I hope you have read my article about how to talk to kids about the 2024 presidential election. That article focuses on how to explain the election process to your kids.

In this article, I will delve into some of the current topics and controversies surrounding the 2024 election to help you find factual information, both to understand it yourself as well as to guide your children’s understanding. I have worked hard to choose resources that I believe to be accurate.

You know your children best. Some of the sources I’ve included here have difficult themes. Please screen them yourself before sharing with younger children.

I plan to keep this article updated, so pin it so you can come back in a few weeks.

Before we get started, here’s a dumb picture of an all-American cat to help you relax.

Important Reminder About Media Bias

I think by now we all realize that the media is quite biased. I’ve got a fantastic chart for you to help you keep track of which media outlets are biased in which direction. Take a look to familiarize yourself with it a bit, and you can refer back later:

I’ve tried my best to keep my sources as unbiased as possible, and noted it when I chose a more left or right-leaning source. Some issues are only covered by one side (hence the bias of the other side) so I was unable to find another source. I am confident that what I’ve posted here is factual. Please comment below if you suggest any changes or have more ideas for me to include.

Biden’s Withdrawal of His Bid for Reelection

On July 21, 2024, Joe Biden announced that he was no longer seeking reelection as president in the 2024 election. Click here to read the letter announcing his withdrawal.

Here is an article that explains why he dropped out.

Highlights of the Republican National Convention

In July 2024, the Republicans held their national convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. There were many speeches given in support of Donald Trump including politicians, journalists, business leaders, and everyday Americans. The everyday Americans gave some of the best speeches, in my opinion. Here are a few I think you should watch:

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Who is JD Vance?

JD Vance is Donald Trump’s choice for Vice President of the United States. Who is he?

He has been in the public awareness since the publication of his memoir, Hillbilly Elegy, in 2016. The book tells his story of growing up poor in middle America. The popularity of his book brought him to the public eye, and he became a senator for Ohio in 2022.

His candidacy highlights an important change in the focus of the Republican party. Rather than focusing on the interests of corporations and the rich, Republicans have pivoted to prioritizing the needs of working-class Americans.

I watched his entire half-an-hour speech at the RNC. Here is the section in which he outlines what he and Trump intend to do if elected:

Donald Trump Assassination Attempt

On July 13, Donald Trump was shot by a would-be assassin during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. Here is a timeline of the event.

And here’s a silly picture of patriotic cats because we all need a break from this stressful topic.

Project 2025

Recently there has been a lot of concern expressed about something called “Project 2025.” I have seen numerous social media posts and YouTube videos sounding the alarms about Project 2025. These sources claim that Project 2025 is the agenda that Trump plans to implement if he wins. But is that true? And what is Project 2025?

Project 2025 was created by The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank. The Heritage Foundation says that its mission is “to formulate and promote public policies based on the principles of free enterprise, limited government, individual freedom, traditional American values, and a strong national defense.” Their website also says that they strive to put power back in the hands of the people rather than the government.

Many conservative groups have signed onto Project 2025 and are helping to support it. According to the Project 2025 website, it is an attempt for “conservatives to start undoing the damage the Left has wrought and build a better country for all Americans in 2025.”

I think it’s important to note that many of the ideas expressed in the documents that explain Project 2025 are basic conservative ideas. I’ve heard it described on social media and also in the mainstream media as “radical conservative ideology.” Those words are prejudicial, implying that it’s somehow scary. The reality is that about half of Americans are conservatives, and most of those people would probably agree with much of what it says.

So the other important question is whether Trump plans to implement Project 2025. Trump has stated that Project 2025 is not his plan (which it isn’t) and that he finds parts of it good and parts of it ridiculous. Some have argued that there are people who helped to write Project 2025 that were in his administration. I think that that doesn’t prove anything and isn’t surprising at all, as political movers and shakers tend to travel between political positions, media roles, and think tanks as if there is a revolving door that connects them all. Of course some of the people who worked for Trump are in a conservative think tank, and of course some of them may end of working for his administration again. But that does not NECESSARILY mean that they will get their way.

The plan he has created is called Agenda 47. Click on the link to read it for yourself.

This video does a good job of explaining some of the overlap and differences between Project 2025 and Trump’s Agenda 47:

Vox, a left-leaning news outlet, published an article explaining how Project 2025 does and does not relate to Trump and does a somewhat in-depth description of what is and is not in the document. While I found their writing somewhat biased, I think it is worth reading.

Who is Kamala Harris?

After Joe Biden decided to step down from the election in July 2024, his vice president, Kamala Harris, became the new nominee for the democratic party.

She is a politician from California, and I had already known a bit about her since she is from the San Francisco Bay Area, which is where I live.

Presidential Debate Between Trump and Harris in September

Here is the full debate in case you haven’t had a chance to see it. I watched it with my teenagers, and frankly, it was a bit of a painful experience.

After the debate, the majority of Americans felt that Harris had presented herself better in the debate and was said to have “won.”

In my opinion, debates of political candidates are not meant to have a winner and a loser. They are meant to be a platform for the candidates to make their cases about the issues in order to educate the American people. The point is for the American people to be able to make an intelligent decision when they vote in the election. From that standpoint, many Americans felt that both candidates lost. Neither presented a clear picture of their plans for America.

Many people were frustrated that the ABC moderators of the debate were quite biased towards Harris. They fact-checked only Trump, and it was found after the debate that several of those “fact” corrections were actually incorrect.

In an interview, one of the moderators, Linsey Davis, said that ABC had purposefully planned to fact-check Trump during the debate because some Democrats had been frustrated in his previous debate. “People were concerned that statements were allowed to just hang and not [be] disputed by the candidate Biden, at the time, or the moderators,” said Davis.

I hope you have found these resources useful! Please pin and share, and comment below if you have more ideas on topics I should cover.

If you haven’t already, please read my article about why your kids need to understand civics.