Donald Trump is surrounded by U.S. Secret Service agents after an assassination attempt at a campaign rally July 13 in Butler.
When it comes to politics, 2024 was an insane year. So much so that your faithful columnist has conjured up a list of the Top 5 Most Astonishing Political Moments of 2024. Here we go:
Number 5 is President Joe Biden’s shocking appearance at the presidential debate. Pretty much any semi-observant, rational-thinking American had noticed in the months prior to the June 27 debate that Biden was exhibiting stark signs of cognitive decline. In February, Special Counsel Robert Hur had sparked an uproar with his Department of Justice report describing the president as an “elderly man with a poor memory” and “diminished faculties.” In subsequent weeks, that decline became obvious to everyone, especially with Biden’s Europe trip. Videos emerged of Biden walking off aimlessly.
These images were scoffed at by White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre and Vice President Kamala Harris. We were told the videos were being manipulated by the Republican National Committee. But then came that moment during the CNN debate in Atlanta. Biden looked awful from the moment he shuffled toward the podium, almost catatonic at times.
Donald Trump surged in the polls. Democrats panicked, urging Biden to step down.
That brings me to the fourth most astonishing political moment of 2024: The July 21 White House announcement that Biden was withdrawing from the race. Sure, by then, no one should have been surprised. However, Harris and others had rallied around Biden, insisting he was vigorous, alert and fired up to crush Trump in November. Maybe the old man might hang in there after all? No.
That brings me to No. 3, where I’ve created a tie with two related events, namely Democrats abandoning Biden and blindly going to Harris as the nominee, and then Harris stupidly picking Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz over Gov. Josh Shapiro as her running mate.
In an outrageously undemocratic Democratic National Convention, the party without even a debate gifted Harris with all of Biden’s primary votes. It thereby anointed its most unlikable figure since Hillary Clinton as the nominee. The only move dumber than that was Harris choosing — in Philadelphia, no less — Walz over popular governor Shapiro.
Harris didn’t need Minnesota’s Electoral College votes. She needed Pennsylvania’s. She didn’t get them. Donald Trump did.
That brings me to the second most astonishing political event of the year: Donald Trump becoming the first president to be defeated and reelected since Grover Cleveland.
Four years ago, Trump felt he lost the 2020 election because of voter fraud. The best way to reverse a loss is not by charging fraud but by regrouping and winning outright four years later. That’s what Trump did. It was an extraordinary thing. And how does that not top my list? Here’s how:
No. 1: The Butler shooting. More stunning than the image of Trump standing on a stage in Florida declaring victory after the Nov. 5 vote was the image of him on a stage July 13 nearly taking a bullet to the skull.
I watched it live. I never thought I’d see something like that, especially in my home state and hometown. It was a moment more astonishing than Trump winning the presidency. In a crazy political year, that event tops them all.
Here’s hoping that 2025 is less insane.
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