FRANKFORT, Ky. — Monday, July 15, marks day one of the 2024 Republican National Convention from Milwaukee. Delegates from all 50 states will officially name former President Donald Trump as the GOP nominee for president in November.

What You Need To Know

  • Republican leaders in the KY House and Senate expect the party to unify behind former president Donald Trump 

  • The Republican National Convention is taking place in Milwaukee 

  • Delegates from the 50 states will name Trump as the presidential nominee 

  • GOP General Assembly leaders in Kentucky expect a major focus to be inflation and economy

Republican leaders in the Kentucky House and Senate expect this week’s Republican National Convention to be a party unification behind former President Donald Trump. Senate Majority Leader Damon Thayer, R-Georgetown, said the party is united.

“I think we are united; the platform was adopted with a supermajority, and I think there’s going to be a message about strong jobs, strong foreign policy, the exact opposite of what we’re seeing now with Joe Biden,” Thayer said.

Thayer said under Trump’s first term, America was stronger abroad, grocery and gas prices were lower, and the U.S./Mexico border was better protected.

“I think people are just making a decision based on the fact that their lives were better under Donald Trump than they are under the weak, left, liberal-leaning leadership of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris,” Thayer said.

House Speaker Pro Temp David Meade, R-Stanford, expects inflation and the overall economy to be addressed during the four-day convention.

“I think it’s the inflation issue. We need to work towards higher paying jobs; the Biden administration, as you’ve seen, the inflation has gone up, but wages have not gone up as much over the past several years,” Meade said.

As part of its 2024 platform, the GOP wants nationwide school choice. Kentucky Republicans have been vocal with their support for a constitutional amendment allowing public funds for nonpublic schools on the ballot for Kentucky voters this November.

“Here in our state, we work to say you can do both. You can be someone that supports both. We can give parents the choice to provide the education they want for their children, but also fund public education properly,” Meade said.

The platform also calls for tax cuts for workers. Thayer said Kentucky has been a leader on this front.

“They say that the states are the laboratories for the federal government, and I think President Trump could look at Kentucky and the three times Republicans have cut taxes and let that be a guide for him to do when he gets back in the White House,” Thayer said.

The 2024 GOP platform also emphasizes strengthening the military, cutting federal funding for schools, promoting critical race theory and gender ideology and improving public safety in major U.S. cities.

The RNC runs July 15-18.

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