MILWAUKEE (AP) — Republicans were welcoming JD Vance as Donald Trump’s running mate on the same night devoted to blasting President Joe Biden’s leadership on the world stage.
The 39-year-old Ohio senator was set to accept the vice presidential nomination late Wednesday night. He was expected to offer his life story as a son of Appalachia, reaffirming Trump’s connections to Americans who feel alienated socially, economically and politically.
But even as Republicans talked of Vance as a potential heir to the “Make America Great Again” movement, Day 3 programming at the Republican National Convention made clear that Trump and his “America First” agenda define the party in 2024.
Beyond the stated themes of the night, Republicans marched eagerly into culture wars and, after mostly avoiding even allusions to the Jan. 6, 2021, attacks, they hailed former adviser Peter Navarro as a hero hours after he was released from prison for ignoring a congressional subpoena seeking his testimony about Trump’s role in his supporters’ attack on Capitol Hill.
And there was a reminder that Biden is not the only older man in the race keeping his health details under wraps, a notable point days after Trump was wounded by a would-be assassin as he spoke in Pennsylvania.
Here are some takeaways from Day 3 of the RNC:
It’s (sort of) JD Vance’s night … but it’s still Trump’s convention
The third nights of conventions are traditionally about the running mate and how they round out a presidential ticket. And certainly Vance has become a presence at the convention — mentions from the podium, his name now on signs together with Trump, appearances with the former president on the first two nights of the convention.
But Trump is a dominant figure — even when measured against other U.S. presidents and world leaders. Pick any speaker Wednesday and their most passionate pitches were not about “Donald Trump and JD Vance.” They were about Trump.
“This is a man I know and the president we need for four more years,” said Kellyanne Conway, a former Trump adviser. “He will always stand up for you.”
Trump’s former White House physician, Rep. Ronny Jackson of Texas, called Trump “the greatest president this country has ever had” and “a president who even took a bullet for our country.”
It’s Trump’s party and his alone. No running mate can change that, especially not a freshman senator who has yet to celebrate his 40th birthday.
Still no apologies for Jan. 6 — and a reminder of many Trump administration convictions
RNC programming for the first two nights largely sidestepped any mention of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on Congress by former President Donald Trump’s supporters.
Navarro ended that streak.
Once a top Trump White House adviser, Navarro woke up Wednesday in a Miami federal prison. Hours later, he walked onstage in Milwaukee, where he was given an extended ovation after completing a four-month sentence for refusing to testify before Congress about Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
“You folks just want to know if you can see my MAGA tattoo I got there,” he said jokingly before launching into a speech portraying Democrats as a corrupt political party that cannot be trusted to wield power.
He referred to “the Department of Injustice.” Some delegates chanted, “Let them go! Let them go!” in a reference to hundreds of people convicted for their parts in the Jan. 6 attack.
It was a surreal moment for a party that has long portrayed itself as a staunch defender of law and order. It also served as a fresh reminder of the legal troubles faced by Trump, who was convicted of a felony in May, as well as numerous aides, advisers and allies who have been indicted or imprisoned for violating the law in his service.
“I got a very simple message for you,” Navarro said. “If they can come for me, if they can come for Donald Trump — be careful, they will come for you.”
Navarro cast Washington’s partisan power struggles 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 put some of us … in prison and control the rest of us.”
Navarro’s dark vision stood in stark contrast to the uplifting and unifying theme that Trump’s campaign has sought to exude during the four-day gathering. But it was illustrative of some of the darker undercurrents just below the surface.
Culture war rhetoric flies freely, testing the bounds of ‘unity’ talk
Callista Gingrich, Trump’s former ambassador to the Vatican, cast the Biden administration — led by a devout Catholic president — as having an “anti-faith agenda” and trying to “impose its far-left 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 he concluded with an open threat to would-be migrants and anyone in the country illegally.
“You’d better start packing now,” Homan said. “Because you’re going home.”
There were many references to “woke ideologies” and “criminal illegal aliens” and more than a few allusions to transgender rights and “men in women’s sports.”
Altogether, it was another unabashed round in the culture wars — with a notable exception: There was scant mention of abortion.
Certainly, the rhetoric Wednesday animates Trump’s core supporters. And, at least on immigration and the border, there are clear differences between Biden and Trump that Republicans think can help attract votes beyond conservative factions.
But harsh rhetoric and hardline positions on cultural issues have hurt Republicans in multiple recent elections. On abortion specifically, Trump has warned as much, insisting the platform not include a call for a national ban on abortion access.
Any time a Republican is hitting notes of cultural conservatism, it means they are not talking about inflation, the economy and potential differences in what Biden and Trump would do for Americans in their daily lives. The broader message from the podium Wednesday handed reeling Democrats plenty of ammunition to continue their arguments to the middle of the electorate that Trump, Vance and Republicans are too extreme.
Biden isn’t the only older man keeping health details under wraps
Trump’s former White House physician Ronny Jackson had plenty to say about Biden’s health and vitality. He said the 81-year-old’s family and close aides should have convinced him he is not up to the job. But Jackson said nothing about Trump’s health, either generally or after the assassination attempt.
Biden’s health and visible aging has been a focus of the campaign, even before his halting debate performance last month. He became the oldest president in history as soon as he was inaugurated in 2021. But Donald Trump is 78, several months older now 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 just like the man Republicans now insist is too old for the job.
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