Impact2020: August 25, 2020
We’re now in day 2 of the Republican National Convention. In this Impact2020 briefing, we wrap up last night’s action, preview tonight’s big speeches, and explore how GOP congressional candidates in competitive races are approaching this week’s events.
On the Ground
Duty and politics
With Jerusalem serving as his backdrop, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s aides say his convention speech tonight will highlight the Trump administration’s commitment to Israel and Middle East peace, Jonathan Shorman and Michael Wilner report for the Wichita Eagle. And it will “mark yet another moment when the possible 2024 Republican presidential contender has chosen to mix duty and politics.”
Credit: Debbie Hill, AP
Shorman and Wilner write that “the choice to deliver a partisan speech from Jerusalem … fits within a pattern of political maneuverings by Pompeo as secretary of state,” noting that he “has frequently met with political donors, repeatedly visited his home state of Kansas on official trips using government aircraft, and hosted a series of elaborate dinners attended by more Washington influencers than diplomatic heavyweights.”
Dennis Ross, a veteran Middle East envoy who served former Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama, said: “Giving a speech from Israel during a party convention is unprecedented. It would certainly play to the desire to portray the administration’s policies as good for Israel — and to gain politically from it vis-à-vis the Democrats.”
Pompeo has been coy about his future plans, but Kansas Republicans say it wouldn’t be a surprise if he held elected office again. Former Kansas GOP chairman Kelly Arnold said: “When Secretary Pompeo is no longer in this position, he’s going to have a lot of opportunity to look at what that next step is for him.”
South Carolina spotlight
The lone Black Republican in the Senate, Tim Scott of South Carolina, headlined the first night of the Republican National Convention, “saying that the country will be a place of opportunity under a second term for President Donald Trump,” The State’s Joseph Bustos reports.
Scott argued that Trump has benefited Black voters, “a demographic that has been a loyal voting block for Democrats.” Along with the tax cuts Trump signed into law, Scott cited the president’s support for his initiative to create opportunity zones, which gives tax incentives for investments in economically distressed areas. “President Trump built the most inclusive economy ever,” Scott said.
The senator also went on the attack against Joe Biden. Scott criticized the Democratic nominee’s past comments during a radio interview that Black people who couldn’t decide whether to support him weren’t truly Black, as well as his support for the 1994 crime bill.
Scott’s fellow South Carolina Republican, former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley, also addressed the convention Monday night. Haley, the first person of color and first woman to serve as South Carolina governor, argued that “America is not a racist country” as protests over racial injustice and the killing of Black Americans continue, The State’s Maayan Schechter reports.
Schechter writes that Haley, a potential 2024 presidential contender, used “her own personal story of how she grew up as the daughter of Indian immigrants” in a rural part of the state and highlighted her role in the response to the 2015 shooting at Charleston’s Mother Emanuel AME Church and the removal of the Confederate flag from State House grounds.
Earlier in the day, Trump briefly greeted a group of around 100 supporters in Columbia, S.C., Schechter reports.
California criticism
California, one of the bluest states in the country, drew plenty of attention from RNC speakers Monday night.
David Lightman and Adam Ashton report for the Sacramento Bee that former California school teacher Rebecca Friedrichs criticized Kamala Harris, one of the state’s U.S. senators and Biden’s VP pick, “for their role in fighting a lawsuit against the California Teachers Association to challenge fair share fees.”
“Democrats stand with deceptive teachers unions who pick on loving teachers and little kids,” Friedrichs said. “President Trump stands with America’s families, great teachers, and most importantly our children.”
Friedrichs filed a lawsuit against CTA that reached the Supreme Court in 2016, but justices deadlocked over the case, and the union was allowed to continue collecting fair share fees from teachers who had not opted into the organization. A 2018 lawsuit later “held that public employee unions cannot collect any kind of fee from workers unless the members choose to be a part of the labor organization.”
Later in the evening, Kimberly Guilfoyle, a Trump campaign adviser, attorney and former Fox News host, said Democrats turned California “into a land of discarded heroin needles in parks, riots in streets and blackouts in homes,” Lightman writes for the Bee.
Guilfoyle, who was married to California Gov. Gavin Newsom when he was San Francisco mayor, is now dating Donald Trump Jr.
Coming Friday: The Beyond the Bubble podcast team wraps up all the action at the Republican National Convention. Download and subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Stitcher | Google Podcasts
Trail Mix
Battleground state watch
The Dallas Morning News’ Gromer Jeffers Jr. takes a closer look at whether Democrats can turn Texas blue this November.
The Allentown Morning Call’s Laura Olson has five takeaways on how Pennsylvania voters see the presidential candidates, the coronavirus response, and voting logistics.
Biden’s campaign launched a new TV ad in Ohio and North Carolina criticizing Trump’s call to boycott Goodyear tires, Darrel Rowland reports for the Columbus Dispatch.
Following the police shooting of Jacob Blake, a 29-year-old Black man from Kenosha, Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers called for a special session of the state legislature to take up a package of police-reform bills, Mitchell Schmidt reports for the Wisconsin State Journal.
Battle for Congress
Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina, who is in a tight reelection battle, held an event in south Charlotte about the Paycheck Protection Program during the first day of the RNC, the Charlotte Observer’s Lauren Lindstrom reports.
Another GOP senator facing a tough race, Lindsay Graham of South Carolina, isn’t speaking at the RNC this week either, but said he would be with Trump when he gives his acceptance speech Thursday, Cailyn Derickson writes for the Rock Hill Herald.
David Valadao, a former California GOP congressman who is running for his old seat, said he plans to vote for Trump after refusing to back him publicly in 2016, Kate Irby reports for the Fresno Bee.
Number of the Day
44%
Entering the GOP convention, Trump’s approval rating stood at 44% nationally, according to the latest NBC News/SurveyMonkey tracking poll
Siblings, am I right?
Maryanne Trump Barry was secretly recorded saying some unkind things about her brother, President Donald Trump, and Trevor Noah wonders aloud “are we living in the 12th season of a soap opera now?”
For Planning Purposes
Aug. 25
First Lady Melania Trump, Eric and Tiffany Trump, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky are among the speakers at the RNC
Aug. 26
Vice President Mike Pence, Second Lady Karen Pence, Lara Trump and Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa are among the speakers at the RNC
Kamala Harris holds a virtual event focused on mobilizing Black voters in Detroit
Aug. 27
President Donald Trump, Ivanka Trump HUD Secretary Ben Carson, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas are among the speakers at the RNC
Aug. 28
President Donald Trump delivers a speech in Manchester N.H.
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This story was originally published August 25, 2020 at 12:56 PM.