Former President Donald Trump speaks at a rally at Greenbrier Farm in Chesapeake, Virginia, on Friday, the day after the first presidential debate of the 2024 election.
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Former President Donald Trump’s campaign plans to present a “lite” platform ahead of the Republican National Convention later this month, according to a memo obtained by NPR.
“This platform is an opportunity to clarify our vision and develop a framework for policy development while rejecting any special interest influence that would seek to divert public policy away from our clear and direct goals,” said the memo signed by Trump. Adviser Chris LaCivita and Suzy Wiles.
They said the platform should reflect Trump’s vision for America and avoid creating an attack line for his opponents.
A big question is how the platform will talk about abortion, which is a political challenge for Republicans because the most restrictive abortion policies are inconsistent with the views of most Americans. The platform committee has yet to meet to determine the content of the final document.
This debate will not take place as openly as it has in the past. This year, the platform committee will meet a week before the convention and the meeting will be closed to the media, according to a source familiar with the decision.
The Trump campaign wants to avoid drama and unforced controversy while believing, as the memo states, that Trump is well-positioned to win. They argued that a clunky platform could be weaponized by Democrats and the media.
But keeping Platform Committee meetings open to the media is a break with tradition.
Party platforms can turn into lengthy documents with lobbyists and advocates trying to mention their issues. The 2016 Republican platform is long and not particularly clear or coherent. This does put Trump under attack for changes to his Ukraine-related platform.
In 2020, Trump and the Republican National Committee did not even reopen the platform, still using the 2016 platform.
