What happened on the second day of the Republican National Convention?

Day 2 of the Republican National Committee’s convention took place just a few days after the attempted assassination of the GOP’s presumptive nominee, Donald Trump. The convention where the former president will be officially nominated as the Republican nominee is taking place in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, a state that the Trump campaign hopes to win in November. On the first day, the freshman senator from Ohio, JD Vance, was named Donald Trump’s running mate, meaning he will likely face off against Vice President Kamala Harris in a debate in September. Both are trained as lawyers, which is sure to make for a combative discussion as they look to make their case to the voters a few short weeks before the election is set to take place.

As the convention draws to a close later this week, the party’s heavyweights will unite on stage to throw their full support behind Donald Trump and JD Vance. On Tuesday, the convention was dominated by governors, including former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, who had challenged Donald Trump in the Republican primary earlier this year. Despite the former president’s public attacks on her loyalty, she has steadfastly voiced her support for his candidacy since dropping out of the race. During Trump’s presidency, Haley served as the United States Ambassador to the United Nations. Some within the party had seen her as a potential vice president, capable of attracting more moderate voters, but the campaign took a different turn.

In addition to political leaders from across the country, Lara Trump, the wife of Eric Trump, spoke at the convention. In recent months, Lara was named co-chair of the RNC and has become a major surrogate for the former president, and has received public praise from the candidate for her work representing him in the media.

The RNC hears from governors

In addition to Nikki Haley, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, another primary challenger, spoke about why he supports Donald Trump as the party’s nominee. Gov. DeSantis’ campaign failed to get off the ground after a series of early flubs and constant attacks by Trump and his campaign team. The Florida Governor was on the attack during his speech, launching various blows to President Biden over his age and stamina. “We need a president who can lead twenty-four hours a day and seven days a week,” argued the governor, who may have forgotten that Donald Trump also operated on a lighter schedule than other presidents. Axios reported in 2018 that then-president Trump’s first meeting usually took place around 11:00 AM and would come to an end around 6:00 PM.

Before Gov. DeSantis took to the stage, West Virginia Govenor and Senate candidate Jim Justice gave a speech where he was joined by his bulldog, Baby Dog. Gov. Justice has served two terms as governor and is looking to fill the Senate seat left vacant by Democrat-turned-independent Joe Manchin. To entertain the audience, Gov. Justice shared some of Baby Dog’s premonitions about the election and the success Republicans will face in November.

Former White House Press Secretary and current Governor of Arkansas, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, also gave a speech. Gov. Sanders broke the record for the longest time without holding a press briefing when she served as press secretary. During her speech, she spoke about the attempt on the former president’s life, saying, “God separated President Trump from that assassin because God is not finished with him yet.” This is not the first time the Arkansas leader has spoken about Trump’s divine place as a leader of the United States. During an interview with the Christian Broadcasting Network in 2019, she said, “God calls all of us to fill different roles at different times, and I think he wanted Donald Trump to become president.” The Evangelical Christian community remains a critical component of the Republican base, and leaders like Gov. Sanders speak to those who hold these fundamentalist religious beliefs much better than the former president, who understands how critical they are to his coalition.

Nay-sayers turned allies make an apperance

The convention heard from Senators Marco Rubio of Florida and Ted Cruz of Texas, who had their own disputes with Trump in the 2016 election. Donald Trump gave Senator Rubio the nickname of ‘Little Marco’ and on one occassion called Senator Cruz’s wife ugly. Regardless, both embraced President Trump during his time in the White House, though the love was never fully returned. Both were passed up as vice presidential picks to Senator JD Vance.