Republicans are planning a televised convention similar to the event just staged by the Democrats but with more live programming, per a directive from President Trump.
The confab celebrating the renomination of Trump is to feature a mixture of prerecorded and live remarks by prominent party officials and rank-and-file voters, with most live coverage happening in the 10 p.m. EDT hour over four nights.
The largely, but not entirely, virtual gathering will culminate Thursday evening, when Trump formally accepts the GOP nomination for a second term on the South Lawn of the White House in front of a live audience of Republican National Committee delegates, elected officials, and grassroots supporters.
Throughout the week, wealthy Trump donors and influential campaign backers are planning to congregate at the Trump International Hotel in Washington for convention watch parties and other meetings.
Matt Schlapp, chairman of the American Conservative Union and a top Trump supporter, said clues to the president’s convention message can be found in the speeches he delivered this past week as he traveled the country for smaller, coronavirus-acceptable rallies that aimed to counterprogram Joe Biden’s coronation as the Democratic nominee.
“He’s already giving his speech in little vignettes at airport hangers,” Schlapp said Friday. “He should continue to be content full — talk about all of the things he did and how the job is half done.”
Republican sources said the basic architecture of the convention was in place but that many of the details regarding what viewers would see on their television screens were in flux. One of those details appears to be how the RNC plans to handle the traditional delegate roll call vote certifying Trump as the party’s 2020 presidential nominee.
Traditionally, RNC delegates would gather on the convention floor, and slowly, each state’s delegation would announce its tally for the nominee with great fanfare, until put over the top. A smattering of RNC delegates were meeting in Charlotte this week, and through Monday, to conduct party business that includes the certification of Trump’s renomination. But exactly how the party intends to carry out this task was being kept under wraps.
“There has been zero info to the members except for the generalities discussed in public,” a GOP convention delegate said.
A Republican official in Washington, attempting to obtain more information on the convention for planning purposes, said the RNC has not been forthcoming. “We can’t get answers,” this Republican said.
Elected Republicans invited to speak include South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott; South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem; former United States ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley; House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy of California; Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky; Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst, who is up for reelection and in a dogfight; and Sen. Tom Cotton. Cotton’s prerecorded speech airs Thursday and is focused on contrasting Trump and Biden on national security.
The Democrats had months to plan their virtual convention, deciding early on that the pandemic made gathering in Milwaukee too risky. But Republicans only had weeks to prepare after Trump pulled the plug on having it live in Jacksonville. The short lead time, combined with the Trump campaign’s move to study the Democratic convention for clues to what worked well and what did not, was extending decisions on the production’s creative direction to the eleventh hour.
However, some elements of the convention are solidified. Vice President Mike Pence is to accept renomination as Trump’s running mate from Fort McHenry in Maryland. And the themes of the gathering, designed to portray Trump’s patriotic vision for the country over the next four years, are locked in, beginning with Monday evening’s “Land of Promise,” followed by “Land of Opportunity,” then “Land of Heroes,” and finally, “Land of Greatness.”
