MILWAUKEE — Immigration takes center stage as the Republican National Convention resumes Tuesday, with speakers spotlighting a key element of former President Donald Trump ’s political brand that helped endear him to the GOP base when he began his first campaign in 2015.
Immigration has long been one of Trump’s banner issues, as he has criticized an unprecedented surge of migrants entering the country illegally through the U.S. border with Mexico - though the number of arrests has slowed abruptly as the U.S. suspended asylum.
At rallies and other campaign events, Trump has pointed to examples of migrants who committed heinous crimes and blamed migration for the trafficking of drugs like fentanyl. His anti-immigrant rhetoric has also strayed into talking points not backed by evidence, including unfounded claims that migrants are entering the country to vote in the 2024 election.
Meanwhile, the mood at the Milwaukee convention is colored by joy and gratitude at Trump’s presence after surviving an attempted assassination Saturday at a rally in Pennsylvania. Ear bandaged from his wound, he appeared to cheers at Monday night’s session.
Trump and Ohio Sen. JD Vance, his recently announced running mate, are scheduled to appear in the convention hall every night, according to two people familiar with the schedule who were not authorized to speak publicly.
The nominee and his newly minted running mate sat together Monday night in Trump’s first public appearance following the assassination attempt. Vance is expected to give his own speech Wednesday night, with Trump to headline Thursday night’s closing evening.
Two of Trump’s top GOP primary rivals will take the stage Tuesday night, the latest signal the party is solidifying in its fight to take President Joe Biden on in November.
Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley will speak in primetime. So will Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, according to a person familiar with the schedule who was not authorized to speak publicly.
A senior Trump campaign adviser said Haley’s planned appearance shows how Republicans have mended any fences in need of repair following the bruising primary season.
In the latest scene in a presidential campaign already defined by dramatic turns, Trump appeared triumphantly at the convention’s opening night Monday. GOP delegates cheered wildly when he appeared onscreen backstage and then emerged in the arena, visibly emotional, as musician Lee Greenwood sang “God Bless the USA.” That was hours after the convention had formally nominated the former president to head the Republican ticket in November against Biden.
Trump, accompanied by a wall of Secret Service agents Monday night, did not address the hall - with his acceptance speech scheduled for Thursday - but smiled silently and occasionally waved as Greenwood sang. He eventually joined his newly announced running mate, Ohio Sen. Vance, to listen to the night’s remaining speeches, often with a subdued expression and muted reactions uncharacteristic for the unabashed showman.
The raucous welcome underscored the depth of the crowd’s affection for the man who won the 2016 nomination as an outsider, at odds with the party establishment, but has vanquished all Republican rivals, silenced most conservative critics and now commands loyalty up and down the party ranks.
“We must unite as a party, and we must unite as a nation,” said Republican Party Chairman Michael Whatley, Trump’s handpicked party leader, as he opened Monday’s prime-time national convention session. “We must show the same strength and resilience as President Trump and lead this nation to a greater future.”
But Whatley and other Republican leaders made clear that their calls for harmony did not extend to Biden and Democrats, who find themselves still riven by worries that the 81-year-old is not up to the job of defeating Trump.
“Their policies are a clear and present danger to America, to our institutions, our values and our people,” said Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson, welcoming the party to his battleground state, which Trump won in 2016 but lost to Biden four years ago.
Pennsylvania delegate John Fredericks had a simple recommendation for Tuesday’s immigration speakers, “Close the border. If you’re here illegally, get them out – now. That’s all I’m interested in. Get them out.”
Trump’s campaign chiefs designed the convention to feature a softer and more optimistic message, focusing on themes that would help a divisive leader expand his appeal among moderate voters and people of color.
In her first public appearance of the convention Tuesday morning, RNC co-chair Lara Trump encouraged more than 200 Pennsylvania delegates and guests to vote early. The guidance signaled a flip the party has made for this election, after the former president previously cast doubt on early and absentee ballots and urged same-day, in-person voting.
On Monday, a night devoted to the economy, delegates and a national TV audience heard from speakers the Trump campaign pitched as “everyday Americans” - a single mother talking about inflation, a union member who identified himself as a lifelong Democrat now backing Trump, a small business owner, among others.
Featured speakers also included Black Republicans who have been at the forefront of the Trump campaign’s effort to win more votes from a core Democratic constituency.
U.S. Rep. Wesley Hunt of Texas said rising grocery and energy prices were hurting Americans’ wallets.
“We can fix this disaster,” Hunt said, by electing Trump and sending him “right back to where he belongs, the White House.”
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Swenson reported from Minneapolis. Fernando reported from Chicago. Associated Press writers Steve Peoples and Jill Colvin in Milwaukee contributed to this report.
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