Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1528951
9 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 6 NOVEMBER 2024 US ELECTION always of Indian heritage, and she was only promoting Indian heritage. "I didn't know she was black, un- til a number of years ago when she happened to turn black, and now she wants to be known as black, so I don't know, is she Indian or is she black?" Harris is the daughter of a Jamaican father and an Indian mother, both im- migrants to the US. In response, Harris said the com- ments were "the same old show" and that "America deserves better". 'That's my dad!' Minnesota governor Tim Walz was relatively unknown when Harris picked him as her vice presidential running mate at the start of August. But he truly made his mark with a landmark speech at the Democrat- ic National Convention a couple of weeks later, telling his party's faithful it was "time to turn the page" on Don- ald Trump. It was the sort of speech you'd fully expect from a former American foot- ball coach like Walz, as he urged his comrades to "leave it all out on the field" until election day. There was seemingly no one more inspired by Walz than his son Gus, who stood up midway through his speech and, through tears, proudly ex- claimed: "That's my dad!" 'They're eating the pets…' You'd be forgiven for assuming cats would only play a key part in the elec- tion campaign once. But the "childless cat lady" comments were in fact overshadowed by com- pletely unsubstantiated clairepeated by Trump and Vance about Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, eat- ing residents' household pets. In a presidential debate between him and Harris, Trump said: "In Spring- field, they're eating the dogs, the peo- ple that came in, they're eating the cats… They're eating... they're eating the pets of the people that live there. "And this is what's happening in our country, and it's a shame." Harris, who could be seen laughing and saying "this is unbelievable", re- sponded when it was her turn: "Talk about extreme." It was the headline-grabber in what has proved to be the only debate be- tween the candidates, but they also clashed over issues including abortion, the economy and illegal immigration. Taylor Swift backs Harris Almost straight after the debate, Taylor Swift told her 283 million Ins- tagram followers she would be voting for Harris. The singer urged them to "do your research" - but said AI-generated im- ages of her supporting Trump made her realise "I need to be very transpar- ent about my actual plans". The post was accompanied by a pho- to of the singer holding her cat Ben- jamin Button, and she signed off with "Taylor Swift - Childless Cat Lady". Trump initially dismissed Swift's endorsement of his rival for the pres- idency by simply saying he was "not a Taylor fan". But days later, as public opinion polls showed Harris gaining signifi- cant ground on him, the former pres- ident took to his Truth Social media account to add: "I HATE TAYLOR SWIFT!" 'Assassination attempt' on Trump at golf course A second apparent attempt on Trump's life was thwarted by the Se- cret Service on 15 September as the former president played golf at his course in West Palm Beach in Florida. Ryan Routh was arrested after a rifle was seen poking through bushes near where Trump was playing. He had allegedly been staking out for around 12 hours before an agent spot- ted him and opened fire. He was de- tained less than an hour later, having fled the scene. Trump used the incident to demon- strate his resilience. "Nothing will slow me down," he wrote in a statement. "I will NEVER SURRENDER! I will always love you for supporting me. "Unity. Peace. Make America Great Again. May God bless you." Routh was later charged with trying to assassinate Trump. Musk promises millions of dollars to swing state voters Seven battleground states - Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wiscon- sin - are widely believed to be where the election will be won or lost. As a result, well over a billion dollars is said to have been spent on presiden- tial ads targeted at the more than 60 million people living in them. Musk has thrown his wealth behind Trump in a way that's never been seen before: by promising to give away $1m (£772,000) each day until 5 November to registered voters in swing states. All the voters have to do to become eligible is sign his online free speech and gun rights petition. The first $1m was awarded to a man named John Dreher during a cam- paign event in Pennsylvania on 19 Oc- tober. The X owner was subsequently sum- moned to an emergency court hearing in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, accused of operating an illegal lottery and try- ing to influence voters. But the lawsuit has been placed on hold while a federal court considers whether to take up the case, meaning Musk is free to continue the giveaway moments of the US election campaign Kamala Harris was declared the Democratic candidate in early August after President Joe Biden pulled out of the race