We are four weeks away from the 2024 presidential election! This week, a foreign president’s visit and a major hurricane solidified the war in Ukraine and the federal response to natural disasters as important campaign issues. Additionally, the Vice Presidential contenders recently faced off in a televised debate.
Zelensky Returns to America
On September 26, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky returned to the US, meeting with Vice President Harris and President Biden. Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the Biden administration has continued to support Ukraine and pledge American support. Harris remarked at a joint press conference with Zelensky that there were “some [people] in my country who would instead force Ukraine to give up large parts of its sovereign territory,” seemingly referring to former President Trump.
The next day, Zelensky met with Trump at Trump Tower. After the meeting, Trump asserted that the war “should stop and the president [Zelensky] wants it to stop, and I’m sure President Putin wants it to stop and that’s a good combination.” Zelensky posted on Telegram that the two had a “very meaningful meeting.”
Trump has previously called Zelensky “the greatest salesman ever” and “every time that Zelensky comes to our country, he walks away with 60 billion dollars.” Trump seems less likely than Harris to continue giving money to Ukraine. The results of the upcoming presidential election may affect the future of American aid to Ukraine.
Hurricane Helene Strikes the South
Hurricane Helene, a Category 4 hurricane, made landfall in Florida in late September before moving inward to other Southern states like Georgia and the Carolinas. The hurricane caused mass flooding, destroyed homes, and wrecked infrastructure. As of October 5, at least 227 people across multiple states have been killed.
Vice President Harris traveled to Augusta, Georgia, on October 2 to assess the damage as part of the federal response to Helene. “The president and I have been paying close attention from the beginning to what we need to do to make sure the federal resources hit the ground as quickly as possible,” Harris remarked during her visit.
The same week, Former President Trump traveled to Valdosta, Georgia, also to assess the damage from the hurricane. “We brought a lot of things … trailers, many trailers,” Trump said in Valdosta referring to the many supplies, including water and fuel, that he brought to the city with him. In the aftermath of Helene, the public will scrutinize the way presidential candidates respond to natural disasters.
The Vice Presidential Debate
On October 1, Senator JD Vance of Ohio and Governor Tim Walz of Minnesota faced off in a Vice Presidential debate moderated by CBS. During the debate, JD Vance took a less combative approach than his running mate, former President Trump. While discussing abortion, Vance admitted that “we’ve got to do a better job at winning back people’s trust.”
Tim Walz was questioned about his recent remarks describing how he was in Hong Kong during the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989. “All I said on this was, I got there that summer and misspoke on this, so I will just – that’s what I’ve said,” Walz replied, seemingly caught off guard by the question.
Unlike the Trump-Harris debate a few weeks ago, this debate was mostly respectful and the candidates even agreed on some issues. Walz admitted that “I don’t think that Sen. Vance and I are that far apart” on child care. Vance thanked the “folks at CBS,” a much different take than his running mate’s frequent attacks on “fake news” and the mainstream media.
After the debate, a poll from CBS News showed that 42% of viewers believed JD Vance won, while 41% believed Tim Walz won. Voters perceived both candidates more positively after the debate, and also perceived both candidates as “reasonable.”
Come back next week for new updates as we get closer to Election Day!
