Front Burner - Donald Trump's Republican Party

Episode Date: July 19, 2024

It was a Republican National Convention unlike any other in Milwaukee, Wis., this week, taking place just days after an assassination attempt on the party's now-official nominee for president, Donald Trump — an event that loomed large over the proceedings. But beyond that, the convention also offered a glimpse into what is rapidly solidifying as the party's new identity. In 2016, establishment Republicans may have been split on Trump, but at the 2024 RNC, it's clear that this is now the party of Trump, of MAGA — and now of Trump's newly announced running mate, J.D. Vance.CBC Washington correspondent Alexander Panetta joins us for his analysis on the convention, and what it tells us about where the party is headed from here.For transcripts of this series, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcripts

In the Dragon's Den, a simple pitch can lead to a life-changing connection. Watch new episodes of Dragon's Den free on CBC Gem. Brought to you in part by National Angel Capital Organization, empowering Canada's entrepreneurs through angel investment and industry connections. This is a CBC Podcast. Hi, I'm Jamie Poisson. I'm Jamie Poisson. America's future will be bigger, better, bolder, brighter at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, last night. After an attempt on his life earlier in the week, there was lots of talk over whether the former president would tone down the political rhetoric or really lean into it. He ended up doing a bit of column A and a bit of column B.

They got subpoenaed more than any people probably in the history of the United States. Every week they get another subpoena from the Democrats, crazy Nancy Pelosi, the whole thing just boom, boom, boom. The discord and division in our society must be healed. We must heal it quickly. I am running to be president for all of America, not half of America. We're going to get into Trump's speech more later in the episode with my colleague, CBC Washington correspondent Alex Panetta.

But first, Alex has been at the convention all week. We got him up on the line late Thursday afternoon before the night's programming and Trump's speech to talk about all things convention, including the religious fervor around Trump and the many moves toward an increasingly mega, increasingly nationalist party. There is a lot to talk about, so let's get to it. Alex, hi. It is always great to talk to you, especially this week. Good to be back. So we're talking right now, as I mentioned, 6.30 Eastern on Thursday. And we're going to check in with you a little later on once Trump has given his speech.

But first, let's talk about what's been happening up until now. How would you describe the vibe inside and outside the convention so far, if you had to sum it up? Absolutely euphoric. Please welcome the next president of the United States, Donald J. Trump. And, you know, it's incredible how much the prospect of victory is an effective social elixir. You know, it's just basically the expectation that they're going to win. And I've never seen Trump's people this confident before. I mean, in 2020, entering the election, they were behind the polls. 2016, they were behind the polls. They've never had this sort of position. And, you know, I was, frankly, quite worried on Saturday after the shooting that this was going to be an absolutely miserable and stressful week,

that people were screaming at the press. And it just didn't turn out that way. People are in a great mood. He is here tonight to show his courage, his defiance against somebody who tried to kill him. You will not take this man down. He has the courage, the strength, and he will be the next president of the United States. and he will be the next president of the United States. I heard Tim Alberta from The Atlantic, I think, characterize it as like a pre-election victory party, essentially, if that kind of rhymes with you.

Yeah, absolutely. I mean, it looked like thousands of people gathered celebrating, a lot of them dressed up in kind of funny costumes, a lot of red, white and blue, a lot of rhinestone and, you know, wearing red caps and cheering. And look, they're just they're in a good mood. They think they're going to win. I know that you mentioned that there has been this kind of religious fervor around Trump. You wrote about that earlier this week. And just give me some examples of why you say that. Yes. I mean, I heard one delegate on the floor talking about chiseling Donald Trump's

likeness into America's ultimate secular shrine, Mount Rushmore. But, you know, others were looking beyond the secular. I mean, you know, to some people here at this convention, it's like transcended the realm of earthly political gathering into something kind of imbued with religious significance uh i've heard you know people talking about god having touched former president trump or god saving the united states by by saving trump people talking about and almost like he's a quasi-religious figure but more than a builder he's a courageous leader. And he will bring this nation closer to God. He will bring strength to America. And he will bring prosperity back to America. And, you know, if you thought this political movement,

if you hadn't thought it's gotten a little bit surreal, well, you know, this week has just taken it to the next level. It's been quite a sight bit surreal. Well, you know, this week is just taking it to the next level. It's been quite a sight to behold. There have, of course, been like a lot of speeches from politicians, mega Republicans like Marjorie Taylor Greene, people who challenged Trump in the primary, like Nikki Haley, Ron DeSantis, who have now bent the knee. Also, Peter Navarro, the ex like Nikki Haley, Ron DeSantis, who have now bent the knee. Also, Peter Navarro, the ex-Trump advisor who just got out of prison for defying a January 6th subpoena, Trump family members, and then regular people like veterans, a woman who lost

her husband to a drug overdose. And with the caveat that I want to talk about his VP pick, J.D. Vance, in a moment. So put his speech aside. Just tell me what has stood out to you from everything that you've heard this week from the speakers. Yeah, I wrote a story titled Dystopia 2024. And, you know, really, it's a strikingly bleak picture of the United States that's being painted here, you know, a portrait of a violent, impoverished weekend nation, poor at home, weekend abroad. And, you know, there's elements of truth sprinkled throughout some of the speeches in terms of some of the challenges the country's faced the last few years. But there are chunks of exaggeration, too, right? Some of the stuff is outdated or wrong.

Like there was a spike in violent crime. Actually, the last year of Trump's presidency saw the largest spike in homicides and it continued in 2021, but it started dropping like crazy. 22, it dropped. 23, it continued dropping. 24, it dropped even more. You actually have a lower homicide rate than you did towards the end of the Trump presidency. So that's kind of, you know, it's a bit torqued in that regard. Inflation, yes, it was the worst in 40 years. But it's, you know, we're in a 12 or 13 month streak now where wages are outpacing inflation. The United States seems to have turned the corner. On other fronts, yeah, the border is still quite open. It's easy for people to walk in, claim asylum, and they don't really get deported too quickly in most cases uh and you know there's depending on whether you uh you agree that that's a good thing or not uh that's really become like

a third rail in american politics right now biden is just a figurehead he's a tool for imposing a leftist agenda on the american people they support open borders allowing millions and millions of illegal aliens to pour into our country and to burden our communities. Take me through some of the speeches. Much was made coming into this convention about tone and tenor. There were lots of calls to kind of turn down the finger pointing, turn down the rhetoric. Has that happened, do you think? Yes and no. So the political rhetoric still runs very hot. The stuff that people have said about migrants, signs, mass deportation now, people are holding up signs saying mass deportation now.

That said, there is a red line in American politics that's been crossed repeatedly the last few years. And I haven't really seen it get crossed at this convention, which is to dispute election results, to delegitimize your opposition. I mean, once you cross that threshold, you're into a dangerous place where the entire house of cards potentially of your republic collapses. They seem to have pulled back the throttle from that. And I think part of it has to do with Trump. Some of Trump's advisors have always hated this kind of talk. And I think part of it has to do with Trump. Some of Trump's advisors have always hated this kind of talk. And I think after, particularly after the shooting, they told people, just be careful. We don't want to turn up the temperature now.

Not only because it's the wrong thing to do and bad for the country, it could make us lose the election. It's not a political winner to pour gasoline all over a raging fire that is American democracy right now. One notable thing I wanted to talk to you about was that Mitch McConnell, Senate minority leader, was booed. And just like ruminate on the significance of that for me. Mitch McConnell is probably the most powerful Republican over the last two decades. He is responsible for more Supreme Court nominations getting confirmed on the Republican side, more Democrats getting blocked, more Democratic bills getting blocked. This country would look a whole lot different if not for Mitch McConnell. And most conservatives would not like the other vision as much as the Mitch McConnell vision. In spite of all that,

the man was booed like he were Nancy Pelosi. And I'm not kidding. Nancy Pelosi would hardly have gotten a worse response from that crowd. He was booed mercilessly when he tried a gesture of reconciliation to read out the roll call in the presidential delegate count for Donald Trump from his home state of Kentucky. Madam Chairman, the Commonwealth of Kentucky proudly cast 46 votes for the next president, Donald J. Trump. He got up to speak, was completely drowned out. And a different type of Republican or different types of Republican were celebrated here. Everything from, you know, the bomb throwing partisans like the Marjorie Taylor Greene's and the Charlie Kirk's. And these people are heroes here compared to a guy who's basically led the party for 20 years. And, and, but other, you know, also like the more

protectionist, more nationalist, uh, types were also celebrated. It is, it is incredible. And to think that there's not a single former Republican presidential candidate here or former president, not a single former vice presidential candidate or former vice president. I think everyone from Mike Pence to Dan Quayle to Paul Ryan to George W. Bush, not here. It's like the party has lopped off a piece of its past. It's a new party now. It's Donald Trump's. Okay, let's talk now about Ohio Senator J.D. Vance. This feels like a good segue. So he was announced as VP pick on Monday. On Wednesday night, he delivers this lengthy speech. And I know many people are familiar with him by now. He's been in the news cycle.

But this was really the opportunity for him to introduce himself to millions of people. for him to introduce himself to millions of people. And I personally found that speech a bit meandering. But that aside, he does have this incredible personal story, a kid who grew up poor with a drug-addicted mother who managed to get into Yale Law School. Then he went on to write this bestselling book, Kill Billy Elegy. And how did he use that story in his speech? Yeah. So when it comes to oratory, clearly he's no Frederick Douglass. All right. It was not the most spellbinding speech, but it was consistent with the story that mega republicanism wants to tell.

And that is the story of a hardscrabble working class base. I grew up in Middletown, Ohio. hardscrabble, working-class base. I grew up in Middletown, Ohio. A small town where people spoke their minds, built with their hands, and loved their God, their family, their community, and their country with their whole hearts. But it was also a place that had been cast aside and forgotten by America's ruling class in Washington. I've heard it said that, you know, he didn't really grow up in Appalachia. His story really is about his grandparents' house and not where he personally grew up in Ohio.

But, you know, he still obviously came from a family that had serious difficulties. He pointed to his mom in the crowd celebrating the fact that she kicked a drug addiction. Our movement is about single moms like mine who struggled with money and addiction, but never gave up. And I'm proud to say that tonight my mom is here. 10 years clean and sober. I love you, mom. He promised that he would never abandon this place, despite the fact that he went on to

a prestigious career. He went to Yale and went to Silicon Valley, but promised that he went on to a prestigious career. He went to Yale and went to Silicon Valley, but promised that he wants to be buried in the family cemetery plot on a hill in Kentucky. Now in that cemetery, there are people who were born around the time of the Civil War. And if, as I hope, my wife and I are eventually laid to rest there and our kids follow us, there will be seven generations just in that small mountain cemetery plot in Eastern Kentucky, seven generations of people who have fought for this country, who have built this country, who have made things in this country and who would fight and die to protect this country

if they were asked to. So, I mean, this, this is the story of of of you know the trump republican era uh basically having consolidated its its hold on the white working class particularly in appalachia you know those parts where uh ohio and pennsylvania meet you know turning those into you know republican or swing states and and this is this is basically the story of jd vance and the story he told at that convention. Yeah, and he was speaking to their grievances and positioning himself as one of them. President Trump's vision is so simple and yet so powerful. We're done, ladies and gentlemen, catering to Wall Street.

We'll commit to the working man. We're done importing foreign labor. We're going to fight for American citizens and their good jobs and their good wages. Which, you know, is interesting for what you just talked about. And also interesting because his book was actually quite hard on the population that in the speech he, you know, was talking about, you you know how have they been so hard done by you know by outside forces so anyways that's just an interesting kind of yeah it's a good point and and the thing is he said he's talked about this in the past he said that after that book came out he started to resent the conversations he was having like interviews where people would basically invite him to bash uh those people because they were voting for trump and stuff so he started like he's described

starting to resent that and having done a kind of 180 and how he interprets his own story of course look it's kind of self-interested as well because he doesn't become a republican senator unless he pulls that 180 degree flip so when without being inside his head we'll never know exactly why he's changed in that regard. But look, he's he's now a big Trump supporter after having criticized him vehemently in the past. And now he's a U.S. senator and vice presidential candidate. And Trump, like, you know, replaces Mike Pence. You know, basically, Mike Pence was pushed aside because he refused to block an election transition through extra constitutional means. And, you know, it's

worth remembering Vance has said he would have been willing to do Trump's bidding on January 6th. That's important. But the other reason he picked him is he reflects his vision. And, you know, I know it's embarrassingly early to talk about the 2028 Republican presidential race, but, you know, J.D. Vance is probably the front runner by virtue of being the vice presidential candidate at this, you know, early, early moment. And so, you know, what does that mean? It means that Donald Trump might have a like-minded person at the top of his party into the 2030s. Yeah. Well into the 2030s, maybe. So that's important. Or many people see this as a way to sort of entrench Trumpism for many, many years to come. People see this as a way to sort of entrench Trumpism for many, many years to come.

Absolutely. And the consequences are significant for the entire world, including Canada. I've talked to Trump advisors the last couple of weeks who said they're going to play hardball with Canada to make sure we spend more on defense. So they're not going to do what the Biden people ask nicely. The Trump people are going to threaten tariffs. You know, and as a matter of fact, they are threatening tariffs. They're planning a global tariff of 10% on all imports. So I mean, this is the kind of hard conversation that Canada is going to have to have with a more nationalist

Republican Party. Right. Of course, if he wins, which, as we've talked about, is looking pretty good for them right now. But we'll get to the Democrats later. And we're also going to get to Trump's speech later. Let's let you go now. And we'll come back in a couple of hours after Trump has finished talking. Sounds good? Fantastic. In the Dragon's Den, a simple pitch can lead to a life-changing connection. Watch new episodes of Dragon's Den free on CBC Gem. Brought to you in part by National Angel Capital Organization. Empowering Canada's entrepreneurs through angel investment and industry connections. Hi, it's Ramit Sethi here.

You may have seen my money show on Netflix. I've been talking about money for 20 years. I've talked to millions of people and I have some startling numbers to share with you. Did you know that of the people I speak to, 50% of them do not know their own household income? That's not a typo. 50%. That's because money is confusing. In my new book and podcast, Money for Couples, I help you and your partner create a

financial vision together. To listen to this podcast, just search for Money for Couples. All right, we're back. Alex, hi. Hi. How are you? Good. So it is 1.30. Trump finished 1.30 a.m., I should say. Trump finished his speech a little while ago. Wow. It was long. It was long. It was one hour and 32 minutes. Very long. Yep. The written version of the speech was one hour. And he basically went 50 percent above the allotted time because he did what they refer in jazz music to as freestyling. lot of time because he did what they refer in jazz music to as freestyling. There's like so much ad lib there, which we are going to get into. But before we do, I feel like I would be remiss to not mention Hulk Hogan, who took the stage earlier in the night and ripped off his shirt. Brother, let Trumpomania rule again. Let Trumpomania-mania rule again! Let Trump-a-mania make America great again!

He was wearing this Trump Vant shirt underneath, and it was just really something. I don't actually have a question for you, but I just feel like I need to, I just need to put it on the record. I just need to talk about it. Jamie, I've covered a lot of firsts in american politics some good uh what if you bad today i have to say that aspect of the evening was unequivocally good i saw my childhood hero the hulkster rip off his shirt um in public in my first ever encounter being in the same room as hulk hogan so that was good seriously for a second though i i do i think he probably did some work to recruit or bring people in who might not necessarily be so wrapped up in politics. Absolutely.

So it's not an accident that he had Hulk Hogan out there, the head of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Dana White introduced him, which is an incredibly prestigious spot. Why? spot why because donald trump sees this election as hinging on low propensity less engaged voters particularly male voters uh who don't pay a lot of attention to politics but they may pay a lot of attention to wrestling and ultimate fighting yeah there is no shortage of testosterone in that room um okay let's do the speech let's do the speech so uh what did you make of what you just heard earlier in the week trump said that he was rewriting the speech in the wake of the assassination attempt to focus on unity is that what we got is that what you heard so look donald trump had a plan okay for this singular

political moment and that was to deliver a speech so out of character that if a time traveler were to come here from last week they would have seen this speech and said, who is this person who hypnotized Donald Trump? And this brush with death a few days ago had inspired the writing of a speech that was as on Trump-like as if it was basically his twin delivering it, separated at birth. There was blood pouring pouring everywhere and yet in a certain way i felt very safe because i had god on my side i felt that it was it was gracious it was devoid of insults it wasn't even supposed to be a reference in that speech to joe biden uh it was you know there's no let alone insults like sleepy joe and Cackling Kamala. It was extremely gracious, unifying.

But here's one small problem. You know, we were talking to his campaign manager earlier today, his co-manager, Chris LeCivita, gave a briefing here. And he described this speech. He said he wanted it to be forward looking. And that's code in Trump world for not complaining about the 2020 election being stolen, which is a voter killer. Right. That does not help you win, swing voters. But LeCivita adds at the end of this aside, he says, it's still early in the day,

which is basically also code for my candidate improvises a lot and I can't control what he says. And he did. He improvised like crazy. And what's funny is you could see which parts were part of the text. Just within the room, you could just look see which parts were part of the text just within the room you could just look at the screen in back of the uh in back of the arena and you could see that extremely gracious text you know uh god you know by the grace of god i was saved uh you know uh we

need to unify the country all of that just rolling up the screen and then once in a while the text would stop and it basically as if like a record scratch would park it in place. And then he would go off and start freestyling. Like I said, like a jazz musician veering off on all sorts of tangents, not all of them the most edifying or persuasive to a swing voter. We had that horrible, horrible result that we'll never let happen again. The election result, we're never going to let that happen again. They use COVID to cheat. You're never going to let that happen again. They use COVID to cheat. They're never going to let it happen again. I know that you're just kind of making your way out of the center right down the convention center. So I just I took a few notes on some of the hits.

So he talked about cheating on elections. He talked about during these ad lib parts. He talked about how people use COVID to cheat. He called Pelosi crazy Nancy Pelosi. He accused the Democrats of destroying the country. He talked about the Justice Department being weaponized. We have to work on making America great again, not on beating people. And we won. We beat them in all. We beat them on the impeachments. We beat them on indictments. We beat them. But the time that you have to spend, the time that you have to spend, if they would devote that genius to helping our country, we'd have a much stronger and better

country. It was old Trump. Sorry, I shouldn't say old Trump, but there was a lot of the Trump that we have come to expect. Yeah. So aspects of what he was't say old Trump, but there was a lot of the Trump that we have come to expect. Yeah. So aspects of what he was talking about were real. But there also were some whoppers in there. Yeah, I was watching our friend Daniel Dale from CNN fact check him in real time. It seemed to me like the biggest issue that he was seized with, it felt like it took up an enormous part of the speech was the border issue right um and just just like why right there there was some really incendiary language around it i know it's among the big issues for his base but why spend so much time uh focused on it two reasons number

one because americans care about it right americans are not happy about the porous border and and it allows him to hammer on a theme that's a potential winner for him second reason is it it connects his campaign rhetoric to another thing americans care about which is crime violent crime but what you can do if you're constantly talking about the porous border is every time that one of the tiny percentage of migrants who crosses that border commits a violent crime, you can then say, look at this. We have a problem. The crime problem is being driven by these migrants. It basically allows them to sort of get two issues out of one. It is an invasion indeed.

And this administration does absolutely nothing to stop them. They're coming from prisons. They're coming from prisons. They're coming from jails. They're coming from mental institutions and insane asylums. And it's the same reason he keeps talking about gas prices, because Americans care about it and it connects to inflation, which is not up right now, right? So neither violent crime nor inflation are up.

But if you talk about the border and gas prices, you could say things are worse than when I was president. The news coming out around this election cycle this week has been absolutely wild on the Democratic front in the last few days. There have been these flurries of reports that the pressure campaign is very much on the campaign to pressure Biden to step down. There are reports that Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, House Speaker Hakeem Jeffries, Nancy Pelosi have all made the case to Biden that he needs to step down. Obama is reportedly feeling like Biden doesn't have very good chances. And so I think right now, everybody's kind of waiting with bated breath to see if Biden does choose to step down here. But I imagine that the

Republicans have been watching this very closely. And Alex, what are they saying? Are they making plans? Are they strategizing i think that's probably the best place for us to end tonight absolutely i mean they're definitely pivoting or they've performed a half pivot toward an election where they're not facing joe biden there's a reason that kamala harris came up dozens of times in speeches this week i mentioned to you the the meeting with the campaign um manager uh the day. Well, he talked about Kamala Harris and he essentially previewed the messages that they're going to attack her with. You know, it was almost like watching the whisper of a campaign that has not been born yet. And I was watching them attack her on three fronts.

And he said they're going to they're going to go after her on on. Well, essentially, they're going to call it a coup. Right? The idea that Biden's been replaced after he won a bunch of primary elections fair and square. And they're going to make it clear that every time Democrats accuse them of trying to steal the 2020 election of about January 6th and that kind of stuff, they're going to throw this back in their face and say, well, you conducted a coup. You knocked out an elected nominee. So that's the first thing. They're also going to accuse her of being incompetent. She was in charge of the border.

Again, that's maybe another reason that Trump kept mentioning migration in that speech. This was supposed to be her file. And, you know, she didn't make a whole lot of progress on it. They're going to go after her on that front. And they're also going to accuse her of being involved in a cover-up because she's on the record as having said many times that Biden was fine, that his cognitive faculties had not diminished. And Republicans are going to try and spin that into a narrative that she lied to the American people. And what Trump's campaign staff told us is they have her on tape

saying this repeatedly and they intend to turn it into attack ads. So that is what Kamala Harris has to look forward to if she becomes the nominee. So welcome to the big leagues. Okay. A potential preview of what is to come. Alex, thank you. Thank you so much for this. And oh man, we are going to be talking to you soon. I know that for sure. I look forward to come. Alex, thank you. Thank you so much for this. And oh man, we are going to be talking to you soon. I know that for sure. I look forward to it. All right, that is all for this week. Front Burner was produced this week by Joytha Sengupta, Matt Muse, Matt Alma, Allie Janes, Derek Vanderwyk, Rafferty Baker, and Julia Israel. Julia, thank you so much for all of the work that you did with us.

We loved working with you and we wish you so much luck in your next endeavor. Sound design was by Marco Luciano and Sam McNulty. Music is by Joseph Chabison. Our executive producer is Elaine Chao. I'm Jamie Poisson. Thanks so much for listening, and we'll talk to you on Monday.