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Journalism of Courage
The Republican National Convention (RNC) commenced on Monday (July 15) in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where former President Donald Trump was officially confirmed as the Republican Party’s presidential nominee.
Days before, Trump survived an assassination attempt when he was shot at during an election rally in Butler Country, Pennsylvania. He suffered a bullet injury and took the RNC stage on Monday with a bandaged ear. Trump also announced Ohio Senator JD Vance as his Vice-President candidate.
What can be expected to happen at the RNC? We explain.
The four-day event began with Trump officially declared as the Republican nominee after a roll-call vote. He will face off against the Democratic Party’s presumptive nominee, President Joe Biden, in the Presidential election on November 5.
Party conventions are an age-old tradition in US politics, going back to the 19th century. They are held in the summer before the elections, as a congregation of “delegates” composed of mostly active party members, leaders, or early supporters of the candidates.
About 2,500 Republican delegates from all 56 US states and territories are reportedly attending the RNC this year. The Democratic Party’s national convention (DNC) will be held in August.
Delegates are chosen from earlier rounds of voting held throughout the country — called primaries and caucuses — where voters of the two parties choose the person they want representing the party. For instance, among Republicans, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley were in the running against Trump.
At the convention, delegates vote to select an official party nominee. According to the Associated Press Delegate Tracker, candidates usually earn delegates based on their performance in a state’s primary or caucus. The two parties’ systems vary slightly. Once a candidate is deemed to have secured the majority delegates’ votes in either party, they are declared the official nominee. The presidential candidate also chooses a running mate (Vice Presidential candidate).
Before the RNC too, Trump held a dominant position and virtually secured the Republican nomination in March as he won the support of the required 1,125 delegates.
The Republicans would be eager to use the platform to project unity despite some ideological differences. Notably, Trump has sought to distance himself from the controversial Project 2025 document, which claims to lay out key conservative goals for the next government. Some of its extreme proposals — such as dismantling the Department of Education and changing procedures for appointing members of the bureaucracy — have drawn backlash.
The appointment of JD Vance, a former Trump rival, as Vice-Presidential nominee furthers this attempt to bring the party together. Vance described the former president as “cultural heroin” in 2016 and compared him to Adolf Hitler. Since then, he has reversed his position and become one of Trump’s biggest supporters, voting for him in 2020 and winning his maiden senatorial race in 2022 with Trump’s support.
Trump has said Vance “will be strongly focused on the people he fought so brilliantly for, the American Workers and Farmers in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio, Minnesota, and far beyond.” Several Midwestern states are likely to play a critical role in November’s election.
The party platform is also expected to be adopted. Compared to the 66-page document from the 2016 election, the platform this time is mentioned in a 16-page manifesto that puts “America First” and lists out the party’s 20 major poll promises.
Chief among these is addressing “migrant invasion”, a term that Trump had used extensively during his presidency. The party has also repeatedly raised the issue of illegal immigration over the years and it has gained renewed resonance among voters, amid a spike in the number of migrants entering the US through its Mexico border in recent years.
The party promises to achieve this by closing borders, even deploying military and police if necessary.
The manifesto also advocates for typical Republican planks such as increasing domestic manufacturing. Interestingly, it takes a subdued stance on abortion, another important political issue, leaving the decision to the states to decide the level of restrictions.
While the party said the assassination attempt against Trump would not affect the scheduled programmes for the convention, Trump has promised changes to his nomination acceptance speech on Thursday. His original speech would have attacked Biden but the revised speech will be an opportunity to “bring together a divided country and world”, he said.
For their part, the US Secret Service had conducted a joint threat assessment of the venue with the FBI and local law enforcement agencies.
