Trump's RNC eyes the future, but can't let go of 2020
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MILWAUKEE — Inside the convention center, the GOP's forward-looking signage is impossible to miss:
- Make America Wealthy Once Again. Make America Safe Once Again. Make America Strong Once Again. And Make America Great Once Again.
Why it matters: Taking a lesson from their disappointing 2022 midterms, top Republicans are intent on running a campaign centered on this election, not the last one. But the ghosts of 2020 — and of Jan. 6 — are everywhere.
The big picture: At Donald Trump's Republican National Convention, acknowledging "election irregularities" in 2020 is the minimum bar for entry.
- Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio), Trump's new running mate, has said he would not have certified the 2020 election had he been vice president on Jan. 6, 2021, instead of Mike Pence.
- Jan. 6 protesters and fake electors are among those serving as delegates at the RNC, including Nevada GOP chair Michael McDonald, who seconded Trump's official nomination on Monday.
- Some of those electors have been indicted for their role in the 2020 scheme to overturn the election, including three Arizona delegates who requested permission to attend the convention as they await trial.
Driving the news: Donald Trump Jr. offered a telling response when asked by Axios' Mike Allen on Tuesday under what scenario his father could lose to President Biden in November: "I'd say cheating."
- Echoing the former president's false claims about voter fraud, Trump Jr. mocked the idea that 2020 was the "freest and fairest election ever" and warned there are "no lengths" Democrats won't go to win.
- "We have to keep our foot on the gas every second of the day until Nov. 5, or — as it goes lately — Nov. 20 or Jan. 20, whatever," Trump Jr. said at Axios House in Milwaukee.
Zoom in: Arizona's Kari Lake — one of the country's leading election deniers — won a huge ovation as she kicked off a lineup of Senate candidates speaking on night two of the RNC.
- Lake has tried to steer clear of rehashing her conspiracy theories on the campaign trail and did not reference the 2020 election in her convention speech.
- But the MAGA favorite hasn't given up on her fraud obsession — and just last week asked Arizona's Supreme Court to overturn her loss in the 2022 gubernatorial election, even as she runs for Senate.
Other prominent election deniers who spoke on Tuesday include House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Ohio), House GOP conference chair Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) and Ohio Senate candidate Bernie Moreno.
Between the lines: One famous RNC attendee who didn't get a speaking slot this year is Trump's former lawyer Rudy Giuliani, who faces financial ruin and multiple indictments for his post-2020 election activities.
- On the convention floor Tuesday, Giuliani told CNN that he has "no regrets" about defaming two Georgia election workers, to whom he was ordered to pay $148 million in damages.
The bottom line: In a pre-recorded video broadcast to the convention hall Tuesday night, Trump punctured any notion that his GOP was moving on from 2020.
- "We never want what happened in 2020 to happen again," Trump said, making an aggressive appeal for Republicans to "protect the vote" by turning out in massive numbers.
- "Keep your eyes open, because these people want to cheat and they do cheat, and frankly it's the only thing they do well."
