Consider This from NPR - What will Trump tell the RNC after an attempt on his life?

Episode Date: July 17, 2024

Donald Trump's message for America has long been one of grievance and retribution.What will he say at the Republican National Convention this week, after an attempt on his life?For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.Email us at [e-mail] more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the next president of the United States, Donald J. Trump. This week, the Republican Party is laying out its vision of an America once again led by former President Donald Trump. Thousands of his supporters are gathered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in a hall filled with balloons and draped in red, white, and blue. Each night, people, like House Speaker Mike Johnson, have criticized the policies of the current administration. America can't risk four more years of Joe Biden's weakness that has invited so much aggression by our enemies. Other GOP leaders have cataloged a list of grievances about the state of the country. And we agree that Democrats have moved so far to the left

that they're putting our freedoms in danger. If you want to seal the border, vote Trump. Our government has been no better, shredding our constitution and upending the rule of law. That was Nikki Haley, Vivek Ramaswamy, and Ben Carson. As with any party convention, what happens Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday is mostly a warm-up for the main event. Since he began his first presidential campaign to sending the golden escalator at Trump Tower in 2015, Donald Trump's message has been consistent. When was the last time anybody saw us beating, let's say, China in a trade deal? They kill us.

I beat China all the time. All the time. That kind of messaging persisted once he took the oath of office in 2017. And the crime and the gangs and the drugs that have stolen too many lives and robbed our country of so much unrealized potential. This American carnage stops right here and stops right now. And it continues as he campaigns for president for the third time. Biden is pushing the largest tax hike in American history.

I will make the Trump tax cuts, again, the biggest ever in history. We're going to make them permanent. They come due in a year. All of those speeches came before a would-be assassin opened fire during a rally last weekend in Butler, Pennsylvania. Trump spoke with Washington Examiner reporter Selena Zito in the hours after the shooting, and she recounted that interview on CNN. And he said in that moment, he understood that everything had changed for the country and for himself.

Consider this. Donald Trump's message for America has been one of grievance and retribution. What will he say at the RNC this week after an attempt on his life? From NPR, I'm Ari Shapiro. Donald Trump did a technical walkthrough on the floor of the Republican National Convention. He talked to organizers, stood before the podium, and checked camera angles, all in preparation for the culmination of this week when he formally accepts the Republican nomination for president. That speech comes after party leaders and regular folks addressed the delegates over the first three nights. They've all been laying out the Republican Party's vision for America. It's Trump's turn to speak. And this speech is one of the key moments in the run-up to the presidential election. So what might Trump say? How might he say it? We're going to put those questions to NPR's Franco Ordonez, who is with us from Milwaukee. Hi, Franco.

Hey, Ari. Before we get to what Trump will say, I'd love for you to reflect on what we have seen so far this week, because the 2016 RNC was pretty divided. In 2020, it was more of Trump's Republican Party. How does the 2024 convention compare? Yeah, I mean, it's very much Trump's party. I mean, particularly by Tappan J.D. Vance as vice president. Instead of someone more with more experience with deeper Republican ties, you know, Trump's really doubling down on his America first agenda. I mean, this is a person who is not

worried about losing moderate Republican votes, you know, say Haley Republicans, for example, you know, who voted very largely against him in the primaries. You know, if Trump were worried about those Republicans, or at least very worried about him, you primaries. You know, if Trump were worried about those Republicans, or at least very worried about him, you know, he would have picked someone more like Florida Senator Marco Rubio or North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum. Instead, he picks Vance,

who's very much part of the wing of the Republican Party who's bucked the GOP establishment. And Ari, then again, you have like those speakers this week. I mean, take Teamster President Sean O'Brien. I mean, it's really, really hard to imagine a union boss speaking at any other Republican convention. O'Brien railed against big business and corporate lobbying groups. These were groups that are supposed to be part of the Republican base. But clearly, this is about reaching different voters for Republicans, working class voters. As we've reported often, Biden likes to describe himself as the most pro-union president. He's even stood in line with auto workers, union auto workers. But clearly, clearly, Trump believes these union workers are in play a bit. Will you talk specifically about what we heard from Trump's former rivals during the primary campaign, Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis.

Yeah, that's interesting because as you were noting before, the differences between 2016 and 2020 and 2016, you know, Trump faced some dissent at his first convention, you know, but, you know, Ted Cruz, for example, Senator Ted Cruz of Texas would not endorse him. But there's really been none of that this year. The first thing that Haley said when she came on stage was that Trump invited her in the spirit of unity. She urged her own supporters to look past their differences and back Trump. There are some Americans who don't agree with Donald Trump 100 percent of the time. My message to them is simple. You don't have to agree with Trump 100% of the time to vote for him. Now, DeSantis gave an even more aggressive speech. He was attacking Biden.

Again, it's just another example of the control that Trump has. And it was interesting, actually, to watch Trump's smiles as these two rivals kind of pledged their support for him. Because as you remember, it was a very, very ugly primary. So let's pivot to what Trump is likely to say in his speech, because the themes of the convention so far this week have been consistent with his campaign focuses. Crime, inflation, America first. Do you expect more of that in his address? Yeah, I do. I mean, we know that Trump is not going to deliver the same speech that he originally wrote for the convention. It is going to be less about attacking Biden

and more about unity. That's after the shooting on Saturday. Chris LaCivita, he's a senior Trump campaign advisor. He was talking with some Georgetown students here in Milwaukee a few days ago, and this is how he put it. I look at unity, and there's obviously an opportunity to bring the country together. It's a very important thing, but let's not forget we're in the middle of a campaign, and you have to win that campaign. So a lot of Pollock sticks still to be played. So this speech might be about unity, but it's likely also going to be unity framed in an America First agenda. Accepting the nomination is the night of any convention.

It is an opportunity for the candidate and the party. It's a huge national audience. How is the campaign thinking about this moment? Yeah, La Cevita talked some about that as well. You know, he brought up that their campaign speaks a lot about strength versus weakness, success versus failure, using those kind of visual words. Modern day politics is very visual. And so anytime you can actually visualize the issues and the contrasts, you start off with a different advantage. You know, Ari, Trump is a businessman.

He's a marketer, a messenger, and he likes a clear message. You know, it's a lot about repetition. And these are the themes. In his words, inflation under Biden versus less inflation under Trump. Cheap gas versus expensive gas. The border, of course. These are the issues of the RNC platform. Will you describe the Donald Trump that you have seen this week?

Because since the shooting, some of the coverage has suggested that he seems different, more vulnerable. Does that track with what you've observed? Watching Trump has been more very interesting. I mean, he's been kind of visibly subdued. You know, he's got that white bandage on his right ear. You know, he sits in the VIP section, surrounded by friends and family. He's calm, you know, sometimes even emotional, such as when Sarah Sanders and Laura Trump were telling stories about how he is as a grandfather. You know, people tell me that an experience like that on Saturday, you know, being so close to death can change a person. And sources tell me it has impacted him. But let's be really very clear. You know, Trump's not known for being vulnerable.

And I said again, a key message of the campaign is strength versus weakness. And his campaign insists those messages are not going to change. That was NPR White House correspondent Franco Ordonez. This episode was produced by Brianna Scott and Gurjeet Kaur. It was edited by Courtney Dourning, Dana Farrington, Megan Pratt, and Padma Rama. Our executive producer is Sammy Yenigan. It's Consider This from NPR.

I'm Ari Shapiro.