As President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration approaches, we can recall several great political lessons learned in 2024. Perhaps the most important one is that the American people have long been underestimated by the elites in media, government, universities, and corporations. These groups frequently clutch their pearls at controversies they deem important, but often misread the priorities of ordinary citizens. The 2024 election was no exception, and Springfield, Ohio, became the unlikely epicenter of this disconnect.

For months, then-Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) raised alarms about the tens of thousands of Haitian immigrants who had recently arrived in Springfield. The situation was straining local resources, but his concerns were largely ignored. Springfield City Manager Bryan Heck even wrote a letter to Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) and then-Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), claiming a “surge in population through immigration” and that “communities like Springfield are set up to fail” if they don’t get help from the federal government.

Then, Vance tweeted about constituent reports of pets being killed by some of the new arrivals, and suddenly the media erupted. Outrage consumed the press, which labeled Vance and the Trump campaign as racists and liars and spun the story into a frenzy. Statements were taken out of context, and the narrative was........

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