The top 5 political stories of 2024: A recap.

Politics in 2024 was nothing short of unprecedented.

Planet Chronicle Digital reviews the top political news stories that shook Washington, D.C., in the past year.

At the 11th hour, Biden withdrew from the presidential race due to growing criticism of his mental abilities.

President Biden began the year by gearing up for a re-election campaign against former President Donald Trump, who was elected as the President-elect.

In February, Biden's mental acuity and age came under scrutiny after years of conservatives questioning his fitness as commander-in-chief. Special counsel Robert Hur, who was investigating Biden's alleged mishandling of classified documents as vice president, announced he would not recommend criminal charges against Biden for possessing classified materials after his vice presidency, calling Biden "a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory."

In June, after the president's first and only presidential debate against Trump, the report's scrutiny of Biden's mental acuity intensified.

Biden faced criticism for several mistakes and blunders in the days before his debate with Trump, including Obama pulling him aside at a fundraiser and Meloni leading him back to the group during the G-7 summit.

On the day of the big debate, Biden frequently stumbled over his words and seemed to lose focus as he faced off against Trump. This poor performance resulted in a wave of criticism from both conservatives and traditional Democrat supporters, urging Biden to step down from the race and make way for a younger candidate.

For weeks, the White House staunchly maintained that Biden would not withdraw from the race, with his communications team and campaign actively refuting rumors and conjecture.

On Sunday afternoon, July 21, Biden tweeted that he would exit the presidential race.

Kamala Harris ‘installed’ as Democrat presidential nominee

Biden publicly supported Harris to continue his campaign after withdrawing from the race in a post on X, which was previously Twitter.

For the first time in history, a major political party's presumptive nominee withdrew from the election after winning primaries, with only about 100 days remaining before November 5th.

Harris's campaign was launched with support from staffers from Obama and Biden's campaigns, as well as a few holdovers from Biden's campaign.

Despite not running in the primaries, Harris was nominated by the party, which led some to question the fairness of the process. High-profile Democrats, including the Obamas and Clintons, supported Harris' nomination, while Pelosi argued that the process was open and fair.

"Black Lives Matter declared over the summer that we do not live in a dictatorship. The group also stated that delegates are not oligarchs and that installing Kamala Harris as the Democratic nominee and an unknown vice president without any public voting process would make the modern Democratic Party a party of hypocrites."

Harris withdrew her presidential campaign in December 2019, two months before the 2020 Iowa caucuses.

Trump assassination attempts

In July and September, two assassination attempts were made against Trump before he was elected president, causing shock among voters and disrupting the election process.

On July 13, at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, Trump was supposed to hold a crucial swing state event. However, gunfire interrupted the event.

During the rally, Trump appeared to fall to the ground, sustaining an injury to his ear, before quickly getting back up, with Secret Service agents present.

Trump shouted "Fight, fight, fight" with a raised fist as he was escorted off the stage.

Corey Comperatore, a man, sacrificed his life to safeguard his family during an attack, while two others were severely harmed.

A Secret Service sniper shot and killed Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, who was attempting to assassinate someone.

The attack occurred just before the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee. Despite initial speculation that the RNC would be disrupted by the attempt, Trump appeared with a bandage on his right ear throughout the week before formally accepting the nomination in a speech.

If I had not moved my head at the last second, the assassin's bullet would have hit its target and I would not be here tonight. We would not be together, Trump said in his acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention.

"Despite bullets flying overhead, I remained calm. However, the Secret Service agents were putting themselves in danger. They were in a highly dangerous area. Suddenly, bullets began to miss them by a small margin. Then, our Secret Service sniper, from a greater distance and with only one bullet, eliminated the assassin."

On Sept. 15, while golfing at his Trump International Golf Club in Florida, Trump faced an assassination attempt.

On Sunday afternoon, the 45th president was safely escorted from the green at his golf club in West Palm Beach after a suspect allegedly pointed a rifle at him just outside the perimeter of the club. The suspect, Ryan Routh, fled the scene but was later apprehended on I-95.

Allegedly, Routh hid in the bushes near Trump's golf course for 12 hours prior to the assassination attempt on the former president.

Routh has pleaded not guilty to charges of attempting to assassinate a presidential candidate and assaulting a federal officer. His attorneys are reportedly considering an insanity defense as court proceedings continue.

Trump's conviction and political ‘comeback’

Trump faced criminal charges and legal cases while juggling his re-election campaign, including a trial in the New York v. Trump case.

In May, Trump was convicted of 34 counts of falsifying business records in Manhattan, with Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office proving that Trump falsified records to hide a $130,000 payment to Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election to suppress her claims of an affair with Trump in 2006.

Trump and legal experts condemned the guilty verdict in the case as an instance of "lawfare" promoted by Democrats to harm his election prospects in November.

Trump persevered with his election campaign, despite the guilty verdict, and ultimately triumphed over Harris in the polls, achieving a remarkable political comeback.

As Election Day approached, the polls were close and both Trump and Harris focused on securing votes in crucial battleground states, particularly Pennsylvania. It was anticipated that the final election results would not be available for several days, reminiscent of the 2020 election cycle held during the pandemic. However, Trump's victory was declared decisively on election night.

After Planet Chronicle projected him as the winner in Pennsylvania, Georgia, North Carolina, and Wisconsin, Trump took the stage to accept victory. He ultimately received 312 electoral votes, surpassing Harris' 226 and winning the popular vote.

I will fight for every citizen, their family, and their future every single day until we deliver a strong, safe, and prosperous America for our children. This victory for the American people will allow us to make America great again.

Anti-Israel protests erupt on college campuses

In the previous academic year, college campuses across the country were inundated with agitators and protesters who demonstrated against the war in Israel, resulting in an increase in antisemitism and Jewish students expressing their discomfort on certain campuses.

In New York City, radicals at Columbia University seized control of Hamilton Hall, while schools such as UCLA, Harvard, and Yale worked to disperse spiraling student encampments where protesters demanded their elite schools completely divest from Israel.

On Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas launched a war in Israel, resulting in an increase of antisemitism on campuses through protests, graffiti, and students feeling unsafe. Jewish students at some schools, including Columbia, were advised to leave campus for their own safety.

In May, Planet Chronicle Digital exclusively reported that anti-Israel radicals were circulating guides on Penn's campus that instructed agitators on how to break into buildings, escalate protests, create weapons, and administer first aid.

"To achieve greater resistance, let repression be the catalyst. We will not disavow any actions taken to intensify the struggle, including militant direct actions. Our concept of 'safety' in the imperial core is rooted in centuries of violence, and this liberal framing of 'safetyism' hinders our ability to escalate and succeed, which is our duty to Palestine and all. We maintain safety by escalating. Don't hesitate to take more risks," the guide titled "FLOOD THE GATES: ESCALATE" advised.

The issue of college protests and war in Israel has been a significant point of contention during the presidential race, with Republicans frequently criticizing antisemitism on college campuses and advocating for the restoration of peace in colleges.

Lawmakers interrogated college administrators from prestigious universities such as UCLA, Rutgers, and Northwestern about their management of antisemitism on campus. Meanwhile, Trump threatened to revoke accreditation from school leaders if they failed to control antisemitism.