US Election 2024: 9 extraordinary moments from 'most controversial campaign in history'

Kamala Harris and Donald Trump are neck-and-neck in the race to win the keys to the White House with both the Democrats and Republicans having reasons to feel that victory is within their grasp

This year's Presidential Election campaign has been unlike any other in modern history with both the Republican and Democratic camps being rocked by extraordinary moments that have blown the race wide open.

Vice President Kamala Harris and former president Donald Trump are locked in a dead heat to secure a path to 270 Electoral College votes, which in turn will grant them the keys to the White House. Democrat Harris was not the party's first choice to take on Republican Trump but following a disastrous debate performance for incumbent Joe Biden she quickly stepped up to the challenge.

While the Trump campaign was rocked by Harris' entrance into the race, he has gained momentum and is now pushing or even leading Harris in some key swing states. Fears over his safety on the campaign trail with an attempted assassination during a July rally near Butler, Pennsylvania.

The assassination attempt left Trump with a scar on his right ear and was a clear stand-out moment of the campaign, although not in the way most people hoping for a competitive, but stable campaign were wanting. Dr Thomas Gift, the founding director of the Centre on US Politics at University College London, told The Mirror what moments of the campaign most stood out to him.

"Joe Biden dropping out and endorsing Kamala Harris was the most pivotal turning point in the election season.," he said. "On the heels of Donald Trump’s first assassination attempt, it completely changed the narrative about whether the Democratic ticket could win.

"Suddenly, the media story became all about Harris being poised to be the first woman, and woman of colour, to become president. Her honeymoon lasted until just recently, reshaping the public’s focus around the ’24 election and turning the race into a razor-thin contest."

Here are the nine extraordinary moments from the 2024 Presidential Election Campaign.

Trump guilty

Trump became the first former US president to have been convicted of a crime, marking a dramatic turn in the early stage of the race for the White House. The Republican was convicted of 34 counts of falsifying business records after a Manhattan jury deliberated for less than 12 hours in May.

He had been accused of paying adult film star Stormy Daniels $130,000 (£102,245) for her silence about an affair with the businessman. Prosecutors proved to the jury that Trump falsified records when he repaid his former lawyer Michael Cohen for the payment to Daniels.

Despite the guilty verdict, Trump maintained support within his party and would go on to comfortably secure the Republican nomination in the summer. His supporters, such as Republican Speaker of the House of Representatives Mike Johnson said the justice system had been "weaponised" against the former president.

Debate disaster

Concerns regarding Biden's fitness for a second term became impossible to ignore during a bumbling debate against Trump in June. While the full impact of the debate will only be known following the outcome of the election, it would prove to be a major moment of the campaign.

Biden, 81, claimed he had come down with a cold, although detractors viewed it as an excuse attempting to distract from his poor performance. Several times in the debate Biden lost his train of thought with Trump delivering a killer blow to his presidential ambitions for 2025 and beyond.

I really don't know what he said at the end of that sentence, and I don't think he did either," Trump said after one of Biden's responses. The former president's statement resonated with many viewers and would lead to an unprecedented moment in modern American political history.

Assassination attempt

The heated presidential campaign took a dark turn on July 21 when Trump was nearly killed in an assassination attempt during a rally near Butler, Pennsylvania. Shooter Thomas Matthew Crooks opened fire into the bustling crowd with Trump being left bloodied and volunteer fire chief and Trump supporter Corey Comperatore being killed.

The Secret Service came under intense scrutiny following the assassination attempt and was widely seen as its biggest failure since the attempted assassination of Ronald Reagan in 1981.

The attempted assassination produced what is arguably considered the defining picture of the campaign. With blood streaming down his body, Trump raised a fist up in the air to signal he was alive to his supporters - the move resulted in massive applause from the crowd.

Bye Biden

The writing was on the wall for Biden and it was clear he would not continue as the Democratic candidate for much longer following the June debate with Trump. Biden finally caved to mounting pressure within his own party and confirmed his exit from the presidential race in July.

He stated it was the "right thing to do" and time was bought for his Vice President to gather support to become the Democratic presidential nominee. Biden said in a statement: "It has been the greatest honour of my life to serve as your President.

"And while it has been my intention to seek re-election, I believe it is in the best interest of my party and the country for me to stand down and focus solely on fulfilling my duties as President for the remainder of my term."

Enter Kamala

With no time to loose, the Democrats needed to find a candidate to quickly replace Biden and found one in Vice President Harris. While some in the party wanted an open contest, Harris easily secured the nomination.

She is now the Democrats second presidential candidate to take on Trump, the first being Hilary Clinton. Should Harris win the election she would become the first woman President and the first Commander-in-Chief of Black and Indian background.

Harris went on to run a stable campaign with few hiccups from the Vice President. She has contrasted her vision of America with Trump's by pushing against what Democrats view as divisive rhetoric.

Debate Do-over

With Harris now the official nominee for the Democrats, the stage was set or another show down with Trump on the debate stage. In almost a complete reversal of fortunes, Harris was widely viewed to have bested Trump.

She dented the former president's ego when she alleged his supporters were left "bored and exhausted" at his recent rallies. Trump hit back on the issue of his crowds, losing precious time to outline his policies and tackle Harris' record as Vice President.

Questions were raised over Trump's responses to several issues, including abortion rights. He claimed babies could be aborted after being born, a claim the moderators swiftly refuted.

Second Scare

Trump escaped unharmed following a second assassination attempt after a man with a rifle managed to get close to the Republican. Ryan Wesley was arrested and charged with an attempt on Trump's life.

The former president was just minutes away from lining up with the Routh's line of sight in West Palm Beach, Florida, prosecutors argued. A Secret Service against saw the barrel of a rifle move and opened fire.

Routh was arrested after he allegedly fled the area.

Racist jokes

Trump wanted his rally at New York's Madison Square Garden to outline his policies and excite voters ahead of November 5. Instead all everyone was talking about were controversial jokes made by comedian Tony Hinchcliffe.

In a shocking slur, Hinchcliffe referred to the US territory of Puerto Rico as a "floating island of garbage." Addressing the pumped up crowd, Hinchcliffe, known as Kill Tony, said: "There’s a lot going on. I don’t know if you know this but there’s literally a floating island of garbage in the middle of the ocean right now. I think it’s called Puerto Rico."

A Trump adviser distanced The Apprentice star from the comment, which was also denounced by Trump's Democratic rival, Harris. He went on to make racist jokes about Black people which was also met with controversy.

Neck-and-neck

The overall picture of the 2024 Presidential Election campaign has been how close it has been since Harris entered the race. Despite taking a lead early into her campaign Trump has managed to close the gap.

Polls show no clear leader in key swing states, making November 5 one of the tightest elections in modern American history. Harris does lead Trump in some states but the former president has supplanted Harris in some others won by Biden in 2020.

The election is a dead heat with pundits believing it could go either way. The outcome might not be known for a couple of days following the election depending on how tight the race turns out to be.