Republicans leave Milwaukee confident of November victory

Congress was absent from Capitol Hill this week as Republicans gathered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to nominate their 2024 standard-bearers: former President Donald J. Trump accepted the Republican Party nomination for president, and Senator J.D. Vance of Ohio accepted the nomination to be Trump’s running mate for vice president.

Though Milwaukee is 1,500 miles from Mexico, the crisis at our southern border took center stage at the Republican National Convention. Governor Greg Abbott (R-TX) set the tone, telling GOP delegates, “Under Joe Biden, illegal immigration has skyrocketed. About 11 million immigrants have crossed our border illegally under his administration. That’s more than the entire population of Michigan. It’s even twice the population here in Wisconsin.” Abbott added, “Biden has welcomed rapists, murderers, even terrorists into our country … and the price we’ve paid has been deadly.”

On Salem Media Group’s THIS WEEK ON THE HILL news program, Congressman Mark Green (R-TN), chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, said the momentum of Donald Trump’s campaign gives him hope that major changes to border policy are on the horizon.

“It’s been over a year since we passed HR2, the most conservative border bill in the history of our country, and it’s been sitting in the Senate. Chuck Schumer has done nothing with it.” Green says that if the Senate had had genuine objections to parts of the House bill, they could have easily added amendments and gone to a conference committee to introduce HR2. But they just don’t care. They’re all for this president’s open-door policy.

Chairman Green added that he is excited about the prospect of Republicans retaking the White House in November and hopefully regaining a majority in the Senate while expanding their seat in the House of Representatives. He said the greatest threat to America’s national security is our porous southern border.

U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) told THIS WEEK ON THE HILL host Tony Perkins that combined with the “free fall” the Democratic Party has experienced in recent weeks, there is a very real possibility that President Biden will withdraw (or be forced to resign) as the Democratic nominee in November. That would throw the Democrats into chaos ahead of their own national convention in Chicago next month.

Chairman Johnson says Republicans are not taking anything for granted and they are not yet looking at the curtains in the White House. However, he and House leaders are working to lay out a blueprint for new leadership in the administration starting in January so that Republicans are ready to lead this country.

“We really believe that we have momentum on our side,” Johnson said. “If this all continues in the manner that we are seeing, we expect Donald Trump to be elected president and we have a chance to regain control of the Senate. If that happens, we will have a united government and it will be a time to unite the country.”

Johnson noted that congressional delegates and Americans across the country have been reminded of the preciousness of human life after watching Donald Trump nearly die from an assassin’s bullet at his recent rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. Millions of concerned Americans included their prayers for Trump’s safety and for all those affected by the assassination attempt, and Johnson hopes everyone will continue to keep America’s leaders in prayer throughout the remainder of the 2024 campaign.

That sentiment was shared by THIS WEEK ON THE HILL guest Jack Hibbs, senior pastor at Calvary Chapel Chino Hills in California. In the wake of the failed assassination attempt on President Trump, Pastor Hibbs asks, “Does God need to give us any more indication that we are a nation in danger without Him? Our school system, our justice system, all of the violence…how much further does God have to go to warn us that we—His people—need to repent and seek His face?”

Prayers were woven through the GOP rally in Milwaukee, including moving tributes to the 13 U.S. soldiers who died during Joe Biden’s botched withdrawal from Afghanistan and then delegates taking time to pray after learning of the passing of conservative broadcasting legend Lou Dobbs. Evangelist Franklin Graham delivered a moving prayer from the main stage on the convention’s final night, thanking God for “saving the life of President Donald J. Trump.” He acknowledged that God is the only one who can solve our complex problems and asked that He continue to protect President Trump. He also prayed for all of our nation’s leaders, regardless of which side they represent.

It’s always easy to get caught up in the excitement of a political party’s national political convention. The reality will come as Trump and his running mate, J.D. Vance, face the rigors of campaigning across America… and as we all reflect on the kind of underhanded tactics Democrats have perfected in 2020 to influence the collection and counting of votes. The GOP must prioritize securing the integrity of the American election during “early voting” and on November 5.

Barring some interference at the ballot box, and regardless of who the hapless Democrats select as their standard-bearer from Chicago, Donald J. Trump appears to be on a slide back to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Let us all pray that, with God’s guidance, he will be given another chance to make America great again.

Tom Tradup is VP/News & Talk for Salem Radio Network in Dallas and is the executive producer of THIS WEEK ON THE HILL, which airs on leading radio stations across the country and on the Salem News Channel.