PODCAST. Joe Biden’s withdrawal, Kamala Harris’ entry into the race: the crazy sequence

The expected Trump-Biden duel will not take place. If Donald Trump will indeed be the Republican candidate after the assassination attempt of which he was the victim, his opponent Joe Biden, politically weakened, gives way to Kamala Harris. This is the subject of the 6th episode of Washington d’ici, the original podcast with correspondents from the public French-speaking media.

This crazy streak has just turned the presidential campaign upside down. It lasted exactly eight days. On July 13 in Butler, Pennsylvania, Donald Trump was the victim and injured in the ear in an assassination attempt, a shooting that left three other victims: one dead and two seriously injured. On July 18 in Millwaukee, during the Republican National Convention, he was inaugurated as the Republican Party candidate. On Sunday the 20th, isolated due to Covid-19 in his home in Rehoboth Beach, Joe Biden, politically weakened since his failed debate against Donald Trump, withdrew his candidacy and gave his support to his vice-president Kamala Harris who will certainly become the Democratic Party candidate.

“This is therefore a major turning point in the campaign, the expected Trump-Biden duel will not take place”believes Guillaume Naudin of RFI. After weeks of procrastination among Democrats and unfavorable polls, Kamala Harris’ candidacy was imposed in a few hours. She is sure to be nominated in August in Chicago, during the Democratic convention. A decision that was expected within the Democratic Party. “This is really a huge relief that was pushed by thousands of Democratsassures Frédéric Arnould of Radio-Canada. Joe Biden was no longer really the man for the job and we were expecting a kind of total turnaround.”

Kamala Harris’ candidacy relaunches the American presidential campaign, both politically and financially. As soon as Joe Biden’s withdrawal was announced, Kamala Harris’ campaign piggy bank filled up considerably: +81 million dollars in 24 hours, a record. The figure continues to increase. “We all felt that she wasn’t very popular before she was nominated. And I think what’s happened since she ran, and that’s really notable, is this excitement.”underlines Sonia Dridi of RTBF.

Kamala Harris’ main assets against Donald Trump are her sense of repartee and her youth – she is 59, almost 20 years younger than her opponent. “Donald Trump had tried to bank on this difference between strength and weakness, the Trumpist strength and the weakness of Biden, a diminished man who is not capable of articulating a thought without making mistakes. So there, it is in some way an argument in favor of Mrs. Harris of course”notes Sébastien Paour of Radio France. Kamala Harris was the prosecutor of San Francisco and the attorney general of California. “She’s going to be the prosecutor versus the criminal. He was convicted in the Stormy Daniel case, he has other potential trials that threaten him. That’s also going to be a great strength for her.”adds Sébastien Paour.

“Washington d’ici” is a podcast from the French-language public media. Once a month, correspondents from franceinfo, RTBF, Radio-Canada, RTS and RFI decipher, in their own way, the latest news from the campaign for the 2024 American presidential election. With Sébastien Paour (franceinfo), Jordan Davis (RTS), Frederic Arnould (Radio-Canada), Sonia Dridi (RTBF) and Guillaume Naudin (RFI). Directed by: Philippe Benoît (RTBF) and Régis De Rath (RTBF).