Republican National Convention becomes a celebration of Trump

Amidst falling poll numbers, economic hardships, a raging pandemic, and the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement, United States President Donald Trump walked into the Republican National Convention and managed to make it all about himself, as is his wont.

Presidential nominating conventions are traditionally occasions where Americans get to evaluate a party for its principles, ideas and vision for the country, and for political parties to reach out to voters on issues. The Republican National Convention failed to do that in the four-day-long extravaganza.

Strangely, the Republican Party did not even have a new political platform this year. So, it just reused the old platform from 2016, letting the convention degenerate into a mere encomium for Trump. The resounding leitmotif at the convention was that traditional American values are at threat, and only Trump can save America from falling into economic ruin, socialism, violence and anarchy, and from falling apart altogether.

The list of delegates, which included many members of Trump’s family, while not as diverse as the Democratic National Convention, still had much more diversity than expected, and was meant to convey the message that the US is a land of opportunity rather than a land of systemic racism.

People in India would be enthused by Nikki Haley’s impressive speech, which will probably propel her into one of the primary contenders for the Republican nomination in 2024. Her line “I was a Brown girl in a Black and White world” certainly was one of the lines worth remembering from this convention. However, the inclusion of others like the McCloskey couple, who had brandished their guns at peaceful BLM protestors, show that the Republican Party is not going to change its positions on racial injustice or on gun rights anytime soon. Neither is it going to change its position on abortion, going by the speeches at the convention.

The Republican Party has for some time had trouble attracting women voters, a problem which has been compounded by Trump’s behaviour. Polls show an almost 20 percent difference among women between him and Democratic Party presidential candidate Joe Biden. So, there was an attempt to reach out to women voters, particularly the suburbanites, by getting prominent women to speak at the convention, emphasising the party’s tough policy on law and order and security at a time of political chaos.

Little time was spent on how to kickstart the economy at a time when job losses are reaching Great Depression levels at 20.6 million since March. The COVID-19 pandemic was downplayed despite over 180,000 deaths and 5.8 million cases, and polls showing that just 36 percent of Americans approve of how Trump has handled it.

A fair amount of time was spent on speaking about the dangers of ‘cancel culture’, a form of social boycott in which an individual who has said something that offends some people is called out and shunned. Cancel culture is seen as an attack on freedom of speech by many Americans, particularly the Republicans. The media also came under attack for being biased.

Like with all things Trump, ethical issues have been raised around the Republican National Convention. For instance, his use of the White House (a federal office) to deliver his campaign speeches has been criticised; the House of Representatives, controlled by the Democrats, has launched an investigation into Mike Pompeo’s decision to speak at the convention, while on a visit to Jerusalem, as it seems to be a violation of the Hatch Act which bans federal employees from taking part in political activity while on duty.

The Republican National Convention made no attempt at becoming transcendental unlike Biden who is trying to get swing voters and moderate Republicans to vote for him. The whole Republican National Convention was about re-energising the old faithful, the White Conservative Christians, who fear that the US is becoming too progressive and too diverse, and who helped Trump win in 2016. The attacks on the Democratic opponents, including attacks on Biden’s faith, show that the highly-polarised nature of American politics is here to stay.

Trump has warned of a rigged election throughout his campaign. The Republican National Convention was no exception. There is speculation that he might not readily concede defeat if he loses, and that could set off a whole different conundrum for the US, beginning with legal battles. Let us hope it does not come to that.

Uma Purushothaman teaches at the Department of International Relations and Politics, Central University of Kerala. Views are personal.