6 key Democrat mistakes that helped Donald Trump win US election - from Biden to celeb overload

Donald Trump was elected the 47th US President in an historic comeback.

The Republican politician refused to accept his defeat in 2020, which sparked the January 6 riots and insurrection at the US Capitol in DC. But he returns to the White House after a chaotic and aggressive election campaign that saw him survive two assassination attempts.

The post mortem has now begun into Democrat Kamala Harris's devastating defeat. The presidential race had at times felt on a knife's edge but in the end Mr Trump stormed to victory, winning key battleground states within hours.

Millions of Americans chose Donald Trump over Kamala Harris despite him having been convicted of felony. The 78-year-old was found guilty of falsifying business records, making him the first former president in US history to be criminally convicted. And he has been embroiled in four other criminal cases, including in relation to accusations he illegally conspired to overturn his 2020 election defeat.

Here The Mirror takes a look at some of the Democrats' key mistakes that helped Mr Trump win.

Democrats' dithering

The Democrats' dithering over whether to keep Joe Biden as their presidential candidate - or even that he was near the 2024 race in the first place - is perhaps seen as one of the most fundamental mistakes the party made. Many look back and wonder if Mr Biden had stepped aside earlier whether the party would have taken the time to select a different candidate to replace him. There also would have been more time to build up the profile of any new candidate so that they were more recognisable to the American people.

Kamala Harris was widely considered an underwhelming Vice President. But because of the Democrats' sluggish approach, it was too late to find another option by the time it became apparent that Mr Biden had no choice but to stand aside. She was officially made the Democrats' nominee on August 2, after confidence in Biden spiralled following his disastrous debate night with Mr Trump in July.

During the campaign, Ms Harris was criticised for her "word salads" and lack of charisma on stage. She received a popularity bump when her campaign channelled Charlie XCX's "Brat" aesthetic and trends on its social media.

Some have questioned whether Ms Harris should have made her identity a bigger part of her campaign. Hilary Clinton made the fact she would have been elected as the first ever female US President a central point of her campaign, yet Ms Harris barely gave it a mention that she would be making history if she was to win.

The Biden baggage

Kamala Harris struggled to shake off the baggage of Joe Biden's time in office, considering she has served as his Vice President.

Her entry into the race handed the flagging Democratic campaign a boost but once the honeymoon period ended, ongoing resentments about Mr Biden's record resurfaced. Strategists failed to hammer out a line that sounded credible to voters who were fed up with the incumbent.

In October, Ms Harris appeared on The View, a daytime chat show, where she struggled to answer what she would have done differently to President Biden. She replied: “There is not a thing that comes to mind. I’ve been a part of most of the decisions that have had impact.”

But American families are feeling the bite of the struggling US economy, with 45% of voters nationwide saying their financial situation is worse today than four years ago. The Trump campaign seized on Ms Harris's comment and ran TV adverts in battleground states, saying: “A flood of illegals. Skyrocketing prices. Global chaos. And Kamala wouldn’t change a thing.” President Biden also proved himself a liability by appearing to brand Trump supporters "garbage" following a row over a joke made by a comedian at a Trump rally, who said Puerto Rico was “a floating island of garbage”.

Stance on Israel

Mr Biden's handling of the war in Gaza has been a point of focus during the election campaign. The US is key ally of Israel and supplies it with weapons on mass. The Biden administration has failed - or been too slow - to discourage Israeli escalations and it has been considered a strategic failure that it couldn't stop Israel from expanding its war into Lebanon. It has led to large groups of Muslim and Arab Americans feeling alienated - and they have historically been a key group to the Democrats' success.

As mentioned, Ms Harris struggled to separate herself from Mr Biden. The American public ultimately knows her for being Vice President in his government.

Ms Harris appeared to try to distance herself when it became apparent she was coming to be the Democrats' nominee. She told Israel's PM Benjamin Netanyahu that she had "serious concerns" about casualties in Gaza when he visited the White House at the end of July. In August she made clear she supported "Israel's right to defend itself" but veered further away from Mr Biden's administrations when she spoke about the "heartbreaking" suffering in Gaze.

Mr Trump has been a staunch supporter of Israel. The country's PM Benjamin Netanyahu swiftly branded his return to the White House “history’s greatest comeback”.

The issue had been a dividing issue during the campaign. Al Jazeera identified targeted disinformation ads paid for and produced by a shadowy Republican-linked political action committee (PAC) that sought to show Ms Harris as pro-Israel in areas with a large Arab American presence and as pro-Palestine in towns with Jewish communities.

Immigration strategy

Donald Trump doubled down on his draconian stance on immigration after promising to build a "big, beautiful wall" between the US and Mexico in his last time in office. This time around, he's promised to stage the “largest deportation operation in American history”, leading to chants at his rallies of “Mass deportations now!”

His commitments are as crazy as they are cruel - but the stance exposed a weakness in Democratic strategy on how to deal with disquiet over immigration from some voters. Poorer communities have typically seen a greater influx of migrants, triggering concerns about jobs and resources.

Celebrity overload

The Democrat's campaign was backed by a glittering array of stars, from Beyoncé and Lady Gaga to George Clooney and Taylor Swift.

A bitter Donald Trump said "We don’t need a star because we have policy," after failing to attract A-list backers. But the contrast may have helped fuel Mr Trump's perceived outsider status, a maverick railing against the establishment.

He was also able to win support from working class voters, particularly white men, who felt they had become worse off under Joe Biden's White House.

The Teamsters union, which represents 1.3million transportation workers, declined to endorse a candidate in September - despite backing the Democrats in every election since 2000. The union also released polling data which showed its members preferred Trump (59.6%) to Harris.

'Get s*** done'

Ms Harris's decision to make Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as her vice presidential running mate. Many onlookers questioned whether she would have been better off choosing Josh Shapiro, the man who beat a Trump loyalist to become governor of Pennsylvania.

Pennsylvania was a key swing state Ms Harris needed to win. Mr Biden won it for the Democrats in 2020 but it has now flipped back to Republican by Mr Trump. It is now a wonder whether the moderate politician Mr Shapiro - whose slogan is "Get S*** Done" - may have helped keep more right-wingers on the Democrats' side, in both the key state but across the country.

Meanwhile Mr Walz failed to make a significant impression - especially compared to the bullish JD Vance, who was picked as Mr Trump's running mate. Mr Walz's debate performance against Mr Vance early October was considered lacklustre, with him starting the debate appearing a bit nervy and unsure.