While prominent figures like Elon Musk, who is on track to become the world's first trillionaire, support former President Donald Trump and music icons like Beyoncé, Taylor Swift, Eminem and Bruce Springsteen support Vice President Kamala Harris, the upcoming ones Presidential elections on November 5th are closely contested, although it is said to be a dead heat as both candidates are neck and neck in CNN opinion polls.
So who becomes the next occupant of the White House starting January 20, 2025 will largely be determined by those at the top of hardcore business and show business, as described above.

For this reason, for those of us who look at it from the outside, the American presidential race remains a source of fascination, a labyrinth and even a mystery, as there is constant drama with unique political twists that arise from gaffes and other idiosyncrasies of the candidates or their candidates result in allies.

For example, as the anniversary of the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel approached, synagogues in New York City were threatened. There were bomb threats against schools in Springfield, Ohio, earlier this year after Trump warned that Haitian immigrants were allegedly hurting pets in the area. Just as misstatement on other hot-button issues by leaders on both sides of the campaign, be they Trump or Harris supporters, causes the needle to rise and fall in their popularity barometer.

In particular, there were two assassination attempts on Republican candidate Donald Trump. The first case occurred in Butler, Pennsylvania, where he was shot and narrowly escaped, with a bullet grazing his earlobe. The second attempt was foiled when a Secret Service agent intercepted a person hiding in the bushes near Trump's golf course in Palm Beach during a game.

Also surprising to most observers, incumbent President Joe Biden withdrew from pursuing his mandatory chance for a second term in the middle of the race and handed the ticket to Vice President Harris, who did not fight for the ticket in the party's primaries as was usual . That's not all the intrigue.

While the Democratic National Committee (DNC) linked the bomb threats at Ohio state schools to Trump's comments about Haitian immigrants, it has not admitted that his portrayal of Trump as a threat to democracy may have contributed to the assassination attempts on his life.

This reveals the double standards that often prevail in politics, both in established democracies such as the United States and in developing countries on the African continent such as Nigeria, South Africa, Ghana, Kenya and Egypt, where violence before and after elections often dominates political life. In comparison, the dire political situation unfolding around the world appears to be even worse in Venezuela and Haiti, countries close to the United States that are considered global models of democracy; but where democratic values ​​and institutions have apparently been severely undermined in the course of the campaign for the 2024 presidential election.

In Haiti, for example, a weakened presidency has given way to militia-led, brutal governance. Meanwhile, in Venezuela, the incumbent president claimed victory in a disputed election without announcing the results. Compared to the political challenges in the United States, these examples illustrate the general decline in democratic standards, even in a country as influential as the United States, which prides itself as a bastion of democracy.

It is worth considering that the current threats to democracy may not just be related to the DNC's portrayal that Trump's refusal to accept the 2020 election results, which led to the incident on Capitol Hill during the certification process, is a danger. Instead, the real threat to democracy may be seen in the ruling party's actions aimed at barring Trump and Robert Kennedy Jr. (who left the DNC to run as an independent) from voting in the 2024 election – a strategy which some call a “kitchen sink” approach.

It is notable that Mr. Trump and the Republican National Committee (RNC), despite numerous legal challenges and despite surviving an assassination attempt, are neck and neck with the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and its nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris, as reflected in recent CNN reports. Polls that tend to favor the DNC and Harris.

This situation contrasts with the stance of the Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times, both of which, for the first time in a long time, have chosen not to endorse a candidate, citing a desire to maintain their independence and provide readers with the opportunity give them the opportunity to make their own decisions. In the case of Washington, it is a decision that has provoked a backlash, as critics attribute the lack of support for any of the candidates to the owner Jeff Bezos' inclination not to take risks that would have negative consequences for him and his e-commerce business empire. Giant Amazon.

Amazingly, such paramount politics, thought in the past to reside only in the realm of Third World politics, is manifesting itself in the United States, considered the bastion of world democracy.

Notably, this is the first time since 1986 that The Washington Post has not endorsed a candidate. Most recently, she refused to support then-presidential candidate Jimmy Carter. The publication's explanation that its decision was aimed at preserving readers' autonomy in choosing their candidate did not ease the fears of its critics.
To be continued tomorrow.
Onyibe, an entrepreneur, public policy analyst and author, wrote from Lagos. He can be reached at:www.magnum.ng