Trump RNC Speech, Biden Campaign Uncertainty

Donald Trump makes his case to the country.

I'm not supposed to be here tonight, not supposed to be here.

But how far does his interest in national unity go after the attempt on his life?

I'm a Martinez, that's Michelle Martin, and this is up first from NPR News.

I am running to be president for all of America, not half of America.

How will he try to reach out to Democrats?

And pressure is mounting on President Biden to abandon his re-election campaign. Publicly, he says he won't. Most of the discussions with other party stalwarts have been behind closed doors. Are party leaders convincing him? Stay with us?

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With his first major remarks since the attempt on his life last week, former President Donald Trump formally accepted the Republican Party's nomination for president.

I am running to be president for all of America, not half of America, because there is no victory in winning for half of America.

As the Republican Convention ends and Trump starts his final stretch of his third attempt at winning the White House. We want to think about what the Trump campaign and the Republican Party might look like going forward.

NPR's Daniel Kurtzleben and Stephen Feller are still in Milwaukee, where the convention was held. And they are here with us after a very long night to tell us more. Good morning to you both.

Hey, good morning.

So, Danielle, you spent last night on the floor of the convention during Trump's speech. What did you see and hear?

Well, it was by far the most energetic night of the convention among the delegates. It was the fullest the arena got all week. And also just everybody really pumped. And you could see it in what people were wearing, they had some wild outfits on.

All right, Stephen. Speaking of the former president, this was the first speech we've heard since that failed assassination attempt on Saturday. You know, very shocking, but did that change what we heard from him?

Not exactly. I mean, Trump started out with a more somber, subdued delivery. I mean, he spent about 20 minutes talking about the assassination attempt against him. It wasn't fiery and bombastic, like a raucous rally. But then it very quickly turned into what you'd expect, a rambling, wide ranging message that he's been pushing on the campaign trail.

Danielle To that point about unity. What does that actually mean to Mr. Trump? what did he say? how did he describe that?

That's a great question, I mean, given that, like Stephen was saying, his speech ended up being largely a lot like one of his rally speeches. In the end, there wasn't a lot of fodder that would create national unity, there was no effort to reach out to the other party.

So, Stephen, talk a little bit more about that, if you would. This is Trump's party now, that's been made clear, especially clear after this convention. So how else is that playing out?

On the surface, the RNC was everything that Trump and Republicans could ask for. I mean, everyone is on the same boat, rowing in the same direction. The speeches were all building on these big themes that the Republicans had on safety, the economy, foreign policy and everything. I mean, the delegates were fired up, the mood was joyful. And there's really no question about what this Republican party believes. There's zero daylight between the National Party, the top candidates for offices like U.S.

And to that end, Danielle. The policy platform right, was abbreviated and adopted in a hurry by the platform committee before the event even started. Now, you know, people can argue about whether the platform is anything that anybody actually really reads or pays attention to. But does that say something about the current GOP?

Yeah, it's the party of Trump, it's getting everybody in line before things even start. I mean, it was even summarized in a Trump-y way, in a sort of list of all-caps bullet points. One really salient point here abortion gets very little mention in the platform. And this is the party that got Roe overturned and was super excited about it.

So, Stephen, before we let you go. Both parties hope for a convention bump, right? There's momentum coming out of the convention. So how is the campaign and the party apparatus planning to capitalize on this moment?

Yeah, it is full steam ahead, especially as the Democratic Party is in a little bit of a disarray with question over President Biden's future. It wouldn't be surprising to be a boost in the polls, though Trump's numbers have been stable because of the consolidation of the GOP. Trump and vice presidential pick J..D. Vance are on the trail tomorrow in Michigan, and Vance is also campaigning in Ohio.

That is NPR's Stephen Fowler and Daniel Kurtzleben getting up early for us after a very long night. Thank you both so much.

Thank you, thank you.

Now, to the Democrats, President Joe Biden is isolating at his Delaware Beach home with Covid, and the questions continue over his ability to win reelection in November.

Top congressional Democrats recently spoke privately with the president and indicated they shared concerns they're hearing from lawmakers about his White House bid. Another prominent Democrat called for him to step aside, but Biden's campaign insists that he is not going anywhere.

NPR Congressional correspondent Deirdre Walsh is with us now to tell us more about all of that. Good morning Deirdre.

Good morning Michelle.

So who is President Biden speaking with, and what are they saying?

The president has a very small circle of political advisers, it's mostly his family, a handful of longtime staffers and friends. But for political counsel, he also relies on former Speaker Nancy Pelosi. He credits her with helping get through most of his legislative accomplishments, also Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a top ally for years in the Senate.

So, recognizing we're all kind of reading tea leaves here. Is there any sign that this is having any impact?

Potentially, a Biden advisor told our colleague Tamara Keith The campaign hasn't had enough good moments quote to get us back on solid footing covering Pelosi. If she thought her message was getting through to Biden behind the scenes about these party worries, it's unlikely there would be these anonymous reports. And if she really disputed them, she would be forcefully out there. We have seen her do strategic television interviews.

So talk about these public calls for Biden to step aside. Are any of them particularly noteworthy?

Right, they kind of had paused after the assassination attempt on Trump. But a second senator yesterday came out, Montana Senator John Tester, who's probably the most vulnerable Senate Democrat. He publicly called for Biden to withdraw. Tester represents a state Trump won by double digits in 2020..

That is NPR's Deirdre Walsh. Thank you, thanks, Michelle.

And I'm Amy Martinez. How about listening to consider this from NPR? We hear it up first, give you the three big stories of the day, or consider this. Colleagues take a different approach.

Today's episode of Up First was edited by Megan Pratt, Padma Rama Krishnadeva Kalamor, Olivia Hampton and Alice Wolfley. It was produced by Lily Quiroz, Ben Abrams and Mansi Khurana. We get engineering support from Arthur Laurent, and our technical director is Carly Strange. Join us again tomorrow.

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