RNC 2024 Day 3 updates: JD Vance touts working class roots in debut as VP nominee

The theme at the RNC on Wednesday is "Make America Strong Once Again."

Day three of the Republican National Convention centered around vice presidential candidate JD Vance as he introduced himself to Republicans as Trump's running mate.

The day was held under the theme of "Make America Strong Once Again."

Former President Donald Trump made an appearance at the convention hall to watch his running mate make his national debut. Other notable speakers included Trump's son and granddaughter and several Gold Star families who expressed their support for the former president.

Despite calls for unity, several speakers spent time bashing President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and the Democrats on several issues including immigration, crime and Israel.


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'Bring them home' chant as parents of hostage speak out

The crowd chanted "Bring them home" as the parents of Omer Neutra, an American-Israeli hostage in Gaza who was kidnapped on Oct. 7, walked out onto the convention stage.

"He turned 22 on Oct. 14, 2023, and instead of celebrating with us and with his friends, he spent his birthday as a hostage of Hamas terrorists," his mother, Orna Neutra, said. "Imagine, over nine months not knowing whether your son is alive, waking up every morning praying that he, too, is still waking up every morning, that he is strong and is surviving."

Orna and her husband, Ronen Neutra, wore shirts emblazoned with their son's face on it.

"During the brutal October attack on Israel, over 1,200 people, of them, 45 were American citizens. Where's the outrage? Where is it?" Ronen Neutra asked the crowd.

"Right here," some in the crowd yelled.

"This is not merely an attack on Israel. This was and remains an attack on Americans," Ronen Neutra said.


Jewish Harvard student speaks out against campus protests

Shabbos Kestenbaum, an Orthodox Jewish Harvard student who is suing the school over its handling of the anti-Israel protests, slammed the far-left, contending they have "not only abandoned the Jewish people, but the American people."

Kestenbaum talked about the harassment he has experienced on campus and the lack of accountability from school leaders.

"I found myself immersed in a culture that is anti-western, that is anti-American and that is anti-Semitic," he claimed.

Kestenbaum pushed people to vote for Trump arguing his policies would "expel foreign students who violate our laws, harass our Jewish class mates and desecrate our freedom."


Spotlight on UNC students who protected American flag during campus protest

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill fraternity brothers, who helped protect the American flag after it was briefly replaced with a Palestinian flag during protests on the campus in April, appeared at the convention.

They carried out American flags while country artist Brian Kelley and the Holy Redeemer Church of God in Christ Choir performed the song "American Spirit." One of the fraternity brothers addressed the crowd, saying they were all "proud to honor our flag again."


Trump encourages voting by mail for the third straight night

This is the third consecutive night the RNC has played a prerecorded video by Trump encouraging Republicans to use every voting method at their disposal -- including voting by mail, which he has previously attacked -- to vote in November.

-538's Nathaniel Rakich