 "JD Vance in the limelight, Trump’s ‘softer side’ in focus: Inside Day 3 of Republican National Convention")
The third day of the Republican National Convention was centred around national security and foreign policy.
Republicans focused on Democratic President Joe Biden’s handling of the ongoing crises in Europe and West Asia.
Former Trump administration officials also took the stage to express their foreign policy hopes should Trump return to the White House for a second term.
Republicans welcomed Ohio senator JD Vance, 39, as Donald Trump’s running mate.
Introducing himself to the nation as Trump’s running mate, Vance used his Wednesday night to address the RNC to share the story of his hardscrabble upbringing and make the case that his party best understands the challenges facing struggling Americans.
But even as Republicans talked of Vance as a potential heir to the “Make America Great Again” movement, day three programming at the RNC made clear that Trump and his “America First” agenda define the party in 2024.
Here are some takeaways from day three of the RNC:
It’s JD Vance’s night
Convention third evenings usually focus on the running mate and how they complete a presidential ticket.
With remarks from the platform, his name appearing on signs beside Trump, and appearances with the former president during the first two nights of the convention, Vance certainly established himself as a fixture at the event.
Even when compared with other US presidents and global leaders, Trump remains powerful. Pick any speaker Wednesday and their most passionate pitches were not about “Donald Trump and JD Vance.” They were about Trump.
Impact Shorts
More Shorts“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.”
Representative Ronny Jackson of Texas, a former physician to President Trump, referred to him as “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.
That cannot be altered by a running mate, particularly not by a rookie senator who has not yet turned forty.
No apologies for the US Capitol attack
RNC programming for the first two nights largely sidestepped any mention of the January 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 to 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 unleashing a string of attacks on Democrats.
He mentioned “the Department of Injustice.”
Some delegates chanted, “Let them go! Let them go!” in reference to hundreds of people convicted for their part in the January 6 attack.
For a party that has long presented itself as a staunch champion of law and order, it was a surreal moment.
It also provided a timely reminder of Trump’s legal issues — who was convicted of a felony in May — as well as those of his many advisors, allies, and staffers, who have been charged with or imprisoned for breaking the law while working for him.
“If they can come for me, if they can come for Donald Trump — be careful, they will come for you,” he said. “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.
The powerful critic of Biden
Even though many Republicans, including Vance, opposed Biden’s assistance in defending Ukraine against Russian aggression and the left side of Democrats was furious about his backing for Israel, there were broad accusations that Biden is “weak,” that he advocates “appeasement,” and that he cannot contain China or Russia.
However, Gold Star relatives of some of the 13 service troops killed by a suicide bombing in August 2021 provided the strongest defence of Biden’s foreign policy. Following 20 years of conflict, their deaths were part of the US pullout from Afghanistan.
Before he departed office, Trump promised to withdraw from Afghanistan, but he did not leave a clear strategy in place. However, Biden oversaw the actual withdrawal, and its chaotic implementation turned out to be one of his administration’s greatest errors.
“Joe Biden has refused to recognise their sacrifice,” Christy Shamblin, the mother of Sgt. Nicole Gee, told the crowd. “Donald Trump knew all of our children’s names. He knew all of their stories.”
The mother of Marine Corps Cpl. Hunter Lopez sobbed as she addressed the delegates, saying, “We have another son in the Army. We do not trust Joe Biden with his life.”
While attending the respectful transfer of the remains at Dover Air Force Base, Biden was reportedly seen glancing at his watch. Later, Trump invited a few of the families to stay at his Florida property, Mar-a-Lago.
In the June presidential debate, Biden further enraged the families when he falsely stated that no service personnel had died while he was president. It worked better to hear people tell their experiences and publicly identify their children than it did to hear the usual political partisanship of the politicians.
Trump’s softer side
Trump has demonised immigrants, mocked the LGBTQ community and was found liable by a jury of sexually abusing a woman in the 1990s — which he still denies.
However, he has made an effort to smooth those edges this week at the RNC. And now he’s looking to women for support.
Presenting a sympathetic picture of “the Donald Trump that I know” on Tuesday, his daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, portrayed him as a loving grandfather and family man who inspired her to become a Fox News commentator. Rapper and model Amber Rose claimed the former president doesn’t care “if you’re Black, White, gay, or straight.”
Conway reiterated on Wednesday that “in Donald Trump’s” Republican Party, “everyone is welcome.” Delegates also heard from Kai Trump, one of his granddaughters, who gave a heartfelt tribute to her grandfather.
If effective, it might improve his reputation among Blacks, Hispanics, and suburban women, three important demographics that have the power to swing states Biden won narrowly in 2020.
Culture war rhetoric
The Biden administration, headed by a practicing Catholic president, was portrayed by Callista Gingrich, Trump’s former ambassador to the Vatican, as having an “anti-faith agenda” and attempting to “impose its far-left ideology on believers.”
During the Trump administration, Tom Homan, the director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, openly threatened anyone in the country illegally or considering immigration.
“You’d better start packing now,” Homan said. “Because you’re going home.”
Allusions to transgender rights, “men in women’s sports,” and “woke ideologies” were made.
With one major exception—there was very little discussion of abortion—it was another blatant round of culture warfare.
The rhetoric undoubtedly energises Trump fans. Republicans believe that Biden and Trump can win over more voters than just conservatives, at least when it comes to immigration and border issues.
However, Republicans have lost several recent elections as a result of their strong rhetoric and rigid stances on cultural matters.
Regarding abortion, Trump has cautioned that it could happen once more and pushed that a national ban on access to abortion be left out of the GOP platform.
Republicans rarely discuss inflation, the economy, or any distinctions between what Biden and Trump would accomplish for ordinary people when they emphasise cultural conservatism.
A portion of the statement on Wednesday gave Democrats, who are suffering from Trump, Vance, and Republicans, additional grist for their claim that they are too extreme.
Biden not the only elderly man to hide health details
Trump’s former doctor, Jackson, had a lot to say about Biden’s health and energy.
He claimed that the 81-year-old’s close assistants and family should have persuaded him that he is unfit for the position. However, Jackson remained silent regarding Trump’s health, both before and after the attempted assassination.
Biden’s health and visible ageing 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.
With inputs from The Associated Press
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