The Top Underreported Stories Of 2024

In 2024, President Donald J. Trump became the first president to endure two attempted assassinations in close proximity since Gerald Ford in 1976 -- and the first presidential candidate to be shot on the campaign trail since George Wallace in 1972. At a July 13 rally in the Pittsburgh suburb of Butler, 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks opened fire from a rooftop. 

Since President Trump turned his head at a pivotal moment to look at a chart of illegal immigration figures, the bullet that would have penetrated his skull merely grazed his ear. Another bullet claimed the life of 50-year-old retired fire chief Corey Comperatore. The president would later tell the delegates of the 2024 Republican National Convention, "I stand before you in this arena only by the grace of Almighty God" (before announcing he had raised $6.2 million for the families of Comperatore and others injured in the attack).

The media coverage had nearly died out by September 15, when a second would-be assailant staked out the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, lying in wait with an AK-47. Legacy media interest in the second attempt on the president's life ended long before Election Day. Months later, the average American knows virtually nothing about either assassin.

The media blackout of Trump's would-be killers has to be regarded as voluntary. When the media have the right kind of shooter, they have no problem doing investigative reporting. For instance, the media had no problem promptly identifying UnitedHealth CEO shooter Luigi Mangione's reading list, his Spotify playlist, his favorite Pokemon character, and -- curiously -- many, many shirtless photos exposing his rippling abs. Although police seized a total of 4.5 terabytes of information from Crooks's two cell phones, a laptop, and flash drives, the media have yet to report a detailed history of the man, whose Bethel Park neighbors describe him as a loner.

The media has no excuse for not covering the motives of the second would-be Trump assassin, Ryan Wesley Routh, a 58-year-old with an extensive political and criminal history. Routh's politics require no investigative skills to ascertain: He's a radical left-winger. He internalized the Democrats' campaign theme that Donald Trump would end democracy as we know it and believed Ukraine is the flashpoint for global freedom. 

In a characteristic social media post in April, Routh said Biden's campaign slogan "should be called ... Keep America democratic and free," while Mr. Trump's campaign, he said, should be "make Americans slaves again master. ... DEMOCRACY is on the ballot and we cannot lose. We cannot afford to fail. The world is counting on us to show the way." Unlike every other conflict in human history, the war in Ukraine "is definitely black and white. This is about good versus evil," he claimed.

"He believed the rhetoric of Biden and Harris, and he acted on it," said President Trump of Routh.

Routh had lived at the intersection of politics and violence for some time. Routh traveled to Ukraine and told local authorities he knew of 3,000 al-Qaeda and Syrian rebel soldiers willing to fight for Ukraine. (Other estimates placed this at between 200 and 250 Syrian rebels.) Routh reportedly said he had been authorized to offer these al-Qaeda officers up to $2,000 to $2,500 a month. But at the time, Routh was reportedly telling international mercenaries fighting for Ukraine that he loved Donald Trump. "Every conversation was about Donald Trump. Every conversation was about how he was upset that Biden had won," remembered a man who knew Routh in Ukraine. "He mentioned January 6; he wished he'd been a part of that. It was a new American Revolution."

Ukraine was not the only international conflict Routh seemed intent on deepening. "I want to give Taiwan thousands of economical Nato trained Afghan soldiers to help defend Taiwan," posted Routh on social media. In another message, Routh wrote, "I can supply thousands of Nato trained Afghan soldiers very cheaply" to Haiti.

Adding the remarkable investigative prowess Routh would have needed to ascertain President Trump's whereabouts hours in advance, his appearance at international battle zones, and the fact that Routh entered a guilty plea to possessing a Weapon of Mass Destruction (apparently some kind of homemade explosive) in December 2002 should have sparked curiosity among any reporter worth his salt. 

So should the fact that both assassins came close to killing President Trump after the Secret Service -- which reports to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas -- marked their extremely obvious snipers' dens outside the red zones to be inspected by law enforcement. Yet the legacy media have studiously avoided any investigative reporting about the would-be assassins, their motives, or how such catastrophic security failures could happen twice within 64 days. 

Instead, the media seemed more concerned the near-assassination of President Trump would aid his electoral fortunes. "Will assassination attempt change the way people view Trump?" worried Sarah B. Wire and Zac Anderson of USA Today.

Once the incoming Trump administration has access to (whatever is left of) the Secret Service's files about his two assassination attempts, they must be made public. Americans deserve at least as much extended discussion of the Left's dehumanizing rhetoric about Trump supporters as we got over January 6.

More than any campaign in recent memory, the Democrats purposely built their 2024 presidential campaign on a series of falsehoods, lies, and mis- and disinformation. Some had classic tropes that had passed into left-wing mythology so long ago that the Left could not help repeating them. Take, for instance, the allegation that President Trump called neo-Nazi rioters at Charlottesville's Unite the Right rally "very fine people." The Democrats repeated this canard enough that the seven-year-old fable became the sixth most-searched item on Snopes in 2024. "No, Trump Did Not Call Neo-Nazis and White Supremacists 'Very Fine People,'" the left-leaning, fact-checking website concluded. 

In reality, President Trump condemned "some very bad people" among the group, but added, "you also had people that were very fine people, on both sides." He promptly clarified, "And I'm not talking about the neo-Nazis and the white nationalists, because they should be condemned totally. But you had many people in that group other than neo-Nazis and white nationalists, okay? And the press has treated them absolutely unfairly," because they were "protesting very quietly the taking down of the statue of Robert E. Lee."

Kamala Harris also repeated the claim that President Trump called dead American soldiers in a cemetery in France "suckers and losers." The story, reported originally by The Atlantic, relied on anonymous and second-hand sources. Those who were present for the discussion swore it never took place. "I was there for that discussion," said former Trump adviser John Bolton, a hawkish neoconservative and Never-Trumper who voted for either Dick Cheney or Harris in 2024. "I didn't hear that."

Attempting to stir up threats of violence and mayhem, Harris claimed in the 2024 presidential debate that "Donald Trump the candidate has said in this election there will be a bloodbath if the outcome of this election is not to his liking." On March 16, candidate Trump told a rally near Dayton, Ohio, that he will "put a 100% tariff on every single car that comes across" the border from Mexico. "Now if I don't get elected, it's going to be a bloodbath for the whole" industry, he said.

And so on, and so on. The Harris-Walz campaign did all it could to mainstream misinformation. Yet the legacy media -- which claimed Trump told 30,573 lies as president and accused George W. Bush of telling 955 lies to promote the Iraq war -- could hardly rouse itself to point out Harris's endless string of falsehoods.

Occasionally, a story comes along that suffers a complete blackout from conservative and liberal media outlets. The ways legal immigration has transformed America is one such story.

Right-leaning websites have emphasized the Biden-Harris administration's open borders policies and blatant lawlessness. Yet even the legacy media could not hide the extent of the illegal immigrant tide flooding American communities over the last four years, which repeatedly broke the record for the largest number of illegal border crossings in U.S. history:

2,901,142 illegal border crossings in 2024

3,201,144 in 2023

2,766,582 in 2022

1,956,519 in 2021 (which includes nearly the last four months of the Trump administration)

Taken together, the 10 million illegal immigrants who crossed the U.S. border during the Biden-Harris administration amount to a population larger than 40 of our 50 states. This administration has released the vast majority of illegal immigrants onto U.S. streets without properly vetting them.

The Democratic administration has also increased the number of illegal immigrants exempted from deportation by granting an unprecedented level of Temporary Protected Status (TPS). Although the administration agrees these individuals have come into the United States illegally, the government claims they may "temporarily" stay in the U.S. in legal limbo, since it is too dangerous for them to return to their home countries. The Congressional Research Service recently sketched the extent of TPS under Biden-Harris: "As of the cover date of this report, 17 countries are designated for TPS. 

As of September 30, 2024, approximately 1,095,115 foreign nationals residing in the United States from the following 16 countries were protected by TPS: Afghanistan, Burma, Cameroon, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Haiti, Honduras, Nepal, Nicaragua, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Ukraine, Venezuela, and Yemen." The total number of illegal immigrants granted TPS status rose from 320,000 to 1.1 million -- a 240% increase in four years. Such statistics cast a new light on statements from liberals such as Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), who urged Biden to "complete important work" to keep illegal immigrants from being deported.

But illegal or quasi-illegal immigration is not the only way to "fundamentally transform" the United States. A far less recorded milestone took place in plain sight. During the four years of this Democratic administration, the United States added 3.5 million legal immigrants, the largest number in U.S. history.

The authors of the 1965 Immigration Act insisted it would not materially change the number of legal immigrants coming to the United States, which then numbered approximately 300,000 a year. Newly-elected Senator Ted Kennedy assured jittery senators that "our cities will not be flooded with a million immigrants annually." Hawaii's senator for life, Daniel Inouye, agreed that "the total number of potential immigrants would not be changed very much." But the bill reoriented U.S. immigration away from merit and assimilation toward "family reunification": Anyone with a relative in the United States jumped to the front of the immigration queue. 

As soon as they became citizens, their relatives moved into the on-deck circle. By the first Clinton administration, the number of legal immigrants topped one million a year. If you ever wondered how Rep. Ilhan Omar's (D-Minn.) district became a distant enclave of Somalia, or why Ohio State Representative Ismail Mohamed (D) gave his victory speech in the Somali language, now you know.

New immigrants vote overwhelmingly for the Democratic Party. While never more than 26% of new immigrants vote for Republicans, as much as 67% identify as Democrats, according to the Pew Research Center. Voting is not the only way legal immigrants reshape the U.S. political landscape for American citizens. As this author wrote in The Washington Stand:

"Mass immigration created 14 Democratic congressional districts, while it cost battleground states four districts and eliminated 10 Republican seats, the report found. Including immigrants' children gives Democrats a total of 18 additional congressional districts, while erasing six districts in swing states and 12 Republican seats. By 2030, the immigrant advantage will shower Democrats with a net gain of 10 seats -- or 16, including their children. ...

"The noncitizen impact gives far-Left voices greater reach and power in Congress. Eight of the 10 states that cover abortion-on-demand through Medicaid are sanctuary states, and 83% of America's sanctuary states force taxpayers to cover transgender procedures through Medicaid." 

A century ago, the United States reached a similar crisis point on legal immigration. It passed an immigration law assuring low levels of immigration to allow the vast foreign-born population to assimilate into U.S. culture. Since the number of foreign-born Americans is now 15.6%, the largest in U.S. history, similar solutions must follow.

If the 2024 election gave any clear message, it rejected the agenda of open borders; transgender extremism; and the racist plunder-and-redistribution scheme that goes by the name Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI). In November, Americans rejected Vice President Harris's guidance that, as Americans, "We have to stay woke."

Some believe woke corporate policies have begun to recede behind the will of the people and ruthless, capitalist devotion to the bottom line. After investigator Robby Starbuck exposed Walmart's inner DEI policies, around Thanksgiving, Walmart backtracked. As Suzanne Bowdey wrote at TWS:

"Walmart joins a long list of companies who are publicly rejecting the agenda that's tanked the stocks and profits of unrepentant brands like Bud Light, Nike, and Disney. Sam Walton's stores now join a consumer activist trophy wall that includes Tractor Supply, John Deere, Harley Davidson, Polaris, Indian Motorcycle, Lowe's, Ford, Coors, Black & Decker, Jack Daniels, DeWalt tools, Craftsman, Caterpillar, Boeing, and Toyota. Together, these companies represent an eye-popping $2 trillion dollars in market value."

Since Bowdey's excellent article, American Airlines and Southwest Airlines have agreed to jettison DEI policies, under the gun from anti-racist lawyers. Have activists posing as HR executives genuinely seen the light, or will they merely continue the same policies under different names? Walmart virtually admits the latter, promising to "[s]top the use of DEI as a term while ensuring a respectful and supportive environment."

It may be this is a genuine response to popular pressure. A Gallup poll taken in May showed less than one in four Americans (38%) want businesses to take a stand on political issues. But it appears to come under duress. America First Legal has filed numerous lawsuits and federal complaints accurately stating that DEI policies violate the 1964 Civil Rights Act's prohibition on racial discrimination. 

Now that President-elect Donald Trump has named America First Legal founder Stephen Miller his White House deputy chief of staff for policy, the corporations see the handwriting on the wall. Legal efforts to flush out and prosecute racially discriminatory policies must proceed apace until the scourge of racist college admissions and hiring standards comes to an end and corporations stop peddling sexual deviance to minors. If the second Trump administration has signaled that it will maintain vigilance on this issue, so much the better.

With all due respect for the truth that "politics is downstream of culture," sometimes culture is downstream from politics.

To make matters better, the collapse of woke political regimes appears not to be merely a U.S.-based phenomenon.

When President Trump rode into the White House in 2016, he cemented a worldwide rejection of globalism embodied by that summer's Brexit vote in the United Kingdom. In 2024, he appears to be riding a similar global wave of resurgent patriotism. 

As of this writing, the government of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, the most beloved government figure among the international intelligentsia, appears to be teetering on the brink of collapse. Trudeau's deputy prime minister and finance minister, Chrystia Freeland resigned on December 16. Trudeau, who imposed draconian measures on the nation during the COVID-19 outbreak, faces increasing calls to resign -- calls he is reportedly considering.

The same fate appears to await the Davos crowd's second-favorite global leader, French President Emmanuel Macron, who appointed the fourth prime minister of the year earlier this month. His chief rival, National Rally leader Marine Le Pen, has said she will "prepare for an early presidential election."

To his east, Germany's Social Democratic Party leader Olaf Scholz's left-wing coalition government with the Green Party has collapsed. Scholz, who presided over the first left-leaning government in a generation, appears poised to lose the February 23 election to Friedrich Merz of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). Meanwhile, Elon Musk has endorsed the populist-nationalist Alternative for Germany (AfD), writing, "Only the AfD can save Germany." AfD currently polls in second place at 19%, a showing so strong that the SPD changed the law to prevent AfD from altering the balance of the judicial branch if and when AfD is duly elected.

The tectonic plates beneath the United Kingdom's political structure have also shifted. Brexit leader Nigel Farage's new party, Reform UK, has displaced the Conservative Party as the largest party in the nation. Earlier this month, the party won a local by-election held in St Helens, Liverpool. Elon Musk has also signaled his support for Reform UK, holding out the possibility of financial support after Musk met Farage at Mar-a-Lago.

Despite the winds blowing throughout Europe, the continent's self-appointed leaders remain incapable of reading the signs of the times. The European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) released a report in September titled "Welcome to Barbieland: European sentiment in the year of wars and elections." 

It opposed the EU's "whiteness," denounced patriotic opposition to the EU's globalist agenda from Central Eastern European (CEE) countries, and worried CEE "not only might many people and governments in Central and Eastern Europe feel vindicated, but they may now also claim the right to moral leadership in the EU." The ECFR also felt distressed that "non-white and Muslim people were underrepresented in candidate lists" of political parties.

Eight years ago, the EU found itself unprepared for the Trump-Brexit revolution. Eurocrats have shown that they have learned nothing and forgotten nothing.

One of the most concerning aspects of the Biden-Harris administration's assault on truth is its decision to falsify official statistics, so future generations cannot correct the record. This administration has serially lied about the number of jobs produced, crimes perpetrated, and murders committed during its four years and has begun changing statistics of previous administrations as well.

Careful observers have come to expect the downward revision of the monthly jobs report nearly as regularly as the report itself. "The great American comeback continues," said then-candidate Joe Biden in June, as he touted the previous month's job report. But the May and June jobs report, like nearly all their predecessors, were revised downward. Then the entire previous year followed suit. 

In August, the Bureau of Labor Statistics announced the Biden economy had produced fewer jobs than it had previously reported -- a lot less. The U.S. economy had produced 818,000 fewer jobs between March 2023 and March 2024 than the administration first announced. The revision, the largest since 2009, is five times as large as the typical revision of 0.1%. When asked about the massive discrepancy, Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo asked viewers to discount the evidence in front of their own eyes. "I don't believe it," said Raimondo. "I'm not familiar with that." 

As ill as these statistics bode for the economy, worse consequences take place when the government changes crime stats. Last year, the FBI reported that crime had decreased nationally by 1.7%, but it later confessed that crime in fact rose by 4.5% -- a difference of 6.2%. "The FBI's recent failures to report accurate data draws into question the veracity of the recently released 2023 Crime in the Nation report, which estimated a 3 percent drop in national violent crime," said Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.), chairman of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee. "Vice President Harris has touted the 2023 data too, and the media has used it to dispel Americans' real concerns about crime."

The Biden-Harris administration's errors and disinformation extend to the worst of all crimes: murder. Jim Agresti of Just Facts Daily noted a growing divergence between the officially reported number of murders and the number of death certificates that list homicide as the cause of death. The number swelled from just 16 in 2003 to an average of 3,711 every year of the Biden-Harris administration. 

In addition to revising the Biden-Harris administration's murder totals downward, the administration has raised the number of murders under previous Republican administrations. "In 2023, however, the FBI revised its murder data from every prior year back to 2003. While the changes in some years were minimal, others were substantial. For example, the FBI altered its murder estimate for 2003 from 16,528 to 17,716, an increase of 1,188, or 7%," reported Agresti. This year, the FBI reduced the number of murders committed in 2021 -- the first year of the Biden administration and also the year of the BLM/George Floyd riots -- by 5%.

These are official statistics, painting a false picture with government data to conceal the peaceful nature of previous Republican administrations and the rampant crime and lawlessness of the Biden-Harris era.

This underreported story of 2024 may have received little media coverage, because it has become the new norm. Seemingly every year, the number of babies born in the United States decreases to unprecedented levels. This year, the CDC announced that the U.S. birthrate cratered to a new historic low of 1.62 in 2022.

Low population rates cause a host of problems -- from reducing economic activity, to straining social welfare programs, even to promoting the spread of COVID-19. The baby bust is not evenly distributed nationwide. "Republican states (those that Trump won in 2020) generally have markedly higher fertility rates than Democratic ones (those that Biden won), suggesting that more men and women feel confident about starting and raising families in red states than blue ones," concluded a study by the Institute for Family Studies (IFS) titled "Where Are the Babies? In Red States, Fertility Rates Are Higher."

But politics provide no silver bullet answer to increasing fertility. The birthrate rises in conservative states because of the culture that brings right-leaning governments into power: a culture of family, eternal values, and faith -- traditional Christian faith, which commands its adherents to be fruitful and multiply, induces them to place the well-being of others ahead of their immediate gratification, and assures them a Higher Source will use all the power at His disposal to nourish and guide their children and grandchildren for a thousand generations to come.

Originally published at The Washington Stand