GOP taps Trump-Vance ticket
Bandaged Trump draws cheers at convention hall
Also in today’s edition of ‘Regular Order’ for July 16, 2024:
Ohio Senator goes from 'never Trump' to VP pick.
Trump calls for all criminal cases against him to be dropped.
Biden returns to the campaign trail.
TRUMP TICKET. As GOP delegates officially voted to nominate Donald Trump for President on the first day of the Republican National Convention, Trump reached into GOP ranks in the U.S. Senate for a running mate, choosing Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio for Vice President in 2024. The pick immediately won the strong support of GOP delegates and party officials.
REACTION. "Vance is a leader and a champion for conservative values," said Rep. Laurel Lee (R-FL), as GOP lawmakers applauded the choice. "Vance is a tireless fighter for Conservative values," added Rep. Mark Alford (R-MO). "Trump/Vance is the most America First ticket in presidential history," said Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO).
VANCE. Elected to the Senate in 2022, the 39-year-old Vance has now completed an unlikely political evolution. In 2016, Vance was a self-proclaimed 'Never Trump' Republican, who once referred to Trump as 'America's Hitler.' But like many GOP voters who initially recoiled at Trump, Vance is fully on board with Trump - and fully on board with a more aggressive GOP.
ATTACK. For example, Vance issued one of the most combative statements about the assassination attempt on Trump. "The central premise of the Biden campaign is that President Donald Trump is an authoritarian fascist who must be stopped at all costs," said Vance. "That rhetoric led directly to President Trump's attempted assassination."
FOREIGN POLICY. In Congress, Vance's voice has been heard loudest as he presses his own party to withdraw support for Ukraine. It's an anti-NATO, anti-Europe, isolationist voice which completely goes against the once dominant Reagan wing of the GOP.
XXNCE. It occurred to me that the Vance pick means you only have to paper over the first two letters of Mike Pence's last name - and you have an updated Trump-Vance sign for 2024. "He will faithfully stand by Trump," said Ohio Lt. Gov. John Husted (R), in what could be interpreted as some post-Jan. 6 shade being thrown at Pence from afar.
TRUMP APPEARS. As I predicted in Monday’s newsletter, the highlight of last night’s session was an unscheduled appearance in the convention hall by Trump. Wearing a bandage on his left ear, where he was injured in an assassination attempt on Saturday. Trump stood with his family and waved to the GOP delegates, who loudly cheered their approval, yelling, “Fight! Fight! Fight!”
EMOTION. As I stood on the convention floor watching the scene, it was readily obvious that the Trump appearance overwhelmed some GOP delegates. The one thing we did not see were any pictures of Trump from last Saturday. He’ll be back to speak on Thursday night, when he formally accepts his party’s nomination.
ECONOMY. Trump's convention visit capped a night of speeches attacking President Biden on economic grounds, as Republicans groused about high gas prices, high food prices, inflation, and economic opportunity. "Joe Biden broke this economy," said Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC), who gave one of the most popular speeches on the first day of the GOP convention.
MRS. GREENE OF GEORGIA. On the first night, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) got a precious few minutes on the GOP convention dais, as she attacked President Biden's economic work. "The Democrats' economy is of, by, and for illegal aliens," Greene said. (Delegates did not really applaud.)
DAY TWO. Tonight's theme at the Republican National Convention goes right to one of the core campaign arguments for the GOP - 'Make America Safe Again.' This will bring up much more talk about illegal immigration and big city crime.
CANNON. Before Trump announced his pick for VP, the big news splash at the convention came from Florida - as a federal judge tossed out charges in Trump’s classified documents case. When the news broke, it ran like a wave through the convention, crackling its way across Media Row, as conservative talk show hosts excitedly denounced the Trump investigations.
DISMISS. "This dismissal of the Lawless Indictment in Florida should be just the first step, followed quickly by the dismissal of ALL the Witch Hunts," Trump wrote from Milwaukee on his Truth Social website. "The Democrat Justice Department coordinated ALL of these Political Attacks, which are an Election Interference conspiracy against Joe Biden’s Political Opponent, ME."
GOP. Republicans in Congress joined Trump in hailing the news. "This was an unconstitutional case," said Rep. Andy Harris (R-MD). "The Democrats’ senseless lawfare campaign against President Trump continues to fall apart," added House Majority Whip Tom Emmer of Minnesota.
ONE NOTE. I'm not a legal expert, but it’s hard to see how Cannon's ruling stands up on appeal to the Eleventh Circuit. That means a lot of legal wrangling will take place - which ensures that there is no trial for Trump anytime soon on that classified documents case (if ever).
TIMING. To me, the biggest flashing light about this decision from Cannon is not the details - but the timing. The optics are terrible for the Judicial Branch. On the first day of the GOP convention? Wow. That's all I can say. Wow.
DEMS. Democrats expressed outrage. “This breathtakingly misguided ruling flies in the face of long-accepted practice," said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer in a statement, as he zeroed in on Cannon. "This is further evidence that Judge Cannon cannot handle this case impartially and must be reassigned.”
BEHIND THE SCENES. One thing that never changes at a major political convention is the logistical hurdles. Convention security is a perfect example. Sometimes things get changed from one day to the next - with no explanation. One door was open yesterday, now that same door is closed today.
LOGISTICS. The first security checkpoint I found on Monday had well over 300 people in line. Another was closed. I walked 15 minutes to find a third entrance and then waited another 20 minutes to get screened. Then I got inside and heard one guy say, "It only took me two minutes to get in here today, it was great!"
WRONG SPEECH. There were even problems for lawmakers. Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) told PBS that the wrong version of his speech was loaded into the teleprompter. And House Speaker Mike Johnson also had to abort some remarks when the teleprompter suddenly stopped working.
MEDIA ROW. What used to be known as 'Radio Row' has now morphed into 'Media Row,' as radio, TV, and internet talk shows have proliferated. Here in Milwaukee, the Republicans have set up a big broadcast area in the old (but architecturally cool) UW–Milwaukee Panther Arena. Here's what it looks like.
BIDEN. It's back to the campaign trail today for President Biden, as he goes to Las Vegas for two days of events. Today's big feature is a speech to the national convention of the NAACP. That's followed by an economic event with Rep. Steve Horsford (D-NV), who is the head of the Congressional Black Caucus.
CAMPAIGN. As Biden has made clear, despite the protests of some Democrats in Congress, he has no plans to give up his bid for a second term in office. He reiterated that last night in an interview with NBC, as Biden tried to force a focus on Trump. “Why doesn’t the press talk about all the lies he told?”
BLACK CAUCUS. If you're looking to gauge Biden's support in Congress, there's no better place to check than with Black lawmakers, who have not run away. "Defeating Trump was always the goal but it’s clear to me that President Biden is up for the job and can win," said Rep. Nikema Williams (D-GA).
SQUAD. Many more progressive Democrats have also stuck with Biden, denouncing some of the anonymous leaks from their colleagues predicting doom and gloom in November for the party.
AOC. "If you’re a “senior Democrat” that feels this way, you should absolutely retire," said Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY). "This kind of leadership is functionally useless to the American people."
BERNIE. One of the strongest voices for Biden continues to be Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT). "Despite my disagreements with him, he has been the most effective President in the modern history of our country, and is the strongest candidate to defeat Donald Trump," Sanders said.
TRUMP ATTACK. A House panel has set a hearing for next Monday with the head of the Secret Service, looking for answers on the assassination attempt against Donald Trump, which killed one man, and left Trump bloodied. It's the first of what is likely to be a number of Congressional inquiries into the attack.
COMER. "The United States Secret Service has a no-fail mission, yet it failed on Saturday when a madman attempted to assassinate President Trump," said Rep. James Comer (R-KY). "Questions remain about how a rooftop within proximity to President Trump was left unsecure."
PROBE. WPXI-TV in Pittsburgh reported last night that local police spotted the gunman on that roof 'nearly 30 minutes before shots were fired' at Trump, killing one person and injuring two at his rally. It's details like that which could prove very nettlesome for the Secret Service chief, Kimberly Cheatle.
GOP. It won't surprise me if Cheatle hears GOP lawmakers accuse her of creating a lax security environment where Trump could be harmed. "This was massive negligence to the point of me speculating what was intentional and what wasn't," said Rep. Cory Mills (R-FL), who was a sniper in the U.S. Army.
MENENDEZ. A federal jury continued deliberations on Monday in the bribery and corruption trial of Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ). The jury sent several questions to the trial judge, and will resume its work this morning.
RAP SHEET. A 65-year-old Pennsylvania man has been convicted of multiple felony and misdemeanor charges for his actions on Jan. 6. Terry Allen used a wooden flagpole to jab repeatedly at police officers, and later threw a metal pole at police defending the Capitol against violent Trump supporters.
MUSE OF HISTORY. July 16, 1980. On this date at the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, Republicans nominated Ronald Reagan for President. There was drama inside the convention hall, as Reagan appeared and announced that he had tapped former Rep. George H.W. Bush as his running mate - instead of former President Gerald Ford. In November, Reagan would go on to win a landslide victory over President Jimmy Carter.
LEGISLATIVE PROGRAM:
The Republican National Convention convenes at 6 pm EDT.
The House is back for votes on July 22.
The Senate is back for votes on July 23.
Check President Biden’s schedule.
Follow me on Twitter @jamiedupree.
Email me at jamiedupree@substack.com
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I have spent a lot of time trying to give my fellow citizens the benefit of the doubt when they use the term "DEI Hire". Assuming that it doesn't just mean "any Black, Brown, or female that gets a job that has historically been held by white men", but, in fact, means "a person getting a job because of their race or gender who lack the experience and qualifications to have that job", I think I've just seen my first real example of a DEI Hire. Test question: Which of the following people is a "DEI Hire" based on race, gender, AND lack the year of experience/qualifications for the job for which they have been selected? 1. Kamala Harris, 2. Ketanji Brown Jackson or 3. JD Vance? Hint, check their past experience and qualifications.
Unless and until the Democrats' circular firing squad is dismantled this contest is Trump's for the taking. I'm in the scramble via social media surrounded by people who disagree so I look for interesting diversions whenever I can.
To that end I was pleased to see Sumi Somaskanda, one of my favorite BBC anchors, reporting live from the Media Row that Jamie mentioned. I surf the evening news on various networks and always make it a point to see how BBC reports the day's events. When news of the shooting filled the air following the shooting, I saw within minutes (via social media) BBC's Gary O'Donoghue's interview with a witness who spotted the shooter.
I hope the dust settles soon but I'm not optimistic.
https://www.bbc.com/news/videos/c51yly4085lo