MILWAUKEE (CN) — Calls for national unity following an attempted assassination against former President Donald Trump fell fully by the wayside at the Republican National Convention Tuesday evening, as the GOP took aim at President Joe Biden and his administration.
Though energy was high in the Fiserv Forum, the enthusiasm belied darker undertones, as Republicans set out to highlight what they said were four years of Biden administration policies that have made America less safe.
The event began in earnest Tuesday evening with a video featuring dramatic scenes of migrants at the southwest border, flashing police lights and actors brandishing guns. The clip ended with a computer-generated spotlight projecting the word “Trump” into the night sky — a not-so-thinly-veiled reference to the “bat signal” of Batman fame.
The convention’s second night, entitled “Make America Safe Again,” was headlined by congressional leaders and Republican political figures, none of whom shied away from framing the forthcoming election as a fractious, decisive contest between opposing worldviews.
New York Representative Elise Stefanik told the crowd Tuesday night that November would be the most important election of her lifetime.
“Our Constitution, and the very soul of our nation, are on the ballot,” she said. Stefanik accused the Biden administration of inflicting “crisis after crisis” on the country, running through the usual hot-button issues: inflation and immigration, among other things.
“Never before has an election mattered so much,” said Texas Senator Ted Cruz.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, meanwhile, at first appeared to stake out a message of national unity.
“We’re not just uniting as Republicans,” said the top House lawmaker, alluding to the assassination attempt against former President Trump. “We are uniting today as Americans.”
But Johnson quickly pivoted, setting almost apocalyptic stakes for the forthcoming election.
“We are no longer just in a battle between two opposing political ideologies,” the House speaker told the convention. “We’re in a fateful battle of ideas, my friends, and we have to recognize that.”
House Republicans also laid out their legislative vision for a future Trump administration, expressing optimism at their chances of keeping the House and flipping the Senate in November.
A GOP Congress would make tax cuts inked under the first Trump administration permanent in the first 100 days of a second Trump administration, said House Majority Leader Steve Scalise. Lawmakers would also approve sweeping border security legislation. The lower chamber has already approved a similar bill, but it’s been a political nonstarter in the Democratic Senate.
“And yes, we will finish building the wall,” Scalise said.
Former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, Trump’s one-time primary opponent, offered some powerful words of support for the former president.
“Our country is at a critical moment,” she said during remarks. “If we have four more years of Biden, or a single day of Harris, our country will be badly worse off.”
Haley, who had been fiercely critical of Trump during her primary challenge, took the opportunity to formally endorse him, saying that while she didn’t agree with the former president on every issue it was vital to coalesce around the GOP’s presumptive nominee.
“I’m here tonight because we have a country to save, and a unified Republican party is essential to saving her,” she said.
The convention didn’t appear overly enthusiastic about Haley’s remarks at first, but quickly warmed to her — a chorus of boos that rang out when she first took the stage had completely dissipated by the time she finished her speech.
It was a who’s who of other Republican heavy hitters Tuesday night, a list that included Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders and Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton.
Senator Marco Rubio and former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson — two of Trump’s vice-presidential hopefuls — also addressed the convention.
Trump and running mate J.D. Vance arrived at the venue midway through Tuesday’s proceedings, spurring an exuberant reaction from the gathered crowd. Republican delegates on Monday were nearly unanimous in their designation of the former president as their nominee to challenge Biden in November.
Delegates and attendees from far and wide mingled and staved off the humidity with cold drinks in the plaza outside the Fiserv. Delegate Lauren Martel of South Carolina felt the convention was off to a great, high-energy start, pointing in particular to the selection of Ohio Senator J.D. Vance as Trump’s running mate as an early highlight.
“Donald Trump is wise and you trust his sound judgment in vetting his VP,” Martel said. She likes Vance because he’s a young outsider to the world of politics, and in that, she believes he “represents America.”
In keeping with the night’s theme of “Make America Safe Again,” Martel called the recent attempt on Trump’s life a “huge wake-up call” that served as a reminder of how important it is to protect leaders like the former president.
“If he’s not safe, how can we be safe?” she said.
Fifty-three-year-old Leticia Castillo, a delegate from Corona, California, said that, to her, it was “a dream come true to represent the party at the national level.”
Castillo said that, although she has been a Republican since the age of 18, she was never into politics. But then Trump came along, and she recognized him as “that guy that fires people from TV.”
“If it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t even be paying attention,” she said, adding that what animated her most about Trump was the way he pointed out how corruption in the government.
As a first-generation, Mexican-American whose father immigrated to America and instilled work ethic and love for country into her, Castillo said she appreciated Trump’s stance on border security.
Because of Trump, now she’s not only engaged, but involved: she’s a GOP delegate for California, but she also recently ran for the District 58 seat in the California State Assembly.
At the Drink Wisconsinbly pub, one Iowa delegate enjoyed a cheeseburger and drank a Wisconsin-style Old Fashioned cocktail — that’s with brandy, not whiskey. He recounted the time he was able to meet Trump in Iowa, describing a firm handshake that pulled him close, and a warmer demeanor than the delegate expected for a New Yorker.
The Iowan also remarked how surprising it was for Sean O’Brien, president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, to address the Republicans’ convention during the previous night’s session. This shows that the GOP can be a party inclusive of the working class and not just the rich, the delegate said.
The weather outside cooled as the night progressed, and delegates and conventiongoers lounged casually in plush patio furniture and played cornhole outside Fiserv, almost seeming not to care what was happening inside the arena.
But soon chatter spread that Trump himself would be appearing inside the Fiserv, and large portions of the crowd began to file inside, hoping to get a glimpse of the party’s undisputed boss.