MILWAUKEE—The 2024 Republican National Convention (RNC) has been a study in contrast and concord.
Former President Donald Trump, a brash New York real estate mogul, may seem like a foil to Ivy League-educated Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), who hails from the Rust Belt.
Amber Rose, another former critic of the president, and Teamsters leader Sean O’Brien also stood out from the RNC norm—at least that of Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) or former President George W. Bush.
Yet for all the variety, it seems the GOP has unified after the attempted assassination of former President Trump.
That unity is hard to separate from the former president and his “Make America Great Again” movement, one that has broken down old walls between ideologies.
MAGA favorites such as Kari Lake and Peter Navarro were greeted with loud applause in the Fiserv Forum. Only figures such as Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), unpopular among the former president’s base, faced hostility—in Mr. McCarthy’s case, from Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), a Trump ally who initiated the former speaker’s ouster in October 2023.
“I feel bad for that as a Kentuckian,” Harvey VanHook, a local Republican official in the state, told The Epoch Times of the boos aimed at Mr. McConnell.
Mr. Romney and former President Bush, avatars of an earlier Republican Party, were among those conspicuously absent.
Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) told The Epoch Times that a previous generation of Republican leaders had embroiled the United States in wars.
“[They] got us killed,” he said.
John Mowery, an Alaska delegate, told The Epoch Times that the former president’s “America First agenda” set him apart from the old establishment.
“I think this is about creating stability in the party,” North Dakota state Sen. Judy Estenson said.
She told The Epoch Times that as a delegate at the 2016 convention, she had used her vote to back Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas). She said that today, however, she thinks the former president has proven himself.
Presidential and VP Hopefuls Come Together
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley both spoke, the latter offering the strongest support to date for former President Trump. So did other presidential hopefuls, including Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), along with other one-time VP candidates, including South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.).In his July 17 acceptance speech, Mr. Vance meditated on trade, needless war, and illegal immigration, saying America is a nation, not merely an idea.
The Marine veteran, Yale Law graduate, and conservative intellectual told his heartland story, connecting with the RNC crowd. For all that sets him apart from the former president, Mr. Vance looked every bit the MAGA heir, including through his comments critical of high finance.
“When JD said something negative about Wall Street, I could just hear the country club Republicans looking for another party,” Mr. Burchett said.
Franklin Graham of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, a speaker on July 18, may have been selected to assuage those concerns.
The convention provided a contrast to President Joe Biden’s candidacy, which has been questioned by some Democrats. As Republicans who squabbled throughout this Congress coalesce around their leader, once-unified Democrats are appearing to show signs of a splinter ahead of their August convention, which could follow a virtual nomination procedure earlier in the month.
During a July 18 press conference elsewhere in Milwaukee, Biden campaign manager Quentin Fulks stressed that the commander-in-chief “is and will be the Democratic nominee.”
Yet in question after question, reporters dwelled on confirmed or rumored defections among top Democrats.
Near the perimeter of the RNC, trucks paid for by the Democratic National Committee drove around blaring advertising against Mr. Vance and former President Trump. Dueling political billboards lined the highways through town.
One big topic in the Democrats’ counter-messaging: the Heritage Foundation’s “Project 2025” blueprint.
The former president has sought to distance himself from the document.
In an interview with The Epoch Times, Derrick Morgan of the Heritage Foundation said the document was the latest in a series of guides for presidents, beginning with the “Mandate for Leadership” in 1980.
“We need the next conservative president to be able to hit the ground running,” he said.
