The Republican National Convention kicks off Monday in Milwaukee in the wake of this weekend’s assassination attempt, as the GOP and former President Donald Trump could to have an even bigger audience than might have previously been expected for the event’s economic and immigration messages.
The convention also comes amid continued uncertainty about President Joe Biden’s fate. Biden is under increasing pressure from members of Congress to consider stepping aside because of concerns about his ability to carry out a second term.
Kip Tom, an Indiana farmer and former ambassador to the United Nations food and ag agencies under Trump, was invited by the former president to the Butler County, Pennsylvania, rally where Trump was shot on Saturday. Tom, who is helping coordinate agricultural support for Trump’s campaign, told Agri-Pulse Sunday he was seated at the front of the crowd, about 40 feet from the podium, when the shots rang out. He had earlier had a short meeting with the former president.
"We’ve been so divided" as a country, Tom said. "I hope we can use this to come again together like we need to."
He said he expected Republicans in Milwaukee this week to be even "more energized" as a result of the attack on Trump.
Immigration and border security will get top billing throughout the convention, including on Monday and Tuesday, and the convention also is expected to double down on Trump’s pledge to impose an across-the-board tariff on imported goods, an idea that is problematic for export-dependent farm commodities that could be the target of foreign retaliation.
The full list of speakers hadn’t been released publicly Sunday, but it will include Peter Navarro, a fierce advocate of Trump’s protectionist trade policy who is scheduled to be released Tuesday from a prison where he has been serving a sentence for contempt of Congress for refusing to testify about the Jan. 6 riot.
Also speaking at the convention is Jim Chilton, a fifth-generation cattle rancher who will talk about the impact of illegal immigration and drug trafficking. Chilton’s ranch touches the U.S.-Mexico border. “Jim’s concerns and issues with the border are shared by other ranchers in the Tucson Sector, regardless of whether their ranches also touch the border,” according to a GOP press release.
Monday’s session is expected to focus on economic issues with the title, “Make America Wealthy Once Again.”
A convention summary describing Monday’s session says, “During the first Trump administration, America experienced an unprecedented economic boom. President Trump’s America First economic policies slashed cumbersome regulations, cut tax rates, and reworked trade deals to create a fairer playing field for American industry and workers. … The second Trump administration will turn the page on the mindless “Bidenomics” agenda and usher in a new age of prosperity.
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Illegal immigration will get top billing again Tuesday when the theme is “Make America Safe Once Again.” Trump and Republicans believe the border debate is among their strongest issues. They have arranged speeches for the family members of slain people in which immigrants in the U.S. illegally face criminal charges, as part of Trump's broader attempts to blame crime on border policies.
Trump’s vice presidential nominee is expected to address the convention Wednesday, when the convention will otherwise be focused on national security issues. Trump gives his acceptance speech on Thursday night with the theme, “Make America Great Once Again.”
Tom, who is co-chair of Farmers and Ranchers for Trump Coalition, said he hoped the convention would show “an invigorated Republican party that's willing to understand the importance of agriculture, what it drives, what it contributes, to our economy. And make sure we have policy in place to make sure we can deliver on that growth."
Tom said agriculture "has been taken for granted in the United States. Our food system has been taken for granted. And I hope we have a Republican leadership going forward in the future, whether it's in the House of Representatives, the Senate, or in the White House that understands the importance of agriculture and gives us the due attention it … needs to have.”
Rep. David Rouzer, R-N.C., says in an Agri-Pulse Newsmakers interview that he expected the convention to send clear messages around immigration as well as regulations and taxes.
“Folks are very, very concerned about the border, the number of terrorists that are coming across the crime in their communities; the plethora of fentanyl and other drugs that are taken American lives every day, because of the open border,” said Rouzer.
“They're very, very concerned. about inflation, and it is just absolutely crushing every household. And those that are lower income and middle income really bear the brunt of it.”And we've got to grow the economy, we’ve got to have new innovation.
Rouzer added, “We need to make the tax cuts permanent that are about to expire. We need to roll back onerous rules and regulations and bring certainty again, to the economic workplace.
Trump has called for making permanent the individual tax provisions of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act that are expected to expire at the end of 2025. The provisions include cuts in individual tax rates, the Seciton 199A deduction for small-business income, and a doubling of the estate tax exemption.
The premiere agriculture-themed event during the convention is a luncheon at Machine Farms, a corn, soybean and cattle operation outside Milwaukee, called the “Great American Farm Fair.” The event is sponsored by the GOP Farm Committee, Farmers and Ranchers for Trump Coalition. House Ag Committee Chairman Glenn “GT” Thompson, R-Pa., and Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., are honorary chairs of the event.
The Senate Ag Committee’s ranking Republican, John Boozman of Arkansas, also will be in Milwaukee along with other GOP lawmakers.
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