Takeaways from the RNC: What we learned about the Republicans

Former President Trump onstage at the Republican National Convention on Thursday night.

Staff Writer

July 19, 2024 5:10 PM PT

MILWAUKEE — As the Republican National Convention drew to a close, the GOP left Milwaukee unified behind their White House nominee, former President Trump, and his running mate, Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance.

This is in stark contrast with the Democratic party, with President Biden reportedly on the cusp of withdrawing from the 2024 campaign in the face of a crescendoing drumbeat of calls to drop out in the aftermath of a lackluster debate performance and overall concerns about his cognitive ability and vitality.

Here are some takeaways from the Republicans’ four-day convention, which was held in the critical state of Wisconsin, whose voters could determine who wins the White House, and concluded late Thursday.

All in for Trump

Unlike in 2016, when Trump first ran for president, the GOP was united behind his candidacy. Moderates have either left the party or joined his cause. The convention delegates and speakers were wholehearted Trump supporters. His top primary rivals effusively backed him from the stage, unlike his first run for the White House.

“For more than a year, I said a vote for Joe Biden is a vote for President Kamala Harris,” Nikki Haley, Trump’s former ambassador to the United Nations, said on Tuesday. “After seeing the debate, everyone knows it’s true. If we have four more years of Biden or a single day of Harris, our country will be badly worse off. For the sake of our nation, we have to go with Donald Trump.”

References to divine intervention

The party was expected to be united going into the convention because the former president has effectively taken control of it. However, the assassination attempt on Saturday that was millimeters away from being successful further cemented this unity. Delegates and convention speakers frequently referred to divine intervention as being the reason Trump was not mortally wounded.

And they cited his defiant response after being injured — standing up, blood streaming down his face, fist in the air, American flag waving behind him, repeatedly telling his supporters to “Fight!” — as proof of Trump’s strength. Indeed, “Fight! Fight! Fight!” became a rallying cry at the convention.

“He didn’t just show his character. He showed America’s character,” Donald Trump Jr. said Wednesday. “When he stood up, with blood on his face, and the flag at his back, the world saw a spirit that could never be broken. And that is the true spirit of America.”

Vance cements Trump’s hold on the party

Trump Jr. spoke shortly before Vance. Trump’s selection of the Ohio senator, a one-time critic turned MAGA acolyte, over more seasoned elected officials is widely viewed as cementing the GOP in his image. Vance, the author of the bestseller “Hillbilly Elegy,” is a younger, more affable version of the former president.

“President Trump represents America’s last, best hope to restore what, if lost, may never be found again: a country where a working-class boy born far from the halls of power can stand on this stage as the next vice president of the United States of America,” Vance said on Wednesday.

The party of law and order?

The unspoken context of the convention was that the GOP — the party of law and order — has lined up behind a nominee who has been charged with dozens of felonies, and their convention prominently featured multiple people who took part in the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol or were election deniers.

“What happened on January 6 almost cost me my life and brought our democracy to the brink,” said Michael Fanone, a former Washington, D.C., Metropolitan Police officer who is a council member of Courage for America, an anti-Trump group. “This is a moment to come together and oppose those who call for violence in politics, but the RNC’s decision to give a platform to the same people who rioted against our democracy on January 6 does the opposite.”