10 wildest things that have happened in the 2024 election cycle (so far)
Americans learned in 2016 that elections with Donald Trump as a candidate are anything but normal. The 2016 election was groundbreaking in all the worst ways, and the 2020 election was even more stressful and unprecedented. But the 2024 election said, “Hold my beer.”
There have been so many ups and downs, historic and viral moments, and truly wild misinformation, that it’s sometimes hard to believe all of it happened in just one election cycle. So here’s a look back at the wild events that have us thankful it’s almost election day. (Let’s just hope the result is one we can all be thankful for, as well).
Donald Trump became a felon
Trump made history this year, though not in any way that should be celebrated. On May 30, he became the first president (former or sitting) to be convicted of a felony. Trump faced 34 charges surrounding his hush money payment to Stormy Daniels, an adult film star who he had sex with while married. In the last few weeks of the 2016 election, Trump was desperate to keep the story out of the news and attempted to pay Daniels off.
Unfortunately, that came back to bite him later. Though Trump claimed it “was a rigged, disgraceful trial,” he was found guilty of all 34 charges. His legal team attempted to get the conviction vacated, but the judge decided to delay sentencing until after the election.
Joe Biden bombed the first debate
This election cycle feels like it’s been going on for ages, and it’s easy to forget sometimes that there was a different Democratic candidate at the start. Despite concerns about his age from both sides of the political spectrum, Joe Biden was adamant about running for a second term. However, it was his debate against Trump that really raised the alarm among the left.
The June 27 debate was a disaster for Biden. While Trump appeared as stubborn as ever, doubling down on his claims of “election fraud” in 2020, he still outperformed Biden. Though he got better by the end, Biden’s voice was raspy through most of the debate, and he repeatedly got confused and stumbled over his words.
The Biden campaign made several excuses, including claims that the president was dealing with jet lag and a cold. But the debate was undeniably a failure, and it marked the beginning of the end for Biden’s campaign.
Trump’s first assassination attempt
The country has become more divided than ever, but legitimate political assassination attempts are still pretty rare. Or at least they were, until this year. On July 13 at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, Trump was the target of a rogue shooter who opened fire amid the crowd. Trump’s right ear was pierced by a bullet. Two audience members were injured, and a third was killed.
Secret Service agents quickly eliminated the threat, and the gunman, Thomas Matthew Crooks, was shot and killed. Authorities still haven’t been able to determine a motive, as the 20-year-old shooter didn’t appear to be particularly radicalized. While he was a registered Republican, he also made a $15 donation to a Democratic campaign. The assassination attempt was a terrifying moment in an already stressful election, and we may never have answers.
The JD Vance couch rumors
In every election, both sides of the political spectrum launch rumors and jokes about the opposing candidates. But perhaps one of the strangest claims ever made about a candidate, Trump’s running mate, JD Vance, faced the persistent rumor that he once had sex with a couch.
To be clear, there’s no actual evidence that this happened (though I desperately wish there was). The hoax originated from a now-deleted tweet from X user @rickrudescalve on July 15, reading, “can’t say for sure but he might be the first vp pick to have admitted in a ny times bestseller to fucking an Inside-out latex glove shoved between two couch cushions (Vance, hillbilly elegy, pp. 179-181).”
There was, in fact, no mention of a fondness for upholstery in Vance’s memoir, Hillbilly Elegy, but that didn’t stop the jokes from flowing on social media and with late-night show hosts.
Biden drops out of the race
Though Biden tried to keep his campaign afloat, in the weeks following his disastrous debate performance, numerous Democrats implored Biden to drop out of the race. It seemed like a long shot that Biden would be able to defeat Trump, and there were significant concerns about his basic cognitive abilities.
Finally caving to pleas from his own party, Biden announced on July 21 that he would be pulling out of the election. “While it has been my intention to seek reelection,” Biden said, “I believe it is in the best interest of my party and the country for me to stand down and to focus solely on fulfilling my duties as President for the remainder of my term.”
Biden also gave his official endorsement to his vice president, Kamala Harris, to run as the Democratic candidate in his stead.
Trump’s second assassination attempt
The first assassination attempt against Trump was shocking enough, but because the 2024 election is determined to be extra, there was a second assassination attempt that grabbed headlines. On September 15, another lone gunman tried to get Trump in his crosshairs. While Trump was golfing in Florida, a shooter, later identified as Ryan Wesley Routh, laid in wait. The would-be assassin had camped out for almost 12 hours with his rifle and food while waiting for Trump to move into view.
Routh was about 400-500 yards away from where Trump was playing when he was spotted by the Secret Service. He fled the scene but was apprehended less than an hour later. There was thankfully no collateral damage, as there was with the first assassination attempt, but it’s still a deeply troubling trend.
“They’re eating the dogs!”
Kamala Harris hit the ground running after Biden dropped out of the race, and her performance in the September 10 debate against Trump was proof that the right decision had been made. While Biden was on the defensive throughout his debate with Trump, Harris was cool and collected. Ultimately, Trump was the one playing defense, and he took the bait on all of the vice president’s jabs.
Trump, as usual, threw out many strange comments and wild claims, but his most memorable was a bizarre bit of misinformation regarding Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio. Buying into a heavily debunked rumor, Trump claimed that Springfield is overrun with immigrants who are eating local pets.
“They’re eating the dogs, the people that came in, they’re eating the cats, they’re eating the pets of the people that live there,” Trump wildly purported. The claims have no basis in reality, and the Ohio governor called the claims “garbage.”
Special Counsel Jack Smith releases bombshell court docs
While Trump was convicted in his hush money trial, that’s not the only legal action the former president faced this election. He’s also being prosecuted for his involvement in the January 6 insurrection and attempts to overturn the 2020 election. Though Trump’s legal team is again seeking to have the charges dismissed, special counsel Jack Smith’s case against the former president was unsealed and released to the public (with some redactions).
The documents contained bombshell details, including Trump’s claim that “It doesn’t matter if you won or lost the election,” and his response, “So what?,” when told that Vice President Mike Pence’s safety was at risk from the rioters. Smith’s details were damming, and a critical and strategic release in the last month of the election.
Would you like fries with that?
In a desperate bid to paint himself as one of the common folk, Trump held one of the strangest publicity events he’s ever done. The former president showed up at a McDonald’s in Pennsylvania to work a one-hour shift and hold a press conference through the drive thru window. Yep, that actually happened.
During his limited fast food tenure, Trump marveled at the french fry dispenser, describing it as “a process that’s beautiful,” and praised the employees who “work hard.” The publicity event was seemingly related to the Trump campaign’s baseless insistence that Kamala Harris never worked at McDonald’s while in college. It was a strange way to try to prove that point, and while attempting to be relatable, Trump has never seemed more out of touch.
Trump’s chilling Nazi-esque Madison Square Garden rally
Heading into the final days of the election, Trump returned to his Manhattan roots and held a rally at Madison Square Garden that provided a terrifying look at what a second Trump term would be like.
Multiple speakers took the stage before Trump and spewed hateful and racist remarks, like calling Puerto Rico a “floating island of garbage,” accusing Kamala Harris of having “a low IQ,” and describing Democrats as “a bunch of degenerates.”
But when it was Trump’s turn to talk, he immediately launched into the disturbing fascist rhetoric that has come to define his campaign. Trump spoke about targeting the “migrant invasion” and his pledge to “defeat” the “radical left lunatics” who he described as “the enemy from within,” suggesting the use of military force.
The rally drew comparisons to a 1939 pro-Nazi rally that was also held at Madison Square Garden, and it’s no surprise. Trump has already expressed admiration for fascist leaders and strategy, and his MSG rally proves that is the defining ideology behind the former president’s campaign.
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