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Donanld Trump at the RNC
| USA TODAY NETWORK |
RNC wrap-up: Trump's speech and the GOP's evolving identity
On the fourth and final night of the RNC, Donald Trump took to the stage for the first time since he was nearly assassinated at a campaign rally. He began his speech with a detailed, dramatic retelling of the shooting, in which he was saved by God, in the style of a grandfather telling their grandchild a war story at bedtime. Members of the audience cried, he kissed the firefighter uniform of Corey Comperatore, who was killed by the assassin. He called for unity.
"The discord and division in our society must be healed. As Americans, we are bound together by a single fate and a shared destiny. We rise together. Or we fall apart," said Trump, who went on to say that he was running to be president for "all of America, not half of America."
But Trump’s sedate and sentimental calls for harmony quickly evaporated, giving way to his more standard attacks on Democrats. “They’re destroying our country,” he said. Trump also repeatedly claimed that the Democrats stole the 2020 election, saying “they used COVID to cheat.” (For a deep dive into the stolen election conspiracy theory, check this out.)
And he went on. And on. And on. For more than an hour and a half – the longest nomination acceptance speech on record – he described meanderingly, an economy in shambles, a murderous job-stealing invasion of illegal immigrants, and a world on fire: all courtesy of Joe Biden, all fixable only by Donald Trump. When he concluded – nearly half an hour after first saying “in conclusion” – many of even the most faithful Trumpers in the room were reportedly fidgety.
Still, every party convention is a jamboree for its candidate, and in the wake of Trump’s near-death experience, this convention has had an almost-religious, over-the-top zeal. From the MAGA outfits (seriously, you need to look at the dresses), to Hulk Hogan tearing off his shirt to reveal a Trump/Vance tank top, and Trump repeatedly claiming that he survived the attack only because he “had God on [his] side” the final night cemented the impression of Trump as a kind of divinely protected figure, even a deity in his own right.
This is a changed Republican party. Traditional establishment figures like Mitch McConnell got a mild reception, while MAGA figures, regardless of whether they have a political background, were enthusiastically embraced – none more than Trump’s Veep pick, JD Vance.
The one thing Republicans avoided talking about. Speakers hammered Biden on inflation, immigration, and foreign policy. But one thing they didn’t talk much about was abortion. Despite Roe v Wade’s demise being one of the crowning achievements of the Trump presidency, abortion has barely received a passing mention, likely because the party recognizes that it is a divisive and politically toxic issue. Even JD Vance, an absolutist on restricting abortion, has stayed silent on the issue during the convention.
It's also another sign of the changing nature of the party. Abortion was once a rallying force within the GOP, but is now the latest example of how the Republican Party is departing from decades of party orthodoxy as it undergoes a historic realignment to woo younger, more diverse, and working-class voters.
United States Senator JD Vance (Republican of Ohio) at the 2024 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in National Harbor, Maryland, U.S., on Friday, February 23, 2024.
The pluses and minuses of JD Vance
All running mates bring advantages and disadvantages to presidential candidates, but the choice of JD Vance is a striking sign of the political times. Vance strengthens Donald Trump’s “champion of the working man” message – a Republican rebranding away from its strongly pro-business past. We also saw that emphasis in the striking first-night convention speech from Sean O’Brien, president of the Teamsters, a labor union with 1.3 million members, who accused business and corporate lobbyists of “waging a war against American workers.” That’s not a speech you would have heard at any Republican National Convention of the past century. Vance’s reputation as defender of the globalization-battered working class can help Trump in the electorally crucial Midwest industrial belt states of Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Michigan.
But Vance is also an absolutist on restricting abortion, the Republican’s biggest current weakness, according to polls. He has adopted Trump’s line that abortion rules should be left to the states, but his voting record is striking. He favors banning abortions, even if the mother is a victim of rape or incest, as well as laws that allow police to track women who have crossed state lines for an abortion. He has opposed legislation that would protect in vitro fertilization. A poll earlier this month showed that 61% of US adults want their state to allow abortion for any reason, and 62% support protections for access to IVF.
JD VANCE
Trump picks JD Vance as running mate on day one of the RNC
Two days after an attempt on his life at a rally in Pennsylvania, Donald Trump officially became his party’s nominee on the first day of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, WI.
On the RNC stage, speakers painted the former president as a hero, a survivor, and a martyr. “On Saturday, the devil came to Pennsylvania holding a rifle,” said South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, “but an American lion got back up on his feet, and he roared! Oh yeah! He roared!”
The day was filled with surprises, from the dismissal of one of Trump’s federal indictments to the former president naming JD Vance his vice presidential pick two days earlier than expected. Trump himself even made an unexpected appearance – ear bandage and all – at the event.
On the policy front, the RNC’s first day, themed “Make America Wealthy Again,” introduced the party’s economic platform. Speakers hammered Biden for high prices and Mike Waltz, co-chair of the platform committee, said that the Trump campaign would focus on helping "the forgotten men and women of America," by “unleashing American energy” and “sending a cruise missile into the heart of inflation.” Scott and others blamed illegal immigration for “crushing American workers.”
Teamsters Union President Sean O’Brien did not endorse the ticket but still received the most speaking time onstage, which he used to call for labor reform law and to attack big businesses and corporate lobby groups for “waging a war against American workers” – rhetoric that would have been unheard of before Trump steered the party toward the working class. O’Brien has hinted he may not endorse either candidate, which would be a big loss for Union Joe.
Meanwhile, Vance, the junior senator from Ohio and author of the best-selling memoir “Hillbilly Elegy,” basked in the spotlight.
Vance was once a self-described “Never-Trumper” who believed that Trump was “leading the white working class to a very dark place.” But he has since become a vocal supporter of the former president. He supports raising tariffs and the minimum wage to empower the working class, wants to boost oil and gas production, and supports a nationwide 15-week abortion ban but also access to mifepristone, a medication used to end pregnancy.
On foreign policy, he’s been an outspoken advocate of cutting aid to Ukraine. If elected, Vance told Fox’s Sean Hannity last night that the administration “will bring this thing to a rapid close” by negotiating with Russia, rather than furthering the war effort for Ukraine. (Click here to watch what Eurasia Group's US director Jon Lieber has to say about the pick.)
By choosing a populist conservative like Vance over other potential nominees, such as multimillionaire North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, Sen. Tim Scott, or New York Rep. Elise Stefanik, Trump seems to be doubling down on securing the support of white working-class voters. He decided not to use the Veep pick, in other words, to make deeper inroads with moderate, suburban, non-white, or female constituencies.
The Democrats are already trying to use that choice to their advantage. Joe Biden’s campaign adviser Jen O’Malley Dillon said on a call with reporters that Vance would “bend over backward to enable Trump and his extreme MAGA agenda, even if it means breaking the law.”
Following the shooting over the weekend, Vance went further than even Trump himself, directly blaming Biden’s rhetoric and his campaign for the violence. In an X post, he wrote, “The central premise of the Biden campaign is that President Donald Trump is an authoritarian fascist who must be stopped at all costs. That rhetoric led directly to President Trump’s attempted assassination.”
The precise motive of the shooter is currently under investigation by the FBI, which gained access to his phone only on Monday. But some Republicans have echoed Vance’s sentiment, pointing to an instance last week when Biden said to donors “We’re done talking about the debate. It’s time to put Trump in a bullseye.”
In an interview with Lester Holt Monday night, Biden said the comment was a mistake that aged poorly. He tried to steer the conversation toward his opponent’s incendiary rhetoric, like his comments in the run-up to Jan. 6, 2021, or following the 2017 Charlottesville rally of white supremacists, to argue that Trump is a threat to democracy.
He also made no indication he was thinking about stepping down and urged the media to stop talking about his age – a wish that may be granted this week as Americans turn their attention to the remaining three days of the RNC. Tuesday's theme is “Make America Safe Once Again” and will focus on crime, immigration, and drug trafficking.Entertainer and convention speaker Amber Rose stands at the podium ahead of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S., July 14, 2024.
What’s on tap for the Republican National Convention?
The RNC Convention opens Monday in Milwaukee, WI, and we’ll be watching from Day One to see the moment when Trump unveils his running mate. Observers are betting that Sen. JD Vance, of Ohio, has the inside track because Donald Trump Jr. – a big Vance fan – is reportedly scheduled to speak right before the official VP pick, rumored to be on Day Three.
Other politicians on the roster to speak include former GOP presidential candidates Ben Carson, Vivek Ramaswamy, and Sen. Marco Rubio, Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida, Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida, and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia. Notably absent from the list is Trump’s chief former rival for the GOP nod, Nikki Haley.
Family speakers include both Trump sons, Donald Jr. and Eric Trump, but not daughters Ivanka Trump and Tiffany Trump, or wife Melania Trump, who will however make a rare public appearance at the event. And no convention would be complete without star power: Celeb speakers include media personality Tucker Carlson, rapper Amber Rose, UFC CEO Dana White, and reality star Savannah Chrisley.
Attendees also will be treated to multiple advance screenings of the biopic “Reagan,” starring Dennis Quaid as the late president, slated for general release on Aug. 30. Fun fact: Quaid also played US President Bill Clinton in HBO’s 2010 drama “The Special Relationship,” about Clinton’s relationship with UK PM Tony Blair.
We’re watching what the convention-goers say about this weekend’s assassination attempt, and what Trump’s pick for VP says about his campaign priorities.
A police officer stands guard as preparations for the Republican National Convention are underway in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S., July 14, 2024.
Will Project 2025 become Trump’s 2.0 playbook?
As the Republican National Convention kicks off today, there are three big things to watch: how the party responds to the assassination attempt on Donald Trump, who the former president picks as his running mate, and the GOP’s platform for his potential second term.
If you’re curious about his potential VP pick, GZERO has broken down all of the top contenders in our Veepstakes series. As for his platform, the prominent conservative think tank Heritage Foundation has some ideas. Having shaped policies of Republican administrations since the Reagan administration, the Heritage Foundation has crafted a 900-page policy plan called Project 2025.
What is it? On its surface, Project 2025 is a transition plan so the right can hit the ground running in the case of a Trump 2.0. “Project 2025 is not a road map to what Trump will do, but rather a menu of what the far right would like to see him do,” says Eurasia Group’s US director Clayton Allen.
But John McEntee – once a Trump White House adviser – has said he was working to integrate Project 2025 with the Trump campaign. “There will need to be coordination and the president and his team will announce an official transition this summer, and we’re going to integrate a lot of our work with them.”
Among a multitude of recommendations, it proposes making it easier to fire federal workers and replace them with loyal appointees, criminalizing pornography, eliminating the Department of Education, ending diversity, equity, and inclusion programs, restricting access to abortion pills, and limiting climate protections.
It gives legal rationale to erase the Justice Department’s independence from the president, saying that it requires a “top to bottom” overhaul and that the Trump administration should “conduct an immediate, comprehensive review of all major active FBI investigations and activities and terminate any that are unlawful or contrary to the national interest.”
It also proposes the removal of any and all “immigration violators,” ending no-fault divorce, and ending diversity, equity and inclusion programs and the “toxic normalization of transgenderism.”
So, will these and other Project 2025 policies be part of Trump’s plan if he returns to the White House? For now, Trump says “no” and has tried to distance himself from the plan, saying “I know nothing about Project 2025,” on Truth Social. “Anything they do, I wish them luck, but I have nothing to do with them.”
Many on the left accused Trump of lying, but the former president may purposely be steering clear of policy matters while campaigning. “Putting out specific policy proposals when you are the opposition candidate does little more than give your opponent specific points to attack you,” says Allen. “Trump wants the election to be a referendum on Biden, not his own policy ideas.”
The project has been a godsend for the Biden campaign, giving it fodder to support its main campaign messages that Trump is a threat to the norms of democracy, abortion access, and extremely far-right on social issues. The Democratic National Committee is launching billboards in 10 cities in battleground states linking former President Trump to Project 2025, and Biden’s campaign is seeking influencers to raise the alarm on social media. It is a welcome distraction from the headline-dominating calls for Biden to step down but also spreads the unrealistic fear that everything in the 900-page proposal will come to fruition.
But Project 2025 may be more of a paper tiger. “[It] was crafted by a group taking a maximalist rather than a realist approach to agenda setting,” Allen says, noting that it’s more likely to motivate the Democratic base than anything else.
That’s not to say that Project 2025 won’t have a strong influence on Trump, should he return to the Oval Office. The first day of the RNC is jam-packed with the Heritage Foundation presenting its agenda, and many of Project 2025’s main crafters are Trump allies who are likely to have powerful, policy-shaping roles in his administration.
Where does Trump overlap with Project 2025? Trump’s official policy proposal and campaign rhetoric show that the former president agrees with some, but not all, of Project 2025. Trump has frequently questioned the legitimacy of the Justice Department. In his first term, he made it easier to fire federal career senior executives and replace them with loyalists, and he has made no secret of his plans to conduct a massive crackdown on immigration.
But Project 2025’s aggressive restrictions on abortion are unlikely to jive with Trump, who, despite appointing the justices who overturned Roe v. Wade, sees abortion restrictions as a matter for invididual states to determine. That being said, campaign rhetoric can vary drastically from the policy that is implemented once in office.
“Policies on immigration and economic policies are the areas with the most widespread backing within the party and therefore the most likely to influence a second Trump administration,” says Allen. But “social policy programs are more of a wishlist and lack support from many members – and in some cases Trump himself.”
Will there be a decisive US response to Russian cyber attacks?
Marietje Schaake, International Policy Director at Stanford's Cyber Policy Center, Eurasia Group senior advisor and former MEP, discusses trends in big tech, privacy protection and cyberspace:
After an attempted hack of a Republican National Committee contractor, is cybersecurity at a breaking point between the US and Russia?
Well, that breaking point has been a long time coming. There was the attempt to manipulate the 2016 elections and now we see a series of ransomware attacks that are escalating. So the question is, what the US can do to decisively change the calculation on the Russian side? Making clear that there will be sanctions and other consequences that hurt should be a start. But it will only be credible if these promises are followed through and enforced.
Why is China launching cybersecurity probes into US listed Chinese tech companies?
Well, there has been an intensification of regulatory measures vis-a-vis tech companies in China itself. So, steps against Didi fit the arm-wrestling pattern between companies and state agencies. Only now, US and international investors have also been caught up. And of course, it brings back memories of the Trump administration, which launched its own probes into Chinese tech firms. So the question is, who stands to lose most from a tit for tat type back and forth?
- Beyond SolarWinds: Securing Cyberspace | Global Stage ›
- SolarWinds hack a wake-up call to the tech sector - GZERO Media ›
- Russia's cyber attack: an act of espionage or war? - GZERO Media ›
- Hackers shut down US pipeline - GZERO Media ›
- Panel: Working together to protect cyberspace - GZERO Media ›
- US & allies unite against China's cyberattacks - GZERO Media ›
- Panel: Working together to protect cyberspace - GZERO Media ›
- Russian hackers target US tech companies with little accountability - GZERO Media ›
- Russian hackers target US tech companies with little accountability - GZERO Media ›
- Watching Russia: cyber threats & disinformation - GZERO Media ›
RNC 2020 recap: Trump avoids talk of COVID & focuses on white, rural base
Jon Lieber, Managing Director for the United States at the Eurasia Group, shares his perspective on a special Republican National Convention wrap up edition of US Politics In 60 Seconds:
So, what struck me about the convention this week was that it became really clear the messages that Donald Trump wants to hammer home as the campaign enters into its final two months. The first is his record of accomplishments, which included renegotiating trade deals, getting tough on China, a record number of jobs, and a great economy, that of course, all went away during the coronavirus, which did not really get much of a mention during the convention. The second thing he wants to hammer on is Joe Biden. Two claims in particular about Biden. One is that he's a tool for the radical left. I believe President Trump even said he'd be a Trojan horse for socialism in the United States. And the second is that Trump really wants to focus on some of these images of urban protests and riots in the streets and tie the protests to the Democratic Party, claiming that it's the fault of Democratic mayors and that if you elect Democrats, you're just going to get more protests.
So, Biden got a very small convention bounce, really none at all, after his week-long Democratic convention and I expect you're going to see Trump not get much of a bounce after his and what's really notable about this race is how static it's been. Biden's had a national eight to nine-point lead and the polling aggregates. Trump's approval ratings have been in the low 40s, but now they've rebounded slightly to 42% on average nationally. And it's probably going to remain that way for the rest of the campaign. The goal here for President Trump, and you saw a lot of this on display at the convention, is to target messages directly at his base by saying he's the most pro-cop, pro-life, pro-farmer, pro-veteran president that's ever existed on the Earth, and in doing so, he wants to get out his base, who is predominately white, rural voters. If he can do that in states like Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania, then he still has a shot to win this election because even a small increase in participation by white voters in those states would overwhelm any potential turnout advantage that Joe Biden might get from, say, African-American voters who are showing up to vote in the numbers they did in 2012 for President Obama.
So, two months to go left in the race. Lots can still change. I think that even though Biden's got this big polling lead, it actually remains fairly close. And we'll be checking in to see how it goes.
Republican National Convention 2020: Trump's White House speech & other unusual plans
Watch as Eurasia Group's Jon Lieber previews the RNC 2020:
The Republicans are meeting this week for their convention, a mostly virtual affair, because the 336 delegates are still going to get together in Charlotte, North Carolina, to do all the convention business, including the roll call of states that will officially nominate the president. This is happening because the convention rules didn't allow changes that would require it to go all virtual like the Democrats did.
Other highlights of the week are going to be President Trump's speech from the White House lawn, which has raised both ethical and legal concerns that the White House seems unconcerned about. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is giving an address from a business trip in Jerusalem, which has been unusual. And you've got a couple from Missouri who's being accused of a felony for pointing guns at protesters walking by their property a couple weeks ago. This gets at one of the themes of the convention, which is going to have a strong focus on Democratic policies that the Republicans are going to argue undermine American greatness, cater to the radical left, and are going to reverse all the progress that's been made under President Trump.
One other unusual thing is that there's no party platform this year. Usually the party's wonks get together every four years to put together a statement of what the party stands for and what they're going to win, should they take back the White House. Usually this is routinely ignored by politicians. And so this year, the Republicans decided to just get rid of the convention altogether and recycle the old platform from 2016. The president is bringing in a couple of reality TV producers, including one that worked with him on The Celebrity Apprentice, to help make this a really good show. It's going for half an hour longer than the Democrats did in primetime. And the president's hoping that he can get some kind of approval rating bounce. Right now, he's at the bottom of his range between 40% and 42%. And his approval right now, there was an Ispos poll released over the weekend that suggested Biden got about a five-point bounce to his favorability rating coming out of his convention, and that's kind of thing the president is looking for here.