The third night of the Republican National Convention was filled with impassioned defenses of law enforcement and celebrations of the military, calling them heroes under assault from the Left while President Trump stands with them.
“President Trump and I know the men and women that put on the uniform of law enforcement are the best of us,” declared Vice President Mike Pence in his acceptance speech. “They put their lives on the line every day.” Pence paid tribute to a Department of Homeland Security officer who died during rioting as his widow looked on.
“Leftists try to turn them into villains. They try to ‘cancel’ them,” But I’m here to tell you that these heroes can’t be canceled,” said Sen. Marsha Blackburn, a Tennessee Republican. She later added, “Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, and their radical allies try to destroy these heroes because if there are no heroes to inspire us — government can control us.”
One veteran Republican strategist said it was smart to suggest to voters they have a lot to lose by supporting Biden.
“In 2016, then-candidate Donald Trump argued to many in the electorate — ‘what do you have to lose’ by voting for me? Hillary Clinton and the national media scoffed, but the electorate didn’t,” said Ford O’Connell. “In 2020, after three nights, President Trump and his surrogates are cogently making the case to many of those same voters that you have a lot to lose if you don’t reelect him. If team Trump continues to make this case over the next 60-plus days while simultaneously reminding voters that Biden is a Trojan horse for socialism, the voters who Trump needs to recapture — seniors, independents, suburbanites, conservative minorities — will come home to him, and Trump will win reelection.”
“Heroism is grace, not perpetual outrage,” said Rep. Dan Crenshaw, a Texas Republican. “Heroism is rebuilding our communities, not destroying them. Heroism is renewing faith in the symbols that unite us, not tearing them down.” Crenshaw invoked “the cop that gets spit on one day and will save a child’s life the next.”
“Unfortunately, chaos results when elected officials in cities like Portland, Minneapolis, Chicago, and New York make the conscious and very public decision not to support law enforcement,” said Michael McHale, president of the National Association of Police Organizations, which has endorsed Trump. “Shootings, murders, looting, and rioting occur unabated. The violence we are seeing in these and other cities isn’t happening by chance; it’s the direct result of elected leaders refusing to allow law enforcement to protect our communities.”
“As hard as Democrats try, they can’t cancel our heroes. They can’t contest their bravery, and they can’t dismiss the powerful sense of service that lives deep in their souls,” Blackburn said. “So they try to defund them — our military, our police, even ICE — to take away their tools to keep us safe.”
There was a video testimonial about Trump’s support for veterans. “He’s the kind of president that you would run through a brick wall for if he asked you to,” one said. Another called him the greatest president we’ve ever had.
“I know [Trump] will never stop fighting for justice, for law and order, and for peace and security in our communities,” said Sam Vigil, whose wife was murdered by an illegal immigrant, in a speech.
First responders, medical professionals treating coronavirus victims, and women’s suffragists were also celebrated as heroes throughout the night. The convention featured a number of women at the podium Wednesday night, many of them seeking to soften Trump’s image: Blackburn, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst, New York Rep. Elise Stefanik, second lady Karen Pence, White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany, daughter-in-law and campaign adviser Lara Trump, and counselor to the president Kellyanne Conway.
“A woman in a leadership role still can seem novel,” Conway said. “Not so for President Trump. For decades, he has elevated women to senior positions in business and in government. He confides in and consults us, respects our opinions, and insists that we are on equal footing with the men.”
“Walking the halls of the Trump Organization, I saw the same family environment,” said Lara Trump. “I also saw, firsthand, the countless women executives who thrived there, year after year. Gender didn’t matter, what mattered was someone’s ability to get the job done.”
It’s a pitch designed to make inroads with suburban voters who have abandoned the GOP under Trump amid rallying cries for the conservative base.
One Democratic strategist suggested the president was doing the Democrats’ work for them by making the convention too much about Trump.
“Tonight, Lara Trump joined the long and never-ending list of speakers with the Trump name that are speaking this week,” said Brad Bannon. “Biden is winning because he has turned this campaign into a referendum on Donald Trump’s performance. The president should turn the election into a choice between the two candidates, and he won’t be able to accomplish that when the meeting has become a Trump family reunion. The president’s ego has gotten in the way of sound, strategic judgment this week.”
