As the Republican National Convention neared its close, the Republican Party left Milwaukee united behind its White House candidate, former President Trump, and his running mate, Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance.
This is in stark contrast to the Democratic Party, where President Biden is reportedly on the verge of withdrawing from the 2024 campaign amid growing calls to drop out in the wake of a lackluster debate performance and general concerns about his cognitive ability and vitality.
Below are some takeaways from the four-day Republican convention, which was held in the critical state of Wisconsin, whose voters could determine who wins the White House, and concluded Thursday night.
All for Trump
Unlike in 2016, when Trump first ran for president, the Republican Party united around his candidacy. Moderates left the party or rallied to his cause. Convention delegates and speakers were staunch Trump supporters. His primary rivals enthusiastically endorsed him from the stage, unlike during his first run for the White House.
“For over a year, I’ve said that a vote for Joe Biden is a vote for President Kamala Harris,” Nikki Haley, Trump’s former ambassador to the United Nations, said Tuesday. “After watching the debate, everyone knows it’s true. If we have four more years of Biden or one more day of Harris, our country will be much worse off. For the sake of our nation, we have to stand with Donald Trump.”
References to divine intervention
The party was expected to be united before the convention because the former president had effectively taken control of it. But Saturday’s assassination attempt, which came within millimeters of success, further cemented this unity. Delegates and convention speakers frequently referred to divine intervention as the reason Trump was not mortally wounded.
And they cited his defiant response after being wounded — standing, blood streaming down his face, fist in the air, the 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 showed not just his character, but the character of America,” Donald Trump Jr. said Wednesday. “When he stood up, with blood on his face and the flag behind him, the world saw a spirit that can never be broken. And that is the true spirit of America.”
Vance consolidates Trump's control over the party
Trump Jr. spoke shortly before Vance. Trump’s choice of the Ohio senator, a former critic turned MAGA acolyte, over more experienced elected officials is widely seen as a consolidation of the Republican Party in his image. Vance, author of the best-selling “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 Wednesday.
The party of law and order?
The unspoken context of the convention was that the Republican Party — the party of law and order — has lined up behind a candidate who has been charged with dozens of felonies, and its convention prominently featured several people who participated in the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol or who denied the election.
“What happened on January 6 nearly cost me my life and brought our democracy to the brink,” said Michael Fanone, a former Metropolitan Police officer in Washington, D.C., who serves on the board of Courage for America, an anti-Trump group. “This is a time to come together and oppose those who call for violence in politics, but the RNC’s decision to give a platform to the very people who rioted against our democracy on January 6 has the opposite effect.”
