posted a slightly shorter version of the video.
“Starting this Monday, Pennsylvanians watching the Olympics will also see Bob Casey and Kamala Harris’ dangerously liberal agenda on display,” he said.
CNN’s Jeff Zeleny, Kit Maher, Terence Burlij, Sam Fossum, Alayna Treene, Alison Main, Kim Berryman, Andrew Kaczynski and Em Steck contributed to this report.