By Mary Kifarkis and Keelyn Hayes
@redlineproject
Kamala Harris vs. Donald Trump
Election years in America are always full of surprises and twists and turns. For many this election year has been especially interesting because it has been the most surprising one in years.
This election year started between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump. Here is the surprise, Biden decided that he did not want to seek re-election and he endorsed his current Vice President Kamala Harris. In this 2024 election year the presidential candidates are current Vice President Harris and former President Donald
Trump. According to an analysis of Google search data, for the most part of the election year, minus a couple of months, Trump has been attracting more interest than Harris.
For the first half of 2024 Trump was dealing with a few things like his trial, campaign, and his attempted assassination it makes sense that he was more interesting than Harris. Although after her acceptance of the endorsement from Biden, Harris has been attracting more attention than Trump.
According to an analysis of Google search data, one of the spikes in interest in Vice President Haris was the week of July 21–27, 2024. During this week, Harris received and accepted an endorsement to be the Democratic nominee from Biden. Given this context we can understand why interest in Haris was at 100% and continued to be more than Trump.
According to an analysis of Google search data, another spike in interest in Harris was the week of August 18–24, 2024. During this week, Harris was in Chicago for the Democratic National Convention after campaigning across Pennsylvania with her running mate, who is Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz. Given this context we can see why interest in Harris attracted more search interest than Trump. — Mary Kifarkis
Flashback: Donald Trump vs. Joe Biden in 2020
During election years, suddenly the most-searched people in America are the presidential candidates, other than Taylor Swift of course. In 2020, then-Presiden Donald Trump and Joe Biden were in a tight race — in search and at the ballot box.
According to an analysis of Google search data, Trump had slightly more web search interest than former Vice President Biden.
Given that Trump was the president at the time and that he was seeking reelection it makes sense that he was more likely to be searched than Biden. Although there were times during this election year that Biden attracted more interest than Trump.
According the analysis, one of the times that Biden attracted more interest than Trump was March 1–7 , 2020. During this week Biden pulled off the biggest, fastest, and most unexpected comeback in political history by dominating Super Tuesday. Given this context, we can understand why Biden attracted more search interest than Trump.
The analysis also shows that the other time Biden attracted more interest than Trump was Nov. 1–7, 2020. During this week Trump was the first president since George H.W. Bush to lose reelection, making him a one-term president. — Mary Kifarkis
Vice President: Tim Walz vs. J.D. Vance
View Interactive chart
As we get closer to the election searches for the vice presidential candidates arise: Republican nominee J.D. Vance and Democratic nominee Tim Walz. According to an analysis of Google search data, the chart above shows surges for both candidates from Oct. 13 to 14, a pattern that has existed since Walz was nominated. — Keelyn Hayes