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.
