politics

When former President Donald Trump accepted the Republican nomination for president on Thursday, he laid out his vision for leading the country. He painted a grim picture of the state of the United States and outlined a series of actions he planned to take. But his comments were marked by quite a lot of false and misleading information that distorted the facts about immigration, the U.S. economy and his past record.

Here are the facts.

TRUMP CARD: “The greatest invasion in history is taking place right here in our country – they're coming from every corner of the earth, not just South America, but Africa, Asia, the Middle East – they're coming from everywhere, and this government is doing nothing to stop them. They're coming from prisons and detention centers, mental institutions and asylums, and there are terrorists on a scale never seen before.”

THE FACTS: Trump spent an extended time in his speech on immigration and the mass influx of migrants into the United States, repeating several false and misleading claims, including that this has led to an increase in crime, citing recent spectacular and heinous crimes allegedly committed by people living within the country illegally as evidence.

But the notion that the influx has led to an increase in violent crime across the country will not be supported by facts. FBI statistics don’t separate crimes by the immigration status of the offender, and there isn’t a evidence of a rise in crime committed by migrants, either along the U.S.-Mexico border or in cities with the biggest influx of migrants, similar to New York. In fact, national statistics show that violent crime is declining.

Studies have found that individuals living within the country illegally are less more likely to be arrested for violent, drug and property crimes than native-born Americans. A 2020 study published by the National Academy of Sciences found that individuals living within the United States illegally make “significantly fewer felony arrests” than legal immigrants or native-born Americans.

There can also be no evidence that other countries send their murderers, drug traffickers and other criminals to the United States.

TRUMP CARD: “We had the best economy in world history.”

THE FACTS: This is much from true. The pandemic triggered an enormous recession during his presidency. The government borrowed $3.1 trillion in 2020 to stabilize the economy, and Trump left the White House with fewer jobs than when he took office.

But even factoring out the issues attributable to the pandemic, economic growth during Trump's first three years averaged 2.67%, which is pretty solid. But it doesn't come near the 4% average during Bill Clinton's two terms from 1993 to 2001, in line with the Bureau of Economic Analysis. In fact, growth has been stronger up to now under Biden than under Trump.

Under Trump, the unemployment rate fell to three.5% before the pandemic, however the labor force participation rate of 25- to 54-year-olds – the core of the US workforce – was higher under Clinton. The labor force participation rate was also higher under Biden than under Trump.

TRUMP CARD, on the US troops leaving Afghanistan: “We also left behind military equipment worth $85 billion.”

THE FACTS: According to reports from the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR), which oversees U.S. taxpayer money spent on the conflict, these figures are significantly inflated.

The $85 billion figure is analogous to a figure from a July 30 SIGAR quarterly report, which said the U.S. has invested about $83 billion in constructing, training and equipping Afghan security forces since 2001.

But that funding covered troop pay, training, operations and infrastructure, in addition to equipment and transportation over 20 years, in line with reports from SIGAR and Dan Grazier, a defense policy analyst on the Project on Government Oversight.

“We have spent well over $80 billion supporting Afghan security forces,” Grazier told AP in August 2021. “But that's not all the equipment costs.”

In fact, between 2002 and 2018, only about $18 billion of that quantity went into equipping the Afghan armed forces, in line with a June 2019 SIGAR report.

Another estimate from a 2017 Government Accountability Office report found that about 29% of the dollars spent on Afghan security forces between 2005 and 2016 were for equipment and transportation. Transportation included equipment in addition to commissioned pilots and aircraft to move officials to meetings.

If this percentage were to use over the complete two-decade period, the United States would have spent roughly $24 billion on equipment and transportation for Afghan forces since 2001.

But even when that's true, much of the military equipment could be obsolete after years of use, Grazier said. In addition, American troops have already scrapped equipment they not need and disabled dozens of Humvees and aircraft before leaving so that they couldn't be used again, said Marine Gen. Frank McKenzie, commander of U.S. Central Command.

Although the precise value of the US-supplied Afghan equipment seized by the Taliban is unknown, defense officials have confirmed that it’s of considerable value.

MIKE POMPEO, Secretary of State under Trump on the Americans held hostage by Hamas within the Gaza Strip: “President Biden is not even talking about the fact that Americans are still being held there by the Iranian regime.”

THE FACTS: President Joe Biden has spoken several times in regards to the Americans who were among the many 240 people taken hostage by Hamas on October 7, 2023. Eight Americans are reportedly still in captivity, including three who were killed.

For example, three days after the attack that sparked the war between Israel and Hamas, Biden said: “We now know that there are American citizens among those arrested by Hamas.”

Shortly thereafter, on October 20, 2023, he said: “As I told the families of the Americans held captive by Hamas, we are pursuing all options to bring their loved ones home.”

Biden released a press release on January 14, 2024, calling the day “a devastating and tragic milestone – 100 days of captivity for the more than 100 innocent people, including up to six Americans, still held hostage by Hamas in the Gaza Strip.”

Just recently, on April 27, he wrote in a post on his official Facebook page: “I will not rest until every hostage like Abigail, separated from their families and held by Hamas, is back in the arms of their loved ones. You have my word. Their families have my word.”

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Solemn and bandaged, Donald Trump accepted the Republican presidential nomination on the Republican National Convention on Thursday. In his speech, he described intimately the assassination attempt that might have ended his life just five days earlier. He then laid out a sweeping populist agenda, particularly on immigration.

The 78-year-old former president, best known for his boastful and aggressive rhetoric, began his acceptance speech with a softer and deeply personal message, one directly inspired by his brush with death. Moment by moment, as the group listened in silence, Trump described standing on the stage in Butler, Pennsylvania, turning his head to have a look at a chart on display when he felt something hit his ear. He raised his hand to his head and immediately saw that it was covered in blood.

“If I hadn't moved my head at that very last moment, the assassin's bullet would have hit its target,” Trump said. “And I wouldn't be here tonight. We wouldn't be together.”

Trump's speech, the longest convention speech in modern history at nearly 93 minutes, marked the climax and conclusion of a four-day major Republican pep rally that drew hundreds of conservative activists and elected officials to the swing state of Wisconsin as voters weigh an election that currently features two deeply unpopular candidates. Sensing a political opportunity after his near-death experience, the customarily bombastic Republican leader struck a brand new tone that he hopes will add much more momentum to an election that appears to be tipping in his favor.

“The discord and division in our society must be healed. We must heal it fast. As Americans, we are bound together by a single fate and a common destiny. We rise together. Or we fall apart,” Trump said, wearing, as he has done all week, a big white Band-Aid on his right ear to cover a wound he sustained in Saturday's shooting. “I'm running for president for all of America, not half of America, because winning for half of America is not a victory.”

While speaking in a softer tone than at his usual rallies, Trump also outlined an agenda led by what he promised could be the most important deportation effort in U.S. history. He repeatedly accused people crossing the U.S.-Mexico border illegally of staging an “invasion.” He also announced latest trade tariffs and an “America First” foreign policy.

Trump also falsely claimed that Democrats cheated within the 2020 election he lost, despite the fact that a series of federal and state investigations proved there was no systematic fraud. He also said “we must not criminalize dissent or demonize political disagreement,” despite the fact that he has long called for the prosecution of his opponents.

He didn’t mention abortion rights, a problem that has dogged Republicans for the reason that U.S. Supreme Court struck down the federal right to abortion two years ago. Trump nominated three of the six justices who overturned Roe v. Wade. At his rallies, Trump often takes credit for overturning Roe v. Wade and argues that states must have the appropriate to determine their very own abortion laws.

He also didn’t mention the revolt on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, by which Trump supporters tried to stop the confirmation of his defeat to Democrat Joe Biden. Trump has long referred to the people detained for the revolt as “hostages.”

In fact, Trump barely mentioned Biden and sometimes referred only to the “current administration.”

“It was Donald Trump who destroyed our economy, dismantled rights and failed middle-class families,” Jen O'Malley Dillon, Biden's campaign manager, said in an announcement after the speech. “Now he is seeking the presidency with an even more extreme vision of where he wants to take this country.”

The RNC ends at an uncertain time within the race

With lower than 4 months remaining until the top of the competition, major changes to the race are possible, if not going.

Trump's appearance got here as 81-year-old Democratic incumbent Biden clings to his party's likely nomination despite relentless pressure from key allies in Congress, donors and even former President Barack Obama, who fears he may not have the ability to hunt re-election after his disastrous debate.

Biden has long been urged by his allies to campaign more vigorously, but as an alternative he’s in isolation at his beach house in Delaware after being diagnosed with COVID-19.

Hours before the balloon rain on Trump and his family was scheduled to happen within the congressional hall, Biden's deputy campaign manager Quentin Fulks appeared nearby in Milwaukee and repeatedly reiterated that Biden wouldn’t resign.

“I don't want to be rude, but I don't know how many more times I can answer that,” Fulks told reporters. “There are no plans to replace Biden on the ballot.”

Strength in this system

Thursday's RNC program seemed designed to exude strength and masculinity while also implicitly rejecting Biden.

Ultimate Fighting Championship President Dana White called Trump “a real American bad ass.” Kid Rock sang a song with the chorus “Fight, fight!” that echoed the words Trump mouthed on stage in Pennsylvania as Secret Service agents surrounded him. And wrestling icon Hulk Hogan called the previous president “an American hero.”

Hogan received a standing ovation when he stood on the important stage and ripped off his shirt, revealing a red “Make America Great Again” shirt.

“As an entertainer, I try to stay out of politics,” Hogan said, breaking character briefly. “I can't stay silent any longer.”

Like many other speakers on the convention, former Fox News host Tucker Carlson said recent events were inspired by God and he wondered “if there isn't something bigger going on.”

“I think it changed him,” Carlson said of the shooting, praising Trump for not erupting in anger afterward.

“He has done his best to unite the country,” Carlson added. “It is the most responsible and unifying behavior of a head of state that I have ever seen.”

Former first lady Melania Trump and Ivanka Trump, the president's eldest daughter and former senior adviser, met within the hall of Congress before Trump's speech. It was their first appearance there. Neither woman spoke.

At nearly 93 minutes, the previous president's speech surpassed the 74 minutes he gave eight years ago, in response to the American Presidency Project on the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Republicans leave party convention united

The convention showcased a Republican Party reshaped by Trump since he shocked the GOP establishment and won over the party base on his approach to the party's nomination in 2016. Trump's defeated rivals – including Senators Ted Cruz of Texas and Marco Rubio of Florida, former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis – put aside their earlier criticism and gave him their full support.

Even his running mate, Ohio Senator JD Vance, chosen by Trump to hold his movement into the subsequent generation, was once a harsh critic, suggesting in a now-public private message that Trump could possibly be “America’s Hitler.”

After Trump's near assassination, security was a top priority in Milwaukee. But after nearly 4 days, there have been no serious incidents within the congressional hall or in the massive security perimeter surrounding it.

The Secret Service, supported by lots of of law enforcement officers from across the country, had a robust and visual presence. And at Trump's appearances every night, he was surrounded by a wall of security officers, regardless of where he went.

“I'm not supposed to be here tonight,” Trump said within the packed hall of Congress. The hundreds of people that listened in silence shouted back: “Yes, you are.”

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Associated Press reporters Michelle L. Price, Farnoush Amiri and Adriana Gomez Licon in Milwaukee and Emily Swanson in Washington contributed to this report.

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Follow AP’s coverage of the 2024 election at https://apnews.com/hub/election-2024.

politics

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Donald Trumpserious and bandaged, accepted the Republican presidential nomination on Thursday to the Republican National Convention in a speech describing how he felt during an assassination attempt that might have ended his life.

“I wasn't supposed to be here tonight,” Trump said within the packed hall of Congress as 1000’s of individuals listened in silence. “There was blood everywhere, and yet in some ways I felt very safe because I had God on my side.”

The 78-year-old former president, best known for his boastful and aggressive rhetoric, delivered a softer and deeply personal message that spoke on to his brush with death. He asked for a moment of silence for Corey Comperatore, the retired fire chief who was killed on the rally.

“The discord and division in our society must be healed. We just need to heal it fast. As Americans, we are bound together by a single fate and a common destiny. We rise together. Or we fall apart,” Trump said, wearing, as he has done all week, a big white Band-Aid on his right ear to cover a wound he sustained in an attack. the shooting on Saturday“I'm running for president for all of America, not for half of America, because winning for half of America is not a victory.”

Trump's speech marks the culmination and conclusion of a four-day major Republican pep rally that drew 1000’s of conservative activists and elected officials to the swing state of Wisconsin as voters weigh an election that’s currently two deeply unpopular candidatesSensing a political opportunity after his near-death experience, the usually bombastic Republican leader has struck a brand new tone that he hopes will add much more momentum to an election campaign that appears to be turning in his favor.

However, with lower than 4 months remaining until the top of the competition, major changes to the race are possible, if not going.

Trump's appearance comes as The 81-year-old Democrat Biden is clinging to his party's nomination despite relentless pressure from key allies in Congress, donors and even former President Barack Obama, who fears he may not seek re-election after his disastrous debate.

Biden, who has long been urged by his allies to campaign more vigorously, is as an alternative in isolation at his beach house in Delaware after diagnosed with COVID-19.

While Trump struck a softer tone than usual on Thursday night, the packed program on the convention's final day was also designed to reveal strength and implicitly rebuke Biden, and was decidedly more masculine than it had been for much of the week.

Ultimate Fighting Championship President Dana White called Trump “a real American bad ass.” Kid Rock sang a song with the chorus “Fight, Fight!” And wrestling icon Hulk Hogan called the previous president “an American hero.”

Hogan received a standing ovation when he stood on the foremost stage and ripped off his shirt, revealing a red Trump-Vance shirt with the words “Make America Great Again” printed on it.

“As an entertainer, I try to stay out of politics,” Hogan said, breaking character briefly. “I can't stay silent any longer.”

Like many other speakers through the convention, Carlson said recent events were inspired by God and he wondered “if there is something bigger going on.”

“I think it changed him,” Carlson said of the shooting, praising Trump for not erupting in anger afterward.

“He has done his best to unite the country,” Carlson added. “It is the most responsible and unifying behavior of a head of state that I have ever seen.”

Former First Lady Melania Trump and Ivanka Trump, the president's eldest daughter and former senior adviser, met within the hall of Congress before Trump's speech. It was their first appearance there. But neither woman spoke.

While the Republicans will emerge from their convention more united than ever before, the Democrats bitterly divided about whether Biden should proceed to steer the list. Biden follows his disastrous debate performance Democrats who ran against Trump last month have resisted growing pressure to drop out, though their very own party convention is scheduled for next month in Chicago.

Hours before the balloon rain on Trump and his family was scheduled to happen within the congressional hall, Biden's deputy campaign manager Quentin Fulks appeared nearby in Milwaukee and repeatedly reiterated that Biden wouldn’t resign.

“I don't want to be rude, but I don't know how many more times I can answer that,” Fulks told reporters. “There are no plans to replace Biden on the ballot.”

Nearly two-thirds of Democrats across the country say Biden should step down and let his party nominate one other candidate, based on an AP-NORC Poll published on Wednesday.

The convention showcased a Republican Party reshaped by Trump since he shocked the GOP establishment and won over the party base on his method to the party's nomination in 2016. Trump's defeated rivals – including Senators Ted Cruz of Texas and Marco Rubio of Florida, former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis – put aside their earlier criticism and gave him their full support.

Even his running mate, Ohio Senator JD Vance, chosen by Trump to hold his movement into the following generation, was once a harsh critic, suggesting in a now-public private message that Trump might be “America’s Hitler.”

After Trump's near assassination, security was a top priority in Milwaukee. But after nearly 4 days, there have been no serious incidents within the congressional hall or in the big security perimeter surrounding it.

The Secret Service, supported by lots of of law enforcement officers from across the country, had a robust and visual presence. And at Trump's appearances every night, he was surrounded by a wall of security officers, irrespective of where he went.

Meanwhile, Trump and his campaign team non-released information about his injury or the treatment he received.

“The assassin's bullet came within a quarter of an inch of taking my life,” Trump said. “Despite this heinous attack, we stand together tonight more resolute than ever.”

By CHRISTINE FERNANDO, ALI SWENSON and MICHELLE L. PRICE Associated Press

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Donald Trump 's running mate JD Vance will introduce himself to a national audience on Wednesday evening when he talks about Republican National Convention.

The Ohio senator's keynote address might be his first speech because the Republican vice presidential nominee. In fact, this 12 months's gathering can also be the primary RNC Vance has attended, in response to a Trump campaign source who was not authorized to talk publicly. Vance has been a relative political unknown, but has transformed himself quickly in recent times. by a pointy critic of Trump into an aggressive defender.

The 39-year-old has an excellent probability of becoming a possible leader of the previous president's political movement that has reshaped the Republican Party and broken long-standing political norms. As the primary millennial on a serious party's ticket, he enters the race as questions on the ages of the boys at the highest – 78-year-old Trump and 81-year-old President Joe Biden – were at the highest of voters’ list of concerns.

Vance is anticipated to stipulate his biography as someone who grew up poor in Kentucky and Ohio, whose mother was a drug addict and whose father was absent, but who rose to the best levels of U.S. politics. That story is meant to appeal to voters in middle-class America and make clear how Vance's upbringing shaped his views on issues resembling immigration, inflation and medicines, in response to an individual accustomed to the speech who was not authorized to talk publicly about it.

Vance is an Ivy League graduate and businessman. Memoirs, “Hillbilly Elegy ” delves into his blue-collar roots and made him nationally known when it was published in 2016. Today, the book is considered a window into some of the cultural forces that brought Trump to the White House that year.

Trump is expected to speak as a presidential candidate on Thursday, the last night of the party convention. It will be his first speech since he attack at a rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday.

Beyond Vance's prime-time speech, the Republican Party intends to focus on the theme of America's global strength on Wednesday.

Republicans claim the country has become a “global laughingstock” under Biden's leadership and are expected to make their case on Wednesday by invoking their motto of “making America strong again,” which is likely to include Trump's “America First” foreign policy, which has redefined relations with some allies and adversaries.

Democrats have sharply criticized Trump – and Vance – for his or her positions. Among other things, they questioned US support for Ukraine in its defense against the Russian invasion.

In a video released Wednesday by Biden's re-election campaign, Vice President Kamala Harris dismissed Vance as someone Trump knew “would just be a stamp pad for his extreme agenda.”

“Make no mistake: JD Vance will only be loyal to Trump, not to our country,” Harris says within the video.

Vance was a fierce critic of Trump on the time of his first election, calling him “pernicious” and someone who was “leading the white working class to a very dark place” in interviews, and once even referred to him as “America's Hitler.”

Vance emerged as certainly one of Trump's most aggressive defenders during his third run for office, arguing with reporters, campaigning for Trump and appearing on the candidate's side at his trial in New York.

In his first interview after accepting Trump's offer to affix the candidacy, Vance tried to clarify his metamorphosis. Vance said in an interview with Fox News Channel on Monday that Trump had been an amazing president and had modified his mind.

“I think he changed the minds of many Americans because he brought renewed peace and prosperity,” Vance said.

Donald Trump Jr., the son of the previous president and a detailed friend of Vance, can also be scheduled to provide a speech on Wednesday, in response to an individual near Trump Jr. who asked to not be identified since the official speech schedule has not yet been released.

Originally published: July 17, 2024 at 8:33 am

politics

CHAPIN, S.C. (AP) — Nikki Haley is releasing the delegates she won on this 12 months's Republican primary to support Donald Trump on the party's convention next week, a move she hopes will cement Republican support for the presumptive nominee.

On Tuesday, Haley decided to announce the 97 delegate votes she won in a dozen primaries and caucuses earlier this 12 months, in keeping with her former campaign team.

In a press release, the previous South Carolina governor and UN ambassador called for party unity on the upcoming Republican National Convention in Milwaukee. She also called Democratic President Joe Biden “unfit to serve a second term” and said that Vice President Kamala Harris – who Haley has repeatedly suggested could turn into president in Biden's place – “would be a disaster for America.”

“We need a president who will hold our enemies accountable, secure our borders, reduce our debt and get our economy back on track,” Haley said. “I encourage my delegates to support Donald Trump next week in Milwaukee.”

According to spokesman Chaney Denton, Haley is not going to be in Milwaukee next week.

“She wasn't invited and that's fine with her,” Denton said. “Trump deserves the convention he wants. She's made it clear she'll vote for him and wishes him the best.”

Haley was the last major Republican rival to Trump when she suspended her own campaign after Trump's victory on Super Tuesday, accusing him of making chaos and disregarding the importance of American alliances abroad.

Trump, for his part, repeatedly mocked her with the nickname “bird brain,” but scaled back those attacks after winning enough delegates in March to likely turn into the Republican nominee.

Trump's campaign team didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment on Haley's move, which was first reported by Politico.

The Republican National Committee follows each state's rules on the delegates promised to candidates who drop out of the race, so it’s going to be a patchwork of state-by-state rules that determine exactly what’s going to occur to Haley's delegates.

Biden's campaign has tried to win over supporters they see as true swing voters, but Haley said in May she would solid her vote for Trump, leaving the previous president to hunt support from her supporters.

MILWAUKEE (AP) — The Republican National Committee's policy committee has approved a policy paper that reflects former President Donald Trump's position opposing a federal abortion ban and leaving restrictions to states, missing the specific basis for a national ban for the primary time in 40 years.

According to 2 people briefed on the wording, the committee approved the text: “We believe that the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution guarantees that no person shall be denied life or liberty without due process of law and that the states are therefore free to enact laws to protect those rights.”

Two leading anti-abortion activists spoke on condition of anonymity about internal party deliberations.

The move comes as Trump imposes his priorities on the committee by attempting to avoid strict abortion language, at the same time as he campaigns for the Supreme Court to overturn the Roe v. Wade decision in 2022. Trump appointed three of the six justices who voted with the bulk to overturn the 1973 abortion rights precedent.

The abortion language was first reported within the New York Times.

Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of SBA Pro-Life America, praised the committee for reaffirming “its commitment to protecting unborn life through the 14th Amendment to the Constitution.”

Dannenfelser disagreed with Trump's view that the matter is solely within the hands of the states. “Under this amendment, it is Congress that enacts and enforces its provisions.”

The platform is a press release of core principles traditionally written by party activists. Trump's campaign wants the group drafting this 12 months's platform to supply a shorter document that excludes statements which can be endorsed by many conservatives but could also be unpopular with the broader electorate.

The program committee meeting begins Monday, per week before the beginning of the Republican National Convention in Wisconsin, where Trump is predicted to just accept his third consecutive nomination for president.

Trump has faced criticism from Democrats for months over his abortion policies. President Joe Biden's campaign has identified, amongst other things, that Trump nominated half of the Supreme Court justices who would strike down federal abortion rights in 2022. But among the most vocal anti-abortion figures on the campaign committee say the push for a federal ban on abortions at a certain stage of pregnancy must remain a celebration principle, even when it shouldn’t be an immediately achievable goal or necessarily prone to help Trump's campaign in November.

“I think that's problematic. We still need those principles clearly spelled out. Some of these fights are not over,” said Iowa state Rep. Brad Sherman, a celebration committee member who supported Trump's successful Iowa caucus campaign in January and likewise supports a federal limit on abortion.

While the abortion statement is prone to be probably the most controversial provision in his platform, there is also disputes over Trump's preference for tariffs, his isolationist approach to foreign policy and US involvement in global conflicts, particularly support for Ukraine in its fight against Russia.

Conservative activists, who’re used to having a seat on the table, were annoyed by what they said was a secret selection process for committee members and the closed-door meeting.

“For 40 years, the Republican Party and the GOP platform have benefited massively from an open and transparent process,” said Tim Chapman, the incoming president of Advancing American Freedom, a foundation led by Trump’s former Vice President Mike Pence.

Trump's campaign has tried to show the Republican National Committee right into a campaign vehicle. In a memo last month, top campaign advisers Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles said that “textbook platforms … are closely scrutinized and deliberately misrepresented by our political opponents.”

Trump ally Russ Vought serves as political director of the Republican Party platform-writing committee and can also be leading efforts to draft the 180-day agenda for Project 2025, a sweeping government transformation proposal that Trump said Friday he knew “nothing” about, despite several former aides being involved.

In 2018, Trump supported federal laws that will have banned abortions after the twentieth week of pregnancy. However, the measure didn’t receive the crucial support within the Senate.

However, after the 2022 midterm elections, Trump blamed Republicans who were strict opponents of abortion for the party's failure to achieve a bigger majority within the House of Representatives. Since then, he has criticized the strictest abortion bans in individual states.

An AP-NORC poll conducted in June 2023 found that about two-thirds of Americans consider abortion ought to be legal in all or most cases. The poll also found that 6 in 10 Americans consider Congress should pass a law guaranteeing access to legal abortion across the country.

Biden's campaign criticized Republicans for holding this system committee meetings in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, behind closed doors and reminded voters of Trump's previous support for a ban on abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy.

Tamara Scott, one among two members of the Republican National Committee in Iowa and likewise a member of the platform committee, said Trump could campaign on his position and likewise use this system to advance the longer-term goal of limiting the variety of deaths nationwide.

“That's our vision. Those are our core principles. That's who we are as a party,” Scott said. “I agree that a platform has to be clear and concise, but it has to convey our core principles.”

Trump was urged to maintain the language in his platform, in keeping with a letter signed by leaders of anti-abortion groups, including Dannenfelser, Ralph Reed, founder and chairman of the Faith and Freedom Coalition, and Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council.

Once this section is removed, it’ll be difficult to revive it on future platforms, Dannenfelser said.

“The discussion about the platform is about the future. It's about presidential campaigns 10 years from now, it's about Senate campaigns and House campaigns, it's about Republican campaigns everywhere,” Dannenfelser said. “It's not just about this election. And that's why it's important.”