Union leaders, reality stars and rivals: How the GOP is trying to appeal to everyone

MILWAUKEE — There was the former President Trump rival turned endorser. There was the union leader making his debut at a Republican convention. There was the hard-line MAGA congressman, and there was the model and reality TV star speaking about becoming a Trump convert.

This year’s Republican National Convention has had speakers of many stripes: Ones to appeal to Trump’s base, others to moderate Republican voters, some pleading to union workers, and others to young and minority voters. 

It’s a sign of how Trump has transformed the party in doing away with traditional conservative orthodoxy. It also serves as a signal that the GOP is hoping to expand its outreach heading into November.

“The reality is in America, we’re not going to agree on everything,” Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.) said Tuesday. “And if you can disagree with your spouse, or you can disagree with your parents, what the hell makes you think you’re going to agree with the politician 100 percent of the time? You’re not. 

“So you know, to me, it’s always a false narrative,” he continued. “The reality is, we are a big tent, we do have disagreements. We’re not all going to agree on every little thing that is said or done or proposed, but we have an opportunity here to address the challenges facing the American people.”

If the theme of the week has been a unified Republican Party in support of Trump, there have also been signs that Trump’s party is hoping to win over less traditional GOP voters. 

Monday’s keynote speakers to close out the evening were two unusual choices. One was Amber Rose, who is best known as a model who has appeared in hip hop videos and helped launch a feminist demonstration in Los Angeles called “SlutWalk.” The other was Teamsters President Sean O’Brien, who was the first leader of the labor group to address a Republican convention and who railed against corporate greed.

Tuesday’s most high profile speakers were two of Trump’s fiercest rivals earlier this year: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley, the latter of whom did not endorse Trump until she took the stage Tuesday night. Both extolled the importance of putting Trump back in the White House, with Haley in particular urging Republicans who may not always agree with Trump to support him in November.

And Lara Trump, the former president’s daughter-in-law and co-chair of the Republican National Committee, closed out the night by trying to portray a softer side of the GOP candidate as she described Saturday’s assassination attempt on Trump’s life. 

Lara Trump argued the Trump coalition included “Veterans, teachers, blue-collar workers, white-collar workers, active duty military, police officers, firefighters, small business owners, Latino supporters, Christian supporters, Jewish supporters, Black supporters, white supporters, Asian supporters, gay supporters, Republicans, independents, and yes, even Democrats.” 

“You may not have liked everything that he tweeted, but you cannot deny you were better off when he was in office,” she said.

The Trump campaign has been adamant that they can draw in more Black and Hispanic voters in November than previous Republican presidential campaigns. Trump met with O’Brien earlier this year and has bashed United Auto Workers leadership as he seeks to peel away rank-and-file union members, a key voting bloc for the Biden campaign.

There are some Republicans who still aren’t welcome in Trump’s GOP. Former President George W. Bush, former presidential candidate Mitt Romney, former vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan, former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), and Trump’s own former vice president, Mike Pence, were nowhere to be found at this week’s convention.

And some of Wednesday’s speakers were among the most hard-line Trump supporters in the party, including Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-Texas) and former White House trade adviser Peter Navarro.

Some conservatives, particularly those in the anti-abortion movement, have expressed frustration that Trump’s takeover of the party has meant abandoning long-held principles on trade, abortion and foreign policy in favor of political expediency.

“We are not appreciating enough how much there has been a marriage between populists and conservatives supporting the Republican party over the years and last night was truly [a] repudiation of conservatism,” Marc Short, a top Pence adviser, posted Tuesday on social platform X. “The platform is walking away from life and traditional marriage and fully embracing protectionism.”

The Biden campaign has been adamant it still sees an opening to win over Republican voters who remain skeptical of voting for Trump in November, even as Haley, DeSantis and others have fallen in line.

“Ambassador Haley said it best herself: someone who doesn’t respect our military, doesn’t know right from wrong, and ‘surrounds himself in chaos’ can’t be president,” Austin Weatherford, director of the Biden campaign’s Republican engagement efforts, said in a statement.

“That’s why millions of Republicans cast their votes in protest of Donald Trump and his attacks on our institutions, our nation’s allies, and civility,” Weatherford said. “There’s a home for every single one of these voters in the coalition President Biden is building of patriotic Americans who will always put country over party.”

Mychael Schnell contributed.