Unity at the RNC, knocks on Trump's prosecutions and Senate politics: Takeaways from day 2

MILWAUKEE -- The Republican National Convention marched into its second day Tuesday, showcasing classic GOP themes like border security and public safety that have become the centerpieces of former President Donald Trump's campaign.

With Trump's primary rivals speaking, it was also an occasion for the GOP to demonstrate its unity, a sharp contrast to the Democratic party's mounting concerns over the viability of President Joe Biden.

Here are some takeaways from the convention's second day.

Donald Trump isn't known for easily moving past a grudge. He was so frustrated that some of his fellow Republicans dared to challenge his bid for this year's nomination that he wouldn't participate in the party's debates.

But on Tuesday, Trump watched from his box inside the convention hall as as two of his most prominent primary challengers — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley — urged the party to unite behind its nominee.

Such moves aren't entirely unusual at a political convention, where much of the purpose is to bring together the party after a bruising primary. Bernie Sanders moved to nominate Hillary Clinton after their contentious 2016 contest. After a bitter primary, John McCain delivered a gracious speech in support of George W. Bush at the Republican convention in 2000.

But the appearances by Haley and DeSantis weren't notable solely because of their overtures to Trump. They represented the type of unity that seems increasingly out of reach for Democrats, who are openly questioning whether President Joe Biden is the right person to lead them into what both parties view as a historically consequential election in November.

Still, the GOP's efforts to demonstrate unity only went so far. Haley acknowledged that there are many voters who don't agree with Trump all the time and encouraged Republicans to appeal to a broader audience.

"We must not only be a unified party," she said. “We must also expand our party.”

DeSantis, meanwhile, delivered red meat to a crowd that greeted him with a more enthusiastic response than it allowed for Haley.

“Let’s send Joe Biden back to his basement and let's send Donald Trump back to the White House,” DeSantis said as soon as he took the stage. “Donald Trump has been demonized, he’s been sued, he’s been prosecuted and he nearly lost his life. We can’t let him down and we can’t let America down.”

The theme of Tuesday’s RNC festivities was “Make America Safe Once Again,” which offered a central message of restoring “law and order,” standing up for law enforcement and ending a “senseless crime spree.”

“We believe in the rule of law,” former GOP presidential hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy thundered from the rostrum.

That sentiment apparently does not extend to Trump or the long list of his associates and allies who have been indicted, imprisoned and — in some cases — pardoned by Trump.

Trump himself was convicted in May of 34 felonies related to a scheme to illegally influence the 2016 election through a hush money payment to a porn actor, becoming the first former president to be convicted of a crime.

His longtime ally Steve Bannon is currently serving a four-month contempt sentence for defying a congressional subpoena. Paul Manafort and Roger Stone, two Trump political advisers, were pardoned by Trump during his final weeks in office — Stone for witness tampering and lying to Congress, Manafort for financial crimes.

Then there’s the web of people indicted in Trump’s scheme to overturn the 2020 election, which Trump falsely insisted was stolen, a claim rejected in more than 60 court cases and by his own attorney general.

“We have a two-faced justice system,” Savannah Chrisley, whose reality TV star parents are serving time for bank fraud and tax evasion, told the gathering of GOP delegates. “Just look at what they are doing Trump ... while Hunter Biden is roaming around free.”

Like Trump, Hunter Biden, the president’s son, was recently convicted of a crime. Also like Trump, he is free while he decides whether to appeal the case ahead of his sentencing date.

The presidential race was obviously on the top of everyone in Milwaukee’s minds. But Republicans also want to flip the Senate, and they highlighted seven of their candidates hoping to nab seats from Democrats.

Only one of them was greeted with significant applause. That was Kari Lake of Arizona, a strong Trump supporter who became a conservative celebrity when she denied that Trump had lost his 2020 race or that she’d been defeated in her bid for governor. All the Senate hopefuls had a common approach — slam Biden for his stewardship of the country and then link their opponent to the president.

“Americans are waking up to the truth about the disastrous Democrat policies pushed by Joe Biden and his favorite congressman, my opponent Ruben Gallego,” Lake said.

“Tammy Baldwin called the Biden administration the most successful in generations,” said Eric Hovde, naming Wisconsin’s senior Democratic senator, whom he hopes to unseat.

“Sherrod Brown votes with Biden virtually 100% of the time,” said Bernie Moreno of Ohio of that state’s senior Democratic senator. “I don’t know if I agree with my wife 100% of the time. But Sherrod and Joe seem to have a very close relationship.”

The candidates had only a brief time to speak. Only one — Sam Brown of Nevada, whose face is scarred from a grave injury he suffered while serving in Afghanistan — sparked a reaction with his own story.

Overall, the Senate candidates didn’t sketch out much of an individual agenda, instead hoping to tie their races to the presidential one. With most Senate elections going to the winner of the state’s presidential election, and Republicans bullish on Trump’s odds, it’s not an unreasonable calculation.

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Slodysko reported from Washington.