Women headline a night at the RNC that framed Trump as compassionate, not combative
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The speech Lara Trump originally wrote was not the speech she delivered Tuesday night at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee. Instead, she recalled the moment she realized what had happened to former President Donald Trump at his rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday.
"Our family has faced our fair share of death threats ... none of that prepares you as a daughter-in-law to watch in real time someone try to kill a person you love," she said.
"None of that prepares you as a mother to quickly reach for the remote and turn your young children away from the screen so that they're not witness to something that scars the memory of their grandpa for the rest of their lives."
Officially, the theme for Day 2 of the convention was crime and safety — speakers told harrowing stories of family members who had been killed or died of drug overdose. But underlying that message was an attempt to humanize the president, primarily by women in Trump’s close personal and political orbit.
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Their remarks aimed to counter the criticism that Trump has faced over his past treatment of women and his combative campaign persona.
The assassination attempt, at least for Lara Trump, was a clear focal point in this effort to reframe who Trump is for a large audience. Trump is known for tough talk, but the women Tuesday night described him as a compassionate unifier.
Lara Trump intertwined both praise for the former president's political record and personal anecdotes of who he is in their family: father, grandfather and father-in-law.
“Thank you for your resilience. Thank you for continuing on. Thank you for raising wonderful kids. Thank you for being an amazing grandfather,” she said directly to Trump in the crowd.
“Thank you for never giving up on me, and thank you for never giving up on our country,” she added.
Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders shared her own moments with Trump earlier in the evening, recalling her time as White House press secretary. She served as another humanizing voice for Trump, painting the picture of a compassionate and supportive boss.
She told a story about bringing her three young children to Take Your Child to Work Day. She described her son, Huck, running toward then-President Trump across the Rose Garden as he came to greet the children in attendance.
"Being the gracious person he is, President Trump bent down to give him a big hug," Sanders recalled.
"And right in front of everyone, Huck sidestepped the president, completely ignoring him in front of everyone and ran straight into my arms," she continued, to laughter in the audience. Sanders said that as a family man, Trump took the moment in stride.
Perhaps the most notable presence was from Trump’s top rival in the Republican primary, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley — who was added to the speakers list on Sunday.
While Haley did not touch the same emotional notes as Lara Trump and Sanders, she offered a bridge to voters who would not otherwise support the former president, having appealed to more independent voters and moderate Republicans than Trump in the primaries.
“We should acknowledge that there are some Americans who don't agree with Donald Trump 100% of the time. I happen to know some of them. And I want to speak to them tonight,” she said.
“My message to them is simple. You don't have to agree with Trump 100% of the time to vote for him,” she added. “Take it from me. I haven't always agreed with President Trump, but we agree more often than we disagree.”
Haley was the last candidate to get out of the Republican nomination fight this year, which caused considerable tension between her and the former president.
In Milwaukee, Haley took the stage to a mix of cheers and boos.
“Donald Trump asked me to speak at this convention in the name of unity," she said. "It was a gracious invitation, and I was happy to accept."
Traditionally during a convention, the spouse of the presidential nominee takes on the role of humanizing the candidate. But former first lady Melania Trump was absent on Tuesday night.
In a written statement after the attack on her husband, she described the “human side” of Trump that has been “buried below the political machine."
“This morning, ascend above the hate, the vitriol, and the simple-minded ideas that ignite violence. We all want a world where respect is paramount, family is first and love transcends,” she said. “We can realize this world again. Each of us must demand to get it back.”
Unity is expected to be a major theme of Trump’s speech at the convention Thursday night, as well, even as the political sparring picks back up in the tight race against President Biden for the White House.
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