MILWAUKEE (AP) — Republicans welcomed JD Vance as Donald Trump’s vice presidential nominee on a night marked by criticism of President Joe Biden’s leadership on the world stage.
The 39-year-old senator from Ohio was scheduled to accept the vice presidential nomination overdue Wednesday night, telling his life story as a son of Appalachia and reaffirming Trump’s ties to Americans who feel socially, economically and politically alienated.
But while Republicans touted Vance as a potential heir to the Make America Great Again movement, the third day of the Republican National Convention’s program made it clear that Trump and his “America First” agenda will define the party in 2024.
Beyond the evening’s stated themes, Republicans eagerly marched into the culture war, and after largely avoiding even allusions to the January 6, 2021 attacks, they hailed former adviser Peter Navarro as a hero, hours after he was released from prison for ignoring a congressional subpoena demanding his testimony about Trump’s role in his supporters’ attack on the Capitol.
It was also recalled that Biden is not the only older man in the race who is keeping his health information secret – a notable point just days after Trump was injured by a suspected assassin during a speech in Pennsylvania.
Here are some takeaways from the third day of the RNC:
It’s JD Vance’s night (so to speak) … but it’s still Trump’s convention
The third night of the conventions traditionally focuses on the vice president’s choice and how that will complete the slate of candidates for the presidential nomination. And Vance is certainly present at the conventions – he is mentioned on the podium, his name is now on posters alongside Trump, and he appears alongside the former president on the first two nights of the conventions.
Yet Trump is a dominant figure – even compared to other U.S. presidents and world leaders. Pick any speaker on Wednesday and their most passionate speeches weren’t about “Donald Trump and JD Vance.” They were about Trump.
“This is a man I know and the president we need for another four years,” said Kellyanne Conway, a former Trump adviser. “He will always stand up for you.”
Trump’s former White House doctor, Texas Rep. Ronny Jackson, called Trump “the greatest president this country has ever had” and “a president who even took a bullet for our country.”
It is Trump’s party and his alone. No vice presidential candidate can change that, especially not a first-year senator who has not yet celebrated his 40th birthday.
Still no apology for January 6 – and a reminder of many condemnations of the Trump administration
During the first two evenings, the RNC program largely avoided any mention of the January 6, 2021 attack on Congress by supporters of former President Donald Trump.
Navarro ended this series.
Navarro, once a top Trump White House adviser, awoke in a federal prison in Miami on Wednesday. Hours later, he took the stage in Milwaukee to a prolonged standing ovation after serving a four-month sentence for refusing to testify before Congress about Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
“They just want to know if you can see my MAGA tattoo that I have there,” he said jokingly before delivering a speech in which he portrayed the Democrats as a corrupt political party that cannot be trusted to exercise power.
He referred to the “Ministry of Injustice.” Some delegates chanted “Let them go! Let them go!” referring to the hundreds of people convicted for their involvement in the January 6 attack.
It was a surreal moment for a party that has long portrayed itself as a staunch defender of law and order. It was also a renewed reminder of the legal difficulties facing Trump, who was convicted of a crime in May, and numerous staffers, advisers and allies who have been charged or jailed for breaking the law while serving in his service.
“I have a very simple message for you,” Navarro said. “If they can get me, if they can get Donald Trump – be careful, they’re going to get you.”
Navarro put the partisan power struggles in Washington in existential terms, characterizing control of Congress, the White House and the judiciary as a zero-sum game between Republicans and Democrats: “If we don’t control all three branches of our government – executive, legislative and judicial – their government will throw some of us in jail and control the rest of us.”
Navarro’s grim vision stood in stark contrast to the uplifting and unifying theme the Trump campaign wanted to project during the four-day rally, but it was an example of some of the darker undercurrents lurking just beneath the surface.
The rhetoric of the culture war is freely expressed and tests the limits of the “unity speech”
Callista Gingrich, Trump’s former ambassador to the Vatican, accused the Biden administration – led by a staunchly Catholic president – of pursuing an “anti-religious agenda” and trying to “impose its radical left-wing ideology on believers.”
Tom Homan, director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement during the Trump administration, praised the former president’s handling of the border, but at the end of his speech he issued an open threat to potential migrants and anyone in the country illegally.
“You better start packing now,” said Homan. “Because you’re going home.”
There were many references to “woke ideologies” and “criminal illegal aliens” and quite a few allusions to transgender rights and “men in women’s sports”.
All in all, it was another blatant round of culture wars – with one notable exception: the topic of abortion was barely mentioned.
Certainly, Wednesday’s rhetoric energized Trump’s core constituency. And at least on immigration and border issues, there are clear differences between Biden and Trump that could lend a hand Republicans win votes outside of conservative factions.
But their harsh rhetoric and hard-line positions on cultural issues have hurt Republicans in several recent elections. On abortion in particular, Trump has warned against it and insisted that his platform should not include a call for a nationwide ban on abortion.
When a Republican strikes a cultural conservative tone, it means they’re not talking about inflation, the economy and potential differences in what Biden and Trump would do for Americans in daily life. The broader message from Wednesday’s podium gave reeling Democrats plenty of ammunition to continue their arguments to the middle of the electorate that Trump, Vance and Republicans are too extreme.
Biden is not the only older man keeping health details secret
Trump’s former White House doctor, Ronny Jackson, had a lot to say about Biden’s health and vitality. He said the 81-year-old’s family and close associates had to convince him that he was not up to the job. But Jackson said nothing about Trump’s health, either in general or after the assassination attempt.
Biden’s health and perceptible aging have been a focus of the campaign since before his halting debate performance last month. He would become the oldest president in history once he is sworn in in 2021. But Donald Trump is 78, several months older than Biden was when he accepted the Democratic nomination in 2020. And Trump, if he wins in November, could become the 81-year-old president Republicans say is too elderly for the office.
