Monday night’s speakers painted two very different pictures of the future of America.
While rising GOP stars Sen. Tim Scott and former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley offered a rosier, more upbeat picture of Donald Trump’s presidency, their voices were overshadowed by the remarks that preceded them — a grim, bombastic view of the future of the country should Joe Biden be elected come November.
Here are four takeaways from the first night of the RNC:
PREDICTING A “HORROR FILM” IF DEMOCRATS WIN
At the opening night of the Republican National Convention, speakers predicted a dark view of America’s future if former Vice President Joe Biden wins the November election.
Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz likened a possible Biden presidency to a “horror film” in his remarks: “They’ll disarm you, empty the prisons, lock you in your home, and invite MS-13 to live next door,” he said.
After President Trump slammed last week’s Democratic National Convention as the “darkest and angriest and gloomiest convention in American history,” organizers promised an optimistic and upbeat tone for the Republican National Convention. Monday night’s theme was “Land of Promise.”
Even so, Montana business owner Tanya Weinreis warned of the “terrifying prospect of Joe Biden” and suggested that businesses faced threats from mobs and pandemic shutdowns. California educator Rebecca Friedrichs blasted labor unions, saying they put conservative Christian values at risk.
Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan slammed the state of America’s major cities, which he said are “all run by Democrats.”
“Crime, violence, mob rule. Democrats refuse to denounce the mob,” Jordan said. “And their response to the chaos? Defund the police, defund border patrol, defund the military. And while they’re doing all of this, they’re also trying to take away your guns.”
Senior adviser to the Trump Campaign Kimberly Guilfoyle also suggested a grim picture of the future of America under Democrats, citing California as a cautionary tale. Guilfoyle called it “a place of immense wealth, immeasurable innovation, and the Democrats turned it into a land of discarded heroin needles in parks, riots in streets, and blackouts in homes.”
Donald Trump Jr. appeared to paint a rosy picture when he said America “will be stronger than ever, because when we put our mind to it, there’s no obstacle that America can’t surmount” — but he followed it up by accusing the “radical left” of “canceling” the Founding Fathers, attempting to “bully” Conservatives “into submission” and attacking “freedom of thought, freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and the rule of law.”
Trump Jr. closed by urging voters to reject “radicals who want to drag us into the dark.”
FUTURE REPUBLICAN FRONT-RUNNERS?
The Republican Party gave primetime speaking slots to two of its rising stars who could represent the future of the GOP: Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley and South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott.
The two devoted a significant portion of their remarks about how their upbringings helped shape who they are. Haley, the daughter of Indian immigrants, called herself “a brown girl in a black and white world” and said they never gave in to hate after facing “discrimination and hardship.”
“America is a story that’s a work in progress,” she said. “Now is the time to build on that progress and make America even freer, fairer, and better for everyone.”
She also said that “America is not a racist country,” citing how South Carolina recovered from the 2015 Charleston church shooting without erupting into violence.
“After that horrific tragedy, we didn’t turn against each other,” Haley said. “We came together – Black and white, Democrat and Republican, and together, we made the hard choices needed to heal – and removed a divisive symbol, peacefully and respectfully. What happened then should give us hope now.”
“America isn’t perfect,” she added, “but the principles we hold dear are perfect. If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that even on our worst day, we are blessed to live in America.”
Meanwhile, Tim Scott, the only Black Republican member of the Senate, closed out the night talking about his grandfather, who would have turned 99-years-old Tuesday: “Growing up, he had to cross the street if a white person was coming. He suffered the indignity of being forced out of school as a third grader to pick cotton, and never learned to read or write.”
“Yet, he lived to see his grandson become the first African American to be elected to both the United States House and Senate,” he added.
Scott said that his family “went from Cotton to Congress in one lifetime, and that’s why I believe the next American century can be better than the last.”
Both candidates have been projected as potential 2024 Republican candidates — former Rep. Trey Gowdy has urged Scott to run for higher office, and several South Carolina politicians have thrown their support behind Haley.
APPEALING TO BLACK VOTERS
In a recent campaign ad that went viral, Maryland Congressional candidate Kim Klacic told viewers that “Black people don’t have to vote Democrat.”
According to the Baltimore Sun, the ad drew the attention of President Trump, which led to an invite for her to speak at the RNC. Her remarks Monday night echoed a similar tone:
“I want Baltimore to be an example to Republicans around the country that we can compete in our inner cities if we reach out to the citizens and deliver real results.”
In a similar vein, Democratic Georgia State Rep. Vernon Jones, who reportedly voted for George W. Bush in 2000 and 2004, and President Barack Obama in 2008, accused his party of wanting to keep Black people on “their mental Plantation.”
“We are free people with free minds,” Jones said, before praising Trump’s support of criminal justice reform and funding of historically Black colleges and universities.
Sen. Tim Scott seemed to echo this statement in his closing keynote address: “Joe Biden said if a Black man didn’t vote for him, he wasn’t truly Black.”
“Joe Biden said Black people are a monolithic community,” he went on to say.
TRUMP IN THE SPOTLIGHT
From his surprise speech in Charlotte earlier in the day to his appearances throughout the first night of the RNC, President Trump appeared to show that he will be a presence throughout every night of the convention.
Trump’s appearances during the first night came from two taped appearances at the White House. The first was a meeting with frontline workers, including a postal worker, two nurses, and a police officer; the second was a sit-down with six hostages who the Trump administration helped bring home to the U.S.
Speaking to American pastor Andrew Brunson, who was held by the Turkish government for two years, Trump said that Turkey’s president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was “very good” to the president.
“I know they had you scheduled for a long time, and you were a very innocent person, and he ultimately, after we had a few conversations, he agreed,” Trump added. “So we appreciate that, and we appreciate the people of Turkey.”
It’s worth noting that in both appearances, neither Trump nor the participants wore masks and did not appear to abide by social distancing guidelines recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.