English is the official language of this forum. Posts in other languages will receive a warning, except in threads where foreign languages are permitted.
In the wake of his historically disastrous presidential debate performance, President Biden set out to ease the worries of Democratic mega-donorsgathered at a sprawling Hamptons oceanfront estate on Saturday afternoon.
However, a powerful, competing message was in the air -- literally -- as an airplane flew by the event toting a sign with a message that concisely proclaimed that Biden's 2024 re-election bid is already over: "BI-DONE!" According to the New York Post's sources, the next-level aerial trolling was the work of an unnamed New York Republican donor.
RNC Chairman Michael Whatley addresses the Faith and Freedom Coalition’s Road to Majority summit in Washington, D.C., on Saturday, June 22, 2024. Michael Whatley, chair of the Republican National Committee (RNC), said Sunday that his party will roll out an “overwhelmingly positive” vision for America at the convention in a few weeks.
“We’re going to have a fantastic convention. We’re very, very excited about it. We’re going to have 50,000 delegates, guests and members of the media that are going to be in Milwaukee, and they’re going to see us roll out a vision for America that is going to be overwhelmingly positive,” Whatley said in an interview on NewsNation’s “The Hill Sunday,” when Chris Stirewalt asked what media should expect from the convention.
“We’re really excited about being able to present Donald Trump as our nominee to go forward with it,” Whatley added.
The Republican National Convention is slated to take place July 15-18 in Milwaukee, Wis., just four days after Trump is slated to face sentencing after he was found guilty in a New York criminal trial last month.
Stirewalt noted that Republicans punted on outlining a specific platform in 2020 and has evolved in its views significantly since 2016, when the party supported military assistance for Ukraine and a national ban on abortions at 20 weeks.
“Our platform is going to be pro-America. It is going to be pro-life. It is going to be pro-economy,” Whatley said, without providing specifics. “It is going to be fantastic across the board in terms of what it’s going to say about America. And we think that everybody is going to be happy with it, and we’re really excited about the opportunity to roll out into the general election campaign with Donald Trump as our formal nominee.”
Wisconsin is poised to play a major role in November’s election between Trump and President Biden. Trump narrowly won the state in 2016, then lost it to Biden in 2020 by roughly 20,000 votes. A Decision Desk HQ/The Hill average of polls shows Biden leading in Wisconsin by 0.1 percentage points, a virtual tie.
Former President Donald Trump speaks during a rally at Greenbrier Farms on Friday in Chesapeake, Va., the day after the first presidential debate of the 2024 election.
Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
Former President Donald Trump’s campaign is planning to present a “streamlined” platform ahead of the Republican National Convention later this month, according to a memo obtained by NPR.
“The platform is an opportunity to make our vision clear, and to lay out a framework for policy making, while rejecting any special interest influence that seeks to make public policy stray from our clear and straightforward objectives,” stated the memo, signed by Trump advisers Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles.
They said the platform should reflect Trump’s vision for America, and avoid creating lines of attack for his opponents.
The memo was first reported by The New York Times and others.
A big question is what the platform will say about abortion, which has been a political challenge for Republicans as the strictest abortion policies are out of step with the majority of Americans’ views. The platform committee has not yet met to determine what will be in the final document.
That debate won’t be out in the open, as has happened in the past. This year the platform committee will meet a week before the convention and it will be closed to the press, according to a source familiar with the decision, who was not authorized to speak publicly about the internal plans.
The Trump campaign is looking to avoid drama and unforced controversy while, as the memo states, they believe Trump is in a good position to win. They argue an unwieldy platform could be weaponized by Democrats and the media.
But closing the platform committee meeting to the press is a break with tradition.
Party platforms can can turn into lengthy documents, with lobbyists and advocates all trying to get their issues mentioned. The Republican platform in 2016 was long and not particularly clear or cohesive. And it did open Trump up to attacks about changes made to the platform related to Ukraine.
In 2020, Trump and the RNC didn't even reopen the platform, and stuck with the one from 2016.