Meet the Candidates - National Election | Graphic by Abigail Abbott| The Wright State Guardian
With the Presidential Election just around the corner, it is important for students to remain informed. There is a lot of misinformation that gets spread around during election time. From the mouths of the presidential candidates themselves, this is everything students need to know about each candidate.
Donald J. Trump
Donald Trump was the 45th president of the United States. Trump was elected in 2016 and ended his presidency in 2020. He had a controversial run in his winning election due to his run on reality television and his business background, as well as several of his campaign promises that were deemed excessive.
Trump had no prior political experience before his presidency, which was another controversy. Despite that, Donald Trump won his presidency against democrat and former Secretary of State Hilary Clinton.
During his presidency, Trump seemed to focus on business. Some highlights of his presidential work include trade negotiations abroad and a major tax reform bill that allowed taxes to become less federally regulated. He focused of foreign relations, like having a political summit with North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un.
Trump was known to be controversial during presidency as well, with at one point, both houses of congress trying to impeach him due to alleged obstruction of Congress and abuse of power.
In 2020, the Coronavirus (COVID) pandemic hit the U.S., killing over 400,000 Americans by the time Trump ended his term. This caused criticisms that Trump waited too long to do anything about the Pandemic and about his behavior surrounding safety precautions.
When Trump lost to the 46th President Joe Biden, he held a rally to protest that quickly turned violent and led to supporters storming the capitol to “punish congress.” Trump denied any wrongdoing in this.
He is running for re-election for 2024 against Vice-President Kamala Harris. Trump is pushing for a more aggressive stance this election. Hitting hot button issues like taxes on workers, immigration, securing election ballots, social issues and college reform and regulation.
His campaign this time around has a bigger emphasis on his christian beliefs. In a statement given to The Wright State Guardian by the Trump campaign, they explain that they are intending to go back to basics with politics.
“America needs determined Republican Leadership at every level of Government to address the core threats to our very survival: Our disastrously Open Border, our weakened Economy, crippling restrictions on American Energy Production, our depleted Military, attacks on the American System of Justice and much more,” the campaign said.
“To make clear our commitment, we offer to the American people the 2024 GOP Platform to Make America Great Again!”
Trump’s Running mate is J.D Vance.
Kamala Harris
Kamala Harris is the current Vice President of the United States. She was running mate with President Joe Biden.
Most of her views in 2020 were tied to Biden’s race and campaign promises. Some of those include Decriminalizing marijuana usage, making unionization easier, codifying Roe v. Wade and other social issues.
Harris’ Campaign also has some controversy. Harris was made the Democratic nominee shortly after the former nominee and current project Joe Biden had to drop from the race due to health concerns. This was unpopular because there was no vote from the people and was deemed unconstitutional by the public for a while.
Harris has several different campaign promises on offer. Some of those are supporting low income families, tax credits and other social issues.
Her policy on foreign affairs includes being tough on authorian governments and dictatorships.
“Vice President Harris has proudly represented the United States on the global stage in meetings with over 150 world leaders and bolstered vital alliances against tyranny abroad — and she is just as committed to stopping would-be authoritarians and dictators at home,” her campaign states.
Before becoming the Vice President in 2020, Harris was elected the District Attorney of San Francisco in 2004, Attorney General of California in 2010 and U.S. Junior Senator for California in 2017.
Harris is the first woman, first Black American, and first South Asian American to serve as vice president. Her campaign champions a quote from Kamala’s mother, a renowned breast cancer researcher.
“Kamala, you may be the first to do many things, but make sure you are not the last,” her campaign website reads.
Harris’ running mate is Tim Walz.
Student reaction
There is generally a divide on what students think of these nominees. This lines up with trends nationwide.
For example, Noor Abuzer, a sports science major, has not made up who she would vote for, but has criticized Kamala Harris and the lack of clarity on her policies.
“Other than social issues, I don’t entirely know what she wants to do,” Abzuer said. “I have tried to look up her policies, [but] it is impossible to find what she stands for.”
Hannah Layton, a marketing major, thinks Trump is extreme and weary of a second Trump presidency.
“He started a whole riot, and we are just supposed to not be nervous that he’ll do it again,” Layton stated. “I mean I looked it up because I was curious, and I saw some of what he thinks and was like ‘well, that's not bad’. But then he says and does some of the dumbest things I’ve ever heard.”
Either way, it is very important for students to do their research when choosing their presidential candidate.
