 "Show of unity, ‘Make America Safe Once Again’ message: Inside Day 2 of Republican National Convention")
The Republican National Convention entered its second day on Tuesday, now with Donald Trump officially as its presidential nominee and Ohio Senator JD Vance as his running mate.
Trump energised the crowd on the first day of the RNC by entering the arena with a bandage on his right ear after being injured during an assassination bid on Saturday.
The second day of the RNC has now shifted its focus to classic GOP themes like border security and public safety.
With the 78-year-old’s primary rivals speaking, it was also an occasion for the GOP to demonstrate its unity, a sharp contrast to the Democratic party’s mounting concerns over the viability of President Joe Biden.
Here are some takeaways from the convention’s second day.
Calls for unity
Trump isn’t someone who forgives easily.
He refused to participate in the party debates because he was frustrated about some of his fellow Republicans daring to oppose his candidature this election season.
On Tuesday, however, two of Trump’s most popular standing rivals — former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis — made clear where they stand now.
“Donald Trump has my strong endorsement, period,” Haley said, while DeSantis spoke in support of Trump for the first time following the GOP primary.
The two urged the party to unite behind its nominee as Trump watched from his box inside the convention hall.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsReunifying the party after a contentious primary is a major goal of political conventions, thus such actions are not wholly out of the ordinary.
In the wake of their divisive 2016 election, Bernie Sanders moved to endorse Hilary Clinton. In 2000, after a bitter primary, John McCain graciously spoke at the Republican convention in favour of George W Bush.
However, Haley and DeSantis’ support for Trump were noteworthy for reasons other than their advances.
The duo embodied the kind of unity that Democrats, who are openly doubting President Biden’s suitability to guide them into what both parties see as a historically significant election in November, are finding more and more difficult to achieve.
Still, the GOP’s efforts to demonstrate unity only went so far.
Haley acknowledged that there are many voters who don’t agree with Trump all the time and encouraged Republicans to appeal to a broader audience.
“My message is simple: You don’t have to agree with Trump 100 per cent of the time to vote for him,” Haley said.
“We must not only be a unified party,” she said. “We must also expand our party.”
DeSantis, meanwhile, delivered red meat to a crowd that greeted him with a more enthusiastic response than it allowed for Haley.
“Let’s send Joe Biden back to his basement and let’s send Donald Trump back to the White House,” DeSantis said as soon as he took the stage.
“Donald Trump has been demonised, he’s been sued, he’s been prosecuted and he nearly lost his life. We can’t let him down and we can’t let America down.”
Praising the law but railing against Trump’s prosecution
The theme of Tuesday’s RNC festivities was “Make America Safe Once Again,” which offered a central message of restoring “law and order,” standing up for law enforcement and ending a “senseless crime spree.”
“We believe in the rule of law,” former GOP presidential hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy thundered from the rostrum.
The sentiment apparently does not extend to Trump or his associates who have been indicted, imprisoned and, in some cases, pardoned by Trump.
Trump himself was convicted in May of 34 felonies related to a scheme to illegally influence the 2016 election through a hush money payment to a porn actor, becoming the first former president to be convicted of a crime.
His long-time ally Steve Bannon is currently serving a four-month contempt sentence for defying a congressional subpoena.
During his last weeks in office, Trump pardoned two of his political advisors, Paul Manafort and Roger Stone. Manafort was pardoned for financial crimes, and Stone for witness tampering and lying to Congress.
Then there is the network of people charged in relation to Trump’s plot to overturn the 2020 election, which he falsely claimed was rigged — a claim refuted by his own attorney general and more than 60 court proceedings.
“We have a two-faced justice system,” Savannah Chrisley, whose reality TV star parents are serving time for bank fraud and tax evasion, told the gathering of GOP delegates.
“Just look at what they are doing Trump… while Hunter Biden is roaming around free.”
Like Trump, the President’s son, Hunter Biden, was recently convicted of a crime and is free to appeal the case ahead of his sentencing date.
Also read: Donald Trump raises clenched fist yet again: What does it mean?
The Senates
It was clear that the presidential contest was the main concern of all Milwaukee residents.
Republicans, however, also want to flip the Senate, and they have emphasised seven people who they believe can nab Democratic Senate seats.
There was only one who received a good round of applause.
That was Arizona’s Kari Lake, a strong Trump supporter who shot to fame when she denied that Trump had lost his 2020 race or that she’d been defeated in her bid for governor.
Every Senate candidate used the same strategy: criticise Biden for his leadership and then associate their rival with the president.
“Americans are waking up to the truth about the disastrous Democrat policies pushed by Joe Biden and his favorite congressman, my opponent Ruben Gallego,” Lake said.
“Tammy Baldwin called the Biden administration the most successful in generations,” said Eric Hovde, naming Wisconsin’s senior Democratic senator, whom he hopes to unseat.
“Sherrod Brown votes with Biden virtually 100 per cent of the time,” said Bernie Moreno of Ohio of that state’s senior Democratic senator. “I don’t know if I agree with my wife 100 per cent of the time. But Sherrod and Joe seem to have a very close relationship.”
The candidates had only a brief time to speak.
Only one — Sam Brown of Nevada, whose face is scarred from a grave injury he suffered while serving in Afghanistan — sparked a reaction with his own story.
Overall, the Senate candidates didn’t sketch out much of an individual agenda, instead hoping to tie their races to the presidential one.
With most Senate elections going to the winner of the state’s presidential election, and Republicans bullish on Trump’s odds, it’s not an unreasonable calculation.
Unfounded claims on illegal immigration
The second night of the Republican National Convention has centred on issues of crime and immigration.
Many speakers echoed unfounded claims that Democrats intentionally want to replace Americans through illegal immigration, a claim that has moved from the fringes of political conversation to a consistent fear among the GOP base.
“We stand for strong borders and believe that our nation must have a shared civic culture and we oppose any immigration that stands apart or in contrast to our American values,” Governor DeSantis said during his speech.
“We are facing an invasion on our southern border. Not figuratively, a literal invasion,” Senator Cruz contended during his remarks. “Every day Americans are dying. Murdered, assaulted, raped by illegal immigrants that the Democrats have released,” he continued.
And Rep. Steve Scalise, the GOP House majority leader, said, “Biden and Harris want illegals to vote now that they’ve opened up the border.”
With inputs from The Associated Press
 "Russian drones over Poland: Trump’s tepid reaction a wake-up call for Nato?")
 "As Russia pushes east, Ukraine faces mounting pressure to defend its heartland")
 "Why Mossad was not on board with Israel’s strike on Hamas in Qatar")
 "Turkey: Erdogan's police arrest opposition mayor Hasan Mutlu, dozens officials in corruption probe")
 "Russian drones over Poland: Trump’s tepid reaction a wake-up call for Nato?")
 "As Russia pushes east, Ukraine faces mounting pressure to defend its heartland")
 "Why Mossad was not on board with Israel’s strike on Hamas in Qatar")
 "Turkey: Erdogan's police arrest opposition mayor Hasan Mutlu, dozens officials in corruption probe")
