Former President Donald Trump’s top Republican rivals on Tuesday threw their support behind the 2024 nominee, pledging that he will “make America safe again” from violent criminals and dangerous undocumented immigrants they say The invasion of the United States is underway through the “open” southern border.
After questioning his ability and integrity during the primary, they threw their weight behind a man they had loudly insulted, saying unity behind their former foe was vital to the country’s future. Trump entered the chamber to thunderous applause and looked on with admiration as his former opponents urged voters to return him to the White House.
“For over a year, I have been saying that a vote for Joe Biden is a vote for President Kamala Harris,” said Nikki Haley, Trump’s former ambassador to the United Nations. “After seeing the debate, everyone knows this is true. If Biden is in power for another four years, or Harris is in power for one more day, our country is going to be much worse. For the good of our country, we have to choose Donald Trump.
But Haley said her message was aimed at voters who may be skeptical of the former president.
Former ambassador Nikki Haley speaks at the Republican National Convention on Tuesday.
(Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)
“We should acknowledge that there are some Americans who don’t agree 100 percent with Donald Trump. I happen to know some,” said Haley, who was nicknamed “Bird Brain” by Trump during the 2024 primaries. “My message to them is simple. You don’t have to agree with Trump 100 percent to vote for him. Trust me, I don’t always agree with President Trump, but we agree more often than we disagree.
Trump and his running mate, Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance, entered Milwaukee shortly before speeches by Haley, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz stage. DeSantis defeated the latter in a tight 2024 Republican primary, where one of Trump’s opponents was Texas Sen. Ted Cruz.
“Let’s send Joe Biden back to his basement and let’s send Donald Trump back to the White House,” said DeSantis, who Trump nicknamed “Ron DeSantimones.” “Our borders were more secure under the Trump administration, and our country was respected when Donald Trump was our Commander-in-Chief. Joe Biden has failed this country.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis spoke at the Republican National Convention on Tuesday.
(Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)
Haley and DeSantis have clearly learned their lesson from Cruz (aka “Liar Ted”), whose failure to endorse Trump after he lost the 2016 Republican primary set the stage for his He earned boos at the convention that year and incurred some hostility from Trump loyalists. He has since returned to the position of the man who suggested his father may have been involved in the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.
Praise for Trump was interspersed with speeches about crime and immigration, with some of the night’s most touching and powerful moments coming from families of crime victims.
On Tuesday, Cruz listed the names of Americans allegedly killed by people living in the country illegally, including 32-year-old Kathryn Steinle, who was shot to death in 2015 while walking with her father on San Francisco’s Embarcadero.
“Because of Joe Biden’s presidency, your family is less safe. Your children are less safe. The country is less safe. But the good news is: We can fix it. When Donald Trump is elected president When the time comes, we will solve this problem,” Cruz said. “We know this because he’s done it before.”
The theme of Tuesday night’s convention was “Make America Safe Again.”
Speaker after speaker, from politicians to law enforcement officials to people labeled as “ordinary Americans,” blamed America’s crime in part on the “invasion” of criminals entering the country from Mexico’s southern border – This is despite years of research showing immigrants are less likely to commit crimes here than native-born U.S. citizens.
Kari Lake, a prominent 2020 election denier who lost a bid for Arizona governor in 2022 and is currently running for U.S. Senate, has linked the U.S. and southern borders to fentanyl and other opioids The surge in drug deaths is being blamed on “catastrophic” Democratic policies – something she says Trump will end.
Kari Lake speaks at the Republican National Convention on Tuesday.
(Jason Almond/Los Angeles Times)
Lake said President Biden and Democrats “have turned over control of the border in my state, Arizona, to the drug cartels,” and “because of them, criminals and deadly drugs are pouring in and our children are dying.”
Anne Fundner, a mother from California, said her 15-year-old son Weston died of fentanyl in 2022, which she blamed on Biden, Vice President Kamala Harry Kamala Harris and Governor Gavin Newsom’s “open borders” policies.
“This was not an overdose, this was poisoning. His entire future, everything we wanted to provide for him, was taken away in one moment – and Joe Biden did nothing,” Findner said.
She said Trump must be elected to help end the scourge of fentanyl on American families like hers. “This fight is not for me. My son is missing,” she said. “This fight is for your children.”
Crime and homelessness are long-standing campaign themes for Republicans, often framed as the result of liberal policies in states like California.
The Republican Party’s claim to the title of the party of “law and order” is a particularly useful political direction for Trump as he has faced multiple criminal investigations and been convicted of dozens of felonies in recent years.
Democrats believe Republican criticism is inaccurate or exaggerated. Democrats say cities like Los Angeles and San Francisco do struggle with crime and homelessness, but not to the extent Republicans have suggested, and cities in red states face similar problems.
Democrats also condemned Republicans for providing a platform to RNC individuals involved in the January 6, 2021, insurrection and siege at the U.S. Capitol.
Presidential candidate Donald Trump leaves the Republican National Convention on Tuesday.
(Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)
Capitol Police officer Michael Fanone, who was wounded in that attack, condemned the presence of insurrectionists at the convention.
“What happened on January 6th nearly cost me my life and pushed our democracy to the edge,” Fanon said in a statement. “Now is a time to unite against those who call for political violence, but The Republican National Committee’s decision to provide a platform to the rioters who opposed our democracy on January 6 does just the opposite.”
Crime data vary across the country and within states.
However, experts say the most obvious trend in national crime data in recent years is a decline in violent crime. Republicans often dismiss the data as fabricated or the result of low reporting rates.
