Bonus Episode: The GOP National Convention: Energy, Unity, and JD Vance

[00:00:00] Welcome to The Break Down with Brodkorb and Becky, a weekly podcast that breaks down politics, policy, and current affairs. I'm Becky Scherr. And I'm Michael Brodkorb. As promised, we are back with a second episode this week to break down the Republican National Convention.

[00:00:26] If you haven't already listened, be sure to check out our recent episode covering the Trump assassination attempt over the weekend. Today we are joined by two returning guests, Kelly Fenton and John Ruló. Kelly served in the state legislature and is former deputy chair of the Republican Party

[00:00:40] of Minnesota. Currently, she is joining us from her hotel room in Milwaukee as she is a national delegate representing Minnesota. John was just on earlier this month, but as a reminder, John is the executive director of the Minnesota Jobs Coalition and has long been active in Republican politics

[00:00:54] and campaigning. John is also heading to Milwaukee to attend parts of the convention this week. Today we will start by breaking down the first night of the convention which included Donald J. Trump officially receiving the GOP nomination.

[00:01:07] We will of course break down Trump's new VP nominee, JD Vance from Ohio and we will give our personal thoughts on what we think it does for the ticket. Then we will preview what is to come in the remaining days in Milwaukee.

[00:01:19] Thanks for joining us and enjoy the show. We are excited to welcome back both Kelly and John today. Thank you both for being with us. Big week this week, the RNC convention has officially kicked off.

[00:01:33] Kelly, you are in Milwaukee and so why don't you just start by maybe telling us about how the first day has gone, the vibe of the convention. What's the overall feel there? I got to say, I've been to other conventions and the overall feel is there's an energy

[00:01:49] I haven't seen in the last few conventions that I've attended. People seem really excited, unified. It's interesting we got through the business, the convention business rules and platform and all of that really quickly, which you've attended conventions before. Usually that sometimes takes the most time.

[00:02:09] And that first day we got through it so quickly, which signifies to me that there is very much unity in that room and unity behind Trump who officially got the nomination with the roll call yesterday.

[00:02:23] Always an exciting time to hear the state stand up and do their thing. I've been to one convention in the past and it's certainly an energizing feeling for sure. Day one was Republicans trying to chip away at the Democratic Coalition is what I've seen

[00:02:38] as a theme in some of the articles we've read. I've been reading about there are five black Republicans in Congress, four of them spoke on stage on Monday, a Latina woman, and we had a union leader. So it certainly seems that there has been movement.

[00:02:53] We have seen in the polls amongst different coalition groups, different demographics. John, what's your take on the RNC really wanting to make that apparent and show that the Republican Party is not just the party of the old white guy?

[00:03:07] I think that it's really interesting looking at where the party went yesterday, but more broadly where it's gone for the last eight years. Looking at we are in the midst of a political realignment. You can see that with the policies that are being championed.

[00:03:24] You can see that with the Republican Party's platform that has tweaked and see how much that has changed over the last 10, 12 years. But I think that there's plenty of room in the Republican Party for anyone who

[00:03:35] believes that America is a place where you should be able to go out and create a better life for yourself to have more opportunity and that there is a belief that the American people are the ones who create that opportunity, not the government.

[00:03:53] And that's a message that I think can cut across all sorts of different socioeconomic backgrounds, different cultures, different religions, different ethnicities. Really, that's a unifying thing and there's a lot of opportunity. The other thing that I think makes it really unique this year is just

[00:04:11] how disliked President Biden is and the policies that he has supported over the past three and a half years or so, where you're seeing some of those historically democratic leaning coalitions starting to move away from there.

[00:04:26] And I don't know that we have seen them fully come over to the Republican side. Clearly, there is data out there that the organizers of the RNC that the Trump campaign are seeing that says these are audiences that are worth

[00:04:38] going after, worth going and talking and worth inviting into the tent. Go ahead, Kelly. I want to add it was very much yesterday you could see the theme was very much surrounding prosperity, the hardworking American, how hard Americans are fighting to just make ends meet.

[00:04:58] I loved how the diversity of the speakers you had salted the earth everyday speakers from the single mom who is raising her husband died of drug overdose, but she struggled just being a single mother raising her children. You had the lady from Guatemala.

[00:05:17] I love what she said, wake up and smell the cafe. But she talked about there's three people in her household hold that but between the three they have six jobs and they're trying to they're still struggling in spite of that.

[00:05:31] You had Amber Rose with a little bit of different message, but very much on brand with where they're going is she I felt for the lies of the media just like all of you don't believe them. But and then you had Sean O'Brien historically first teamster had an

[00:05:49] union to be invited to speak. Love what he said America belongs to the workers of America. So the message overall was very diverse all surrounding the struggling of the economy. You had the signs were handed out make Americans wealthy again.

[00:06:11] There was another sign that was Trump equals prosperity. Biden equals inflation yesterday's theme, but the diversity was well received as well as you had the notables like the members of Congress and on the floor even though you had old former governors, former strategists,

[00:06:32] former just active people like Newt Gingrich was on the floor. Governor Walker was there. Governor Sanders was walking the floor. It was great to see what some may call establishment with new commerce all coming together and represented there yesterday.

[00:06:57] Michael, we've talked a lot about the Republicans kind of having an optics problem and how we need to work to show that we are a big tent party and that we represent we have supporters from all of these different groups.

[00:07:09] We represent different groups that the Democratic Party no longer is the party of the union worker, the minority, all of these different folks. What's your take on the Republicans really trying to lean into

[00:07:20] that and show on the world or a country wide scale that this is who we are? It was very interesting to watch last night because I thought it was well presented in terms of the optics as someone who's not was not been in national conventions before.

[00:07:39] This had a very there wasn't a full convention in 2000, 2020, excuse me. There wasn't a full convention in 2020 because of some of COVID limitations. And so this watching this convention, I was seeing some of the live feed

[00:07:53] and then also what was being broadcast as I was rotating through the stations. The convention yesterday, the opening day had a very traditional aesthetic feel in terms of the energy and enthusiasm. It was very clear that it was a very united and energized crowd for Donald Trump.

[00:08:13] Now, what's interesting about that is because in 16 in Cleveland, there was some tension, there was some animosity at that convention about his candidacy. And so this was a incredibly, I think from an optics standpoint, it was incredibly unifying event.

[00:08:27] I think the crowd you could feel the energy from the crowd from where I was just watching them. It was incredibly, I could just tell that enthusiasm was coming through. And it had that type of when I started watching conventions

[00:08:40] and having gone to a few of them, it had that kind of feel to it. And I think that's been missing a little bit from Trump's nomination process a bit. And so it had a little bit of that traditional look and feel that energy.

[00:08:52] The optics of it, I think to see a union someone from the union speaker to see some of the people that spoke, it was, I think the Republicans did that were organizing, they did as good a job as they could to present

[00:09:05] as a unique perspective on the party in terms of who they highlighted and who they spoke. I saw some of the the feed versus what was broadcast and there was a distinction between some of those. But overall, I would say to you that I was very surprised

[00:09:21] about the optics of it. And I think that the RNC did a very good job of presenting at last night. Let me just also say for a moment that as someone and Becky, we talked about this as someone who did not vote for Trump

[00:09:34] in 1620 or 20 in 24 as far. I'm not voting for him this year on. I have to tell you just an observation that I made. He looked different last night. He looked different last night than I've ever seen him before. I saw someone who I think looked changed.

[00:09:52] And I'd be going to be I'm very interested to see what he says later in the week, but physically. And I'm not talking about all of this in a complimentary way. He looked. I saw more emotion on his face. I saw him.

[00:10:08] I could see I could get a sense from him that he was soaking in the experience and what was going on. I saw a lot more emotion on his family's faces. And one of the things that we talked about yesterday, Becky,

[00:10:22] for an episode that we just we released this morning was about kind of the dehumanization of politics and how people are. We're it's this we're dehumanizing who these people are. I, at least as someone who is not a Trump supporter,

[00:10:36] not a Trump voter, I saw him in an entirely different way yesterday. Now, my vote's not changing, but I saw him in just it just seemed to me as someone who's been a critic that when I saw him walk out there the minute

[00:10:53] I saw him walking through the convention, I saw him seated and I saw the way his family reacted that something has changed. And I think we all know what that has happened. What has that made a change? And I'm going to be very curious.

[00:11:06] I'm going to be paying much more attention to this convention. And I already was going to pay much more attention to this because I don't have a life and I'm a political junkie. But I am so interested to see what comes out of his mouth

[00:11:20] and how he acts in the coming days, because I do believe he has a change, the experience of Saturday has changed him in some way. Kelly, what's your take on, because I agree. And Kelly, I'm curious if you are while you're there and talking to folks

[00:11:36] and as you mentioned, enlisted off a litany of kind of those establishment Republicans who may not always be super maga all the time. Do you feel that too? Do you feel like there is more unity behind Trump, whether that's just because of the last 72 hours

[00:11:51] or just in general this election cycle and what's been going on with Biden? Is that kind of something you're hearing or seeing or what's your take on that? I think it's all the moving pieces together. People are just coming and unifying behind Trump. I'm a perfect example.

[00:12:06] I came in to this convention as a Haley delegate. She did release her delegates in the end. I agree with what Haley said is that when she's looking for who she's going to vote for, do both candidates or both candidates perfect? No, she said both are actually flawed.

[00:12:23] But one is better than the other. And I'm going to be looking for someone who loves America, who is going to secure our border, who's going to help our economy, who's going to bring law and order back. And that's Trump. That was basically paraphrasing what Nikki Haley said.

[00:12:41] And I agree with that. And I'm seeing it. I'm seeing that unity coming together. I think what happened the other day also intensified the unity, but probably made I think that event will make sure that anybody who supports or remotely likes Trump will not stay home.

[00:13:01] They will all make sure that they do their due diligence and get out and vote. But they're definitely and what I have to say from being a delegate and I was here early for the rules committee. I got I was asked to serve on the rules committee.

[00:13:15] And his campaign team this time, they did the work. They did the work to make sure everybody was on board. They changed made some changes in the platform, but they also got whips. They divvied up. They had everybody. They had people call their delegation.

[00:13:31] They knew what they would be facing coming into this convention. That to me was different from 2016. But he did the work to bring people together to do his best to to bring everybody together and behind these changes,

[00:13:46] which I thought was great because literally there was no rules fight. There was no platform fight. There was just traditional protocol and procedures that we all followed and made it through. I've got to commend his campaign team. I am also agree there was a Trump is different.

[00:14:05] The word on the ground immediately is he tore up his speech that he was going to be giving on Thursday and they're going back to the drawing board. I and you look at him last night, you had the priest at the end

[00:14:17] that was going to that came out to to give the closing prayer. And he was making he made fun of Trump. He made fun of them a little bit and Trump laughed. They got a good laugh out of him. He it's bizarre for what's happened to this man.

[00:14:35] He seems more relaxed or I agree. There's something definitely so many moving pieces. But whatever everything that's happened has moved people to Trump. And I'm one of those people, John. I know you've been involved in a lot of contentious conventions or in attendance at least.

[00:14:56] And when we spoke with you and Kip a while back when Trump was first visiting Minnesota earlier this year, that was something we talked to you guys about that you guys both you would express that you think that Trump is being more of a team player

[00:15:08] and is embracing and propping up other candidates a little bit maybe more than he has done in the past. And it seems that's the case. Is it surprising to you or is this what you're also seeing that the Trump campaign and the extra work they're putting into making

[00:15:20] everybody cohesive and unified? Is that a surprise or is this what you're also seeing and hearing from your side of things? Yeah, we're seeing it's fascinating to see. And I think it starts at the top with President Trump. But then it comes down to his campaign staff,

[00:15:37] the campaign staff and team that he has assembled really are not divisive people. They are people who have a long track record of working for a whole lot of different types of candidates across the country and working well together.

[00:15:51] But I think that there's a very real recognition on the Republican side, especially over, I would say, the past month that as we see the division on the Democratic side of the aisle, countless members of Congress and donors and all of that saying

[00:16:10] that Joe Biden needs to get out of the race. But there's really a effort to unify on our side. And I think a lot of that is credit to Donald Trump, who it seems like has by and large moved on from kind of the politics of revenge.

[00:16:27] I know that was a big thing in 2020 looking at those primaries where if you weren't with Trump, you were against him. Certainly there's still some of that here and there, but it is not like it was.

[00:16:39] And just the little fights that don't even really spill out into public about consultants and don't hire this team and don't hire that team and kind of word coming down from the top. I think that there's definitely a push towards more unity.

[00:16:54] And it'll be fascinating to see where that goes on policy. I have always said that Republicans need to be united when it comes to the elections and we can go argue over policy. But if you're not in the majority, if you don't have the White House,

[00:17:07] if you don't have the governor's office, then you're just toasting a debate club amongst yourself because you can't impact policy from the minorities. I'll be curious how that works if President Trump is successful and winning another term.

[00:17:20] But for right now, there's a very, very obvious feeling of unity on the Republican side of the aisle. There's one more thing I just want to say. I had a conversation with Jeff Colby. I was saying we were talking about this and he said something that kind of

[00:17:34] set me back and he was right. And I want to just relay what he said because I think it's important. Remember, I think there is this really stems from my conversation that Becky and I had with an episode we have with Brian Strausser and

[00:17:49] Shannon Watson just talking about what happened and how we can unify. But I think there is an expectation that this should change the dynamic of the race in some way that it hopefully is a unifying moment for the

[00:18:01] country, certainly as a unifying moment for Republicans because it was interesting as I was watching the convention last night and flipping between the streams and broadcast coverage. There was a lot of news that was reporting about Biden and continued dissatisfaction with him.

[00:18:18] And there I think there's the effort to potentially remove him or get him off the ticket continues. But there was Jeff said something I say that I think is important. To remember that Trump was shot at on Saturday and as much as we want,

[00:18:31] I think, and as Becky and I discussed yesterday, want there to be a moment where our better angels are going to come out. There is a part of me that says that Trump gets to be angry in some way for what happened.

[00:18:42] And I and that should be, we should, I think he, I can't imagine what he's going through someone that was shot on Saturday, nearly lost his life and how he's been able to move forward in this.

[00:18:57] And part of the reason I just want to just reflect on that is because I do think we've lost a lot of the human element in this and these aren't robots. And as much as I think we dehumanize so much in politics, I just

[00:19:10] want to just say that, that as much as I have an expectation that Biden tampers down some of his rhetoric, the Democrats do and Republicans do if there is one person who I think gets to be angry,

[00:19:21] it's Donald Trump, who I think gets to be and gets to go through that grieving process because getting shot at is and nearly losing his life is something that we can't diminish. Whenever that happens, but certainly not Donald Trump should

[00:19:38] be given the absolute same amount of space to grieve, to go through the emotional reaction that he needs to continue going on, even though I disagree with his politics and disagree with his candidacy, he is a human being.

[00:19:50] And I hope that as much as we see unity, I also think that we have to remember that this is someone who has gone through an incredibly, incredibly tragic and horrific situation that I hope never no one ever else has to experience.

[00:20:06] But I don't, I think there's a lot of as much as the tensions are high right now and there's a lot of expectations. I'm also from the standpoint of that, I think the former president now more than ever needs to all needs to lead and be

[00:20:20] unifying, but I also think he deserves some grace. Absolutely. But Kelly, did you have something on that? I would just add to that right now it's amazing, but Trump's biggest concern and sadness, greatest sadness is the loss of the life of the supporter at Israeli, the

[00:20:38] the fact that a mother lost her husband and a daughter lost her father. That has been forefront here on the ground of things that he is most upset about, but also at the same time, I think he's still processing all of this. Understandable.

[00:20:58] I literally can't imagine a very well put. I appreciate that insight Kelly and I am glad and grateful that the gentleman who lost his life and the impact obviously on his family is being shown and felt around there. We did see Trump on stage last night.

[00:21:13] He joined JD Vance, his new running mate. So I want to get into obviously not completely convention related, but announced on the first day of the convention, we have vice presidential candidate JD Vance was selected. So just going to go through a little bit of the background

[00:21:27] here yesterday and leading up to yesterday some of the betting pools had Vance as the favorite. Yesterday morning it took over or switched a little bit, Junkin from Virginia took over as leading the way. And then we got what was teased a little bit of the apprentice

[00:21:41] style, finding out who's the nominee. We got the tweet that Rubio got the call. It wasn't him. Burgum got the call. It wasn't him. Apparently JD Vance found out 20 minutes before the announcement that he was officially selected, which is wild.

[00:21:56] JD Vance for those who aren't aware, 39 years old, Senator from Ohio elected in 2022 has a very impressive background and resume served in the Marine Corps, graduated from Ohio University in two years, went on to Yale Law School where he was an editor at the Yale

[00:22:11] Law Journal, renowned author of a book that has become a major bestseller and a movie former venture capitalist. Just certainly has an impressive history leading up to this point. I was not, obviously I'd seen him on the trail. I had seen him on the 2022 campaign trail.

[00:22:27] Trump was all in, but there's a little bit more of a storied history between Trump and Vance and things have definitely changed a little bit over the last three to four years. John, what's your knowledge on the subject and opinion

[00:22:41] on Vance as a pick and what do you know? I think it's a really interesting pick to pick JD Vance, but to me what this really shows is that Donald Trump is focused on the future. He picked a running mate who was 39 years old,

[00:22:57] who largely amongst the strongest supporters of President Trump view JD Vance as the intellectual heir apparent to the make America great again movement. And this could firmly cement Donald Trump's role in realigning the party if it goes according to the plan

[00:23:16] and that this would set Donald Trump and his orbit up for 16 of the last 20 years of the president's office, if it all goes according to their plan. I think it also is telling about kind of the state of the race and what they see.

[00:23:31] And it confirms some of the things that the Biden campaign had put out in their memo where they said really they're focused on the blue wall states. They're focused on Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin as their path to victory. And frankly, they need to sweep those states

[00:23:46] in order to be successful. I think looking at kind of those rust belt states where there is an appetite for some of this new for new brand of conservatism, it's a little bit more economically populist. It's a little bit more culturally conservative.

[00:24:04] I think that this is a play that's a shot directly across the Biden campaign, so to speak, where they've said we're going to go compete in those states where President Trump was already in the lead. But I think between legacy between this campaign,

[00:24:19] really the thing that I'll be watching is what impact does this have on the policy arm of the Republicans, the old intellectual Republicans who want to sit and look at white papers and have those conversations because J.D. Vance is a really interesting guy

[00:24:36] when it comes to policy, an old school, culturally conservative kind of populist Democrat that you used to see. And this is a guy who authored legislation with Elizabeth Warren with Raphael Warnock has praised the head of Biden's FTC. He's against these big corporate mergers.

[00:24:55] He sought to claw back bank executives pay. He has an interesting proposal that he put out that would make birth free in America, where you don't get that fund bill that I know that we're familiar with that comes after you bring a baby home from the hospital

[00:25:12] and then regulating rail. And then on the foreign policy side, he has a little bit of America first mindset and he talks about the war in Ukraine a lot. And so I think it's really interesting to see if that's going to realign the party.

[00:25:25] And honestly, I think the biggest thing that's preventing that from happening is that the Democrats don't seem to show any interest in appealing to those voters who work the pro trade, throw free market type conservatives who supported a strong national defense.

[00:25:43] Instead, they have moved more towards the Bernie Sanders AOC Ilhan Omar wing of their party and those other voters are trapped and it'll be interesting to see the last thing that I think will be really that I'll be watching

[00:25:59] for is how they use JD Vance's conversion story in kind of his conversion into the pro Trump wing. This is a guy who can go out and with a very straight face say, I said a lot of the things that these never

[00:26:12] Trumpers that the Democrats are saying about Donald Trump. I was wrong. This is why and this is why I'm on the ticket. And I'll be curious if they try to use that story as a way to give permission to those voters to come over to Trump,

[00:26:26] because as we've talked about a lot of the double haters, they started as double haters with Donald Trump in 2016. Then maybe they gave Biden a chance in 2020, but they have regretted that choice and giving those folks permission, I think between yesterday's programming between JD Vance.

[00:26:43] I'll be fascinated to see how the campaign tries to use that to invite those double haters into the party. I think that's a really interesting take that I had not had not considered because he said some really hardcore things about Trump. He called him in 2021.

[00:26:58] He said he loathed Donald Trump, obviously has changed, changed there. He built it has a really good relationship with Donald Trump, Jr. He was played a really big role in getting Trump out to East Palestine after the train derailment and from after

[00:27:12] that, Trump apparently on the plane home said this guy is turning out to be effing incredible. So it was a clear turnaround there and I love that opportunity to share that story and to win people back over that way. And I think that is a really good messaging.

[00:27:27] Kelly, what's your what are what were you hearing yesterday? Were people excited about this pick? Do people know him? The energy was again something I never seen when it was announced when news dropped that it was JD Vance. You would it was unbelievable.

[00:27:44] The enthusiasm and excitement in the room. And I talked to quite a few people. First of all, John hit on one of it like this here is a younger guy now we've got this young guy. He is energetic. He matches some of the energy that Trump has.

[00:28:00] But it is he represents the future, especially to many people closer to his age than say Donald Trump's age. I think it also shows that people can are able to and can freely change their mind about one another. I think it says incredible things about Trump.

[00:28:20] Most people see Trump is very revengeful that here he is buried the hatchet two guys buried the hatchet and found common ground and coming together and now running on a ticket together. You got so today we took the bus we had a breakfast.

[00:28:36] We were taking the bus to our destination and there on the street we look suits walking and people turned on that side of the bus. It was JD Vance walking with Secret Service. He's in jeans, a T-shirt. He had his three kids with them.

[00:28:55] One of them is cradling hanging him half upside down, smiling with them. The other two one child is fist pumping the Secret Service. Go look at Glenn Stubbe's photo from today. And I think that will show you why many Americans will be

[00:29:11] able to identify with JD Vance and what could be the future of the Republican Party. So the energy was great. I had a discussion with AK Kamara because I said JD was a never-Trumper and I had not known this about AK. AK said he's exactly like me.

[00:29:29] He said I didn't support Trump. I didn't support him in 2016, but I eventually evolved and came around to be a huge supporter. So it's interesting and he really is resonating with the younger Republican voters. And I think voters that we don't typically see.

[00:29:48] I read JD Vance's book back in 2016 before I ever knew anything about him. I think before he was really political. I loved his story. He has a great American, a true American story of coming from absolutely nothing and building and making what he has today.

[00:30:09] But from my friends that live in Ohio, I've talked to a few of them since the announcement. They talked about he literally in his kit, he's never lost or forgotten where he came from. He's gone into those areas where the people

[00:30:26] have nothing and he spends time with them. He listens to them. He talks to, he does what he can. He works hard to help them and help them realize you too can take advantage of the American dream. You can be something.

[00:30:42] Yes, it is hard work, but you can get there and he gives them hope. And so I think we're going to see that even. I've seen a shift in President Trump's campaign before he ever got to convention. Look, he was going into areas where people had no hope.

[00:31:02] Brooklyn, for example, going into the heart of AOC's district, right? There's a change there too. He's listening. He's appealing to those people. He wants to help them. And I think J.D. Vance has that some of that same energy. Pennsylvania is sitting right in front of us on

[00:31:19] the floor. They were excited and somebody mentioned that that there's a district he probably helps greatly in Pennsylvania. And some of these swing states that we've got to win, that he should be able to bring over a lot of voters there. So the energy behind J.D.

[00:31:37] Vance is really positive. Yesterday when Becky and I were talking offline, she asked a question that I want to ask of all of you and also see if Becky's answers changed. Do you think the do you think the events of Saturday

[00:31:53] changed the pick as to who was going to be? Or do you think it was always going to be Vance? John, why don't we start with you? I don't know that it directly was that, but I think what from what I have heard this really

[00:32:07] was a last minute choice that President Trump had narrowed it down. He had a couple of names and I think that he was leaning Vance, but really wanted to make sure that he was doing the right thing for his campaign, the right thing

[00:32:19] for his candidacy, the right thing for the country if he wins. And to the extent that it did, I think, you know, it would only be logical for President Trump to be thinking more about his legacy after such a near death experience that was really something that's

[00:32:35] very horrifying. So as far as this goes to being a legacy pick, I could see that maybe, but really the names that were largely being thrown around any of those names really could have fit the bill, right? And you've got Marco Rubio is in his early 50s.

[00:32:51] You've got young Ken still has plenty of time. Burgum maybe would be the exception. There was also chatter about Sarah Huckabee Sanders, at least a phonic, also young people who could have checked that box. So really, I think this is about more than that.

[00:33:07] And I think to the extent that it does impact legacy, I think it really gets to the fact that J.D. Vance is viewed as the heir apparent. He's very close with the family. He's very close with a lot of the similar advisors.

[00:33:21] So I think that probably played more into it than Saturday's events. Kelly, what do you think? I would agree from my friends in Ohio, the Ohio, my Ohio friends weren't surprised because President Trump had been in Ohio a number of times

[00:33:38] for fundraisers and other events where J.D. Vance was with him in many of these events. But there's one thing that J.D. Vance has that I'm not sure about that, but he has that military experience. And I wonder about that.

[00:33:53] He would be comfortable understanding how to conceal Kerry if he needed to be. But I do think that there was a lot of consideration of J.D. Vance prior to what happened this week. But I think that he does have that military

[00:34:11] experience and I got things as things are coming out. I got to imagine. I wonder if Trump must have to always ask himself, can I trust everybody that's around me right now? I think when it comes to J.D. Vance, the answer is absolutely I can.

[00:34:27] And that was important to Trump as well. Becky, you asked, I think, which is I love these this picking of running mates has always been something, whether it's at the state level or the national level. I've not stopped thinking about that question

[00:34:42] you said yesterday, what impact did it have? And I'm curious as the person who came up with that great concept in question, have you figured out a little bit where you're at? Do you think the events of Saturday did? Because this was your kind of concept and idea.

[00:34:58] And I haven't stopped thinking about it, but I want to see if you put any more thought into what you had initially described. Yeah, I have. And I think I agree with the sentiment here. I think J.D. was always on the shortlist.

[00:35:11] I think he was one of two or obviously two or three. I think that had the pick been a Rubio, a Haley or someone a little bit more establishment mainstream Republican, I would say then yes, absolutely. I think that would have been a kind of tipping point

[00:35:30] to leaning more and really trying to embrace the whole spectrum of the Republican Party. I do think because as we've discussed and John pointed out in Vance being a never Trump or formally reformed supporter, I think that is an angle as well. I don't know.

[00:35:47] I think that he probably did look at things differently and I guess, hey, that's why you wait to make picks to make sure because things change every single day. I don't know. I think that Vance probably was really up there

[00:36:00] and I do want to chat a little bit. So as I mentioned, he was a really good has built a really big relationship with Donald Trump Jr. has been a long advocate of Vance being the VP pick. While a lot of folks have been vocal against

[00:36:12] club for growth, spent a lot of money against his senatorial bid can Griffin and Rupert Murdoch have lobbied against Vance to Donald Trump. Kelly and Conaway was against Trump as the VP or against Vance as the VP pick. But one I was reading a political article this

[00:36:26] morning and it talked about how as the search for choosing the VP was nearing its end, Trump Jr. presented his father with an article from a Trump friendly Breitbart news that he knew the former president would hate. The article he suggested to Trump was an

[00:36:41] indication that the North Dakota governor, Bergam, was simply a mainstream Republican figure who was more aligned with the old guard of the GOP than his populist movement. The article's title was Carl Rove endorses Doug Bergam for vice president. And that to me, I love the politics of

[00:36:58] politics and the kind of game and chip. And I think it's really funny for Trump Jr. was really behind Vance, wanted Vance. I'm guessing it was obviously from what we were hearing or seeing, Bergam was in the top three potentially and really tried to

[00:37:12] drive that knife into the coffin there that to accept for Bergam. And I just thought that was a funny little anecdote that we heard here. It will be interesting to see how some of these club for growth already came out with a great statement.

[00:37:25] We've learned a lot about Vance. He's been a great policy, policy wonk and big on issues and we're excited for him as the choice. I think I would expect a lot of these folks to come. I can't see we've seen crazier things,

[00:37:37] but I can't see Ken Griffin or Rupert Murdoch staying out of the race holding their money because Vance is the pick. I expect there's them still to be there. I'm sure there were a lot of conversations. So I think that's probably when the two

[00:37:48] big two of the biggest donors in the Republican Party come to you and say no. I'm sure that was definitely weighed in the conversation. The last question before we move on from Vance and we head on this a little bit, John, you said exactly what

[00:38:00] I've been also seeing that they're looking at Vance as the heir apparent to the MAG of movement. Is what are your anybody's thoughts here? Is this more of the legacy than for political gain or do we see any real gains that anybody

[00:38:16] who was on the fence about Trump coming on board or is it maybe just those folks that like you said, the double haters that maybe come back? Kelly, what's your take? Does he bring anything new to the world of Trump? That's a great question.

[00:38:29] That is the one question that I have heard around on the floor. And I think the answer would be depending on who you talk to, right? But the he will appeal most to those who are within his age range that is it millennials

[00:38:45] that are like 38, 30, not in the mid to 30s? Is it millennial? I'm my kids are almost there. So anyways, he will appeal mostly. That's a group that he's definitely going to bring together behind Trump. But again, I think he brings many states and whatnot.

[00:39:04] Look, they've done the footwork to try to make sure that what happens going forward is complete unity. So I can guarantee that the decision to choose Vance was not taken lightly. But I think he does bring that a certain age group with them that are just

[00:39:23] completely energized down here in Milwaukee and on the floor. John, what about your take on that? Yeah, I think we'll get a better sense of that in the coming weeks and months. But it will be I'll be watching very closely how they choose to deploy JD

[00:39:39] Vance across this campaign. One thing that I think President Trump probably liked is that Vance is very comfortable doing media. He's very comfortable being out there and staying on message. And so the fact is he gets to be an extra surrogate who's out there

[00:39:56] you don't have to really wonder what he's going to say. You don't have to worry about him freelancing too much. But I'll be really curious. Do they start sending him to places like Michigan and Pennsylvania and Wisconsin and really shore those up? Or do they use him across

[00:40:10] the country? And does he try to make those inroads with his conversion story to the from Trump hater to Trump backer to vice president? But I think that we'll get a better look at that. But for right now, you know, they're rolling him out.

[00:40:25] He's doing a lot of interviews and all of the feedback that I have heard from folks is that he is handling those very well. One thing I wanted to ask is Trump has there is a there's a little bit of a reputation that Trump has about people going

[00:40:39] into his orbit and and not exiting very well. I think what is remarkable to me is I think that the selection of J.D. Vance knocks down a bit of that narrative. I know there are a number of people out there that aren't

[00:40:54] supporting him who was who was in his administration last time. But J.D. Vance said some very harsh things about Donald Trump. He has said harsher things about Donald Trump than I would even ever remotely say about Donald Trump. And I've never voted

[00:41:09] for him. And so I think that there as someone who I would classify myself as some technically I would fall into the definition of someone who's an ever-Trumper, but I don't ever consider myself to be anyone who's ever remotely suffered from Trump derangement syndrome because we can talk

[00:41:26] about it. So I think for a Republican like me who considers himself to be somewhat homeless, the events of the last 72 to 48 hours and what's going on as this convention, I think as someone who has been watching from the outside, there is something going on here that I

[00:41:46] think is quite remarkable. I think the Donald Trump that I saw last night, I think was physically different in all of this in a positive way. He looks changed the selection of JD Vance and Becky and I had an offline conversation about some of our reactions to

[00:42:03] it. But what I saw last night and what I've seen how it being packaged so far is I think very energetic. Becky, I think that's where I would take it, which differs a little bit from what I had said initially. And I think this is a very

[00:42:17] interesting convention that we're seeing unfolding here. And as John articulated, we're seeing a realignment and having the fact that Kelly, you were a Haley delegate and you're at the convention. Your perspective, all of you in some ways have been, I think, thoughtful critics of the

[00:42:34] president. And I think all of us collectively, I think for the first time, and I was the one that was out there a bit, not the one that wasn't didn't necessarily fit. I'm seeing something that's happening where I think that this Republican base is coming together in a

[00:42:50] way. And boy, oh boy, I hope it's not just because of what happened on Saturday, but we can't take that away from it. But I just in watching that convention last night and seeing who was on there and seeing the broadcast coverage.

[00:43:03] One thing I will say is watching the live feed and watching the broadcast coverage. As I said before, I rotate between Fox, MSNBC and CNN on a regular basis. It was very interesting to me when to see some of the Democratic strategists on these channels talking about

[00:43:20] the convention and how they were reacting to what was going on. Even they were saying that some of the messaging and the coalition building that was going on was pretty powerful, was pretty powerful. And I think something is going on. So I think JD Vance is going to

[00:43:37] bring something to the ticket. And I think one thing I had not thought about was he and John has said this is some of that criticism that he had of the former president. It's a very powerful message because again, the knock against Trump is that he keeps a

[00:43:51] tally. It's all about retribution. And he brought a guy on his ticket who said some pretty rough things, things that I wouldn't say. And now they are together. And this is a lining up in a way that I think is pretty difficult for anyone, whether

[00:44:08] you are, whether you're a red hat wearing MAGA person or whether you're a homeless Republican like me, who never this is trending in an incredibly significant way for Republicans. The Trump campaign and an activist that want to see his campaign succeed in something which I've never seen before.

[00:44:27] One last comment I do have on JD Vance is he has a beard. And we have not seen that my little article up here. Last vice president to wear any facial hair was Charles Curtis in the Hoover administration who sported a neat mustache from 1929 to 1933.

[00:44:49] Then you're just trying to give Joe Biden more ammunition to use his lame Herbert Hoover line against Donald Trump since that one seems to be working. And he's very proud of it. But I think undecided swing voters who are under the age of 50 are probably just wondering

[00:45:07] what the guy who has the vacuum company did to tick Joe Biden off so much. How does the facial hair play as it first of all, can I just say I'm just pissed about this? The guy's got a full head of hair and he's got a

[00:45:19] beard. And so as someone, it's like Rolo getting picked on the ticket. He's got a full head hair comes in with this beard. How does the beard play? It's great. Here's the deal. Sometimes facial hair benefits a face. If you've seen JD Vance with facial hair and

[00:45:36] without facial hair, which I have since in the last 24 hours, he's a facial hair guy. However, Trump apparently notoriously dislikes facial hair. But he was asked about it. He said he looks like a young Abraham Lincoln and went from there. So we're going with the

[00:45:52] facial hair making history potentially having a VP with some facial hair there. It's interesting because that's true. We've talked about it. Apparently Trump doesn't like facial hair, but look at his two sons. They do have facial hair. I think of my son who I never he

[00:46:10] like has facial hair. So I think this may be more appealing to Americans than not. And we'll see what happens or we'll see if JD decides to shave it off or what, but it look he wears it. JD Vance wears the facial hair. He can't shave

[00:46:26] it off now. Yeah, true. Yeah, there was that speculation though. If he were the VP pick would he do that? But look, hey, where when does the election happen? November. No shape November coming at you. It reminds me of the Simpsons episode where Mr. Burns is

[00:46:43] angry about automatically having sideburns and the facial hair discussion. I don't think he can shave it. And by the way, I'm offended by this entire conversation, the facial hair because because he has both head hair and now with the beard. So I just I don't appreciate any

[00:46:58] of this. But it is interesting. Is there a reason anyone can offer an idea as to with facial hair being so common? Why we haven't had elected officials? It signifies the new future. I'm just curious if you guys were at advising vans. Would you have

[00:47:14] said you got to shave it? Would you got a focus group together? Would you have done something like that? No, it makes me different. I love it. I wouldn't be surprised if there's a whole line that comes out. His look is kind of

[00:47:25] part of the brand. He's your salt of the earth, kind of middle to Ohio country boy. His look, it's part of the brand, I think of JD Vans. Didn't who was it Ted Cruz grew a beard. And I think that was a surprising look

[00:47:40] right? There were a lot of Lou had COVID beards, but I'll be really excited to see which academic decides that we need a research paper on this because those are always my favorite obscure angles of the political campaigns is when they do the study on

[00:47:54] this is why you think this about this person based on how they look. There was that big one that came out in 2016 if you remember that said this is why you don't like looking at Ted Cruz and had an academic study about the way

[00:48:08] that the edges of his mouth curve when he smiles. And they found that the percentage of the population whose face works like that are not trusted and not liked when you see them knowing nothing else about them. So I'll be curious what the new data shows on

[00:48:26] Beards. And who will read that data will be Becky. She will download that she will read it. She will study it. She'll have it researched because that's the type of research she does in the political nerd that she is. You got to know it.

[00:48:39] All right. I want to wrap things up about talking about the remainder of the week. What's to come. Kelly as you mentioned so each day has a theme. Day one was make America wealthy again focused on the economy. Day two is make America safe again.

[00:48:53] It's focused on crime and in immigration. Day three is make America strong again. Foreign affairs focused in day four is make America great once again. And the press release on this said President Donald J. Trump will usher in a new golden age for America.

[00:49:09] So here we are day two. We have Tom Emmer is slated to speak tonight along with House leadership. DeSantis Haley Huckabee Sanders Rubio Trump and Rama Swami are all in the slate amongst so many others. Kelly give us a forward looking who are you most excited to see.

[00:49:24] You've already showed some pictures with Newt and Huckabee Sanders and some others. Who are you most excited to hear from on the main stage obviously aside from maybe Donald Trump but who are you most excited to hear or see or potentially meet while you're there.

[00:49:38] Honestly all of them but for tonight I'm really excited to hear Emmer and have Emmer shed some spotlight on Minnesota. So that's going to be exciting. I think I love how they've compartmentalized the each the theme for each different day. I got to say most importantly

[00:49:56] this is historical. I'm most excited about the historical perspective of this. First of all in 2020 everybody said all every media outlets said Trump is daddy's done he's gone. No way could he cut and here we are and he's the nominee. But now we also will be

[00:50:17] the very first public speech that he gives post assassination attempt that is historical. So every day the Internet I'm just excited for every single day because this is history unfolding and it's great to be a part of that and to just share in that

[00:50:34] with so many other great people from across the country. I'm going to throw out there and I'm very hopeful that when we got the news late last night that 50 cent is in attendance at the RNC that we might get a 50 cent performance on Thursday night.

[00:50:52] I'll be down there and yeah that would make millennial me very happy. John for our list you're going to be you're going to be heading to Milwaukee. I'll be down there for a couple of days. Yeah. And for our listeners who don't know what is a 50 cent

[00:51:06] what does he do? 50 cent is a famous hip hop performer and artist from late 90s early 2000s and has since become a pretty successful businessman. He actually was on the hill not too long ago doing some bipartisan work to support the expansion of banking options

[00:51:26] into the African American community activists businessman and artist. Is it 50 cent or 50 cents? 50 cent. 50 cent. OK, I got it. Very good. I did meet I did meet the Maga rapper Forjiato Blow on the floor. He's from he's not well known but he's well known in Miami

[00:51:46] Florida and he is a delegate to this. But I think so far one of my favorites Trace Atkins opened was at the opening night party and gave a phenomenal performance. So I got to say every day has just been awesome. Kelly also just while you

[00:52:05] mentioned one of the great parties, the events and parties and celebrations that go on all across the city and even neighboring suburbs are a massive part of this. Anything else that you have slated on the agenda that you're excited to hit up? I do have a few parties

[00:52:21] I'm going to I'm excited. I'm going to be going to the Northeast Party. Remember Senator Scott Brown since he left. He's he plays in a band. He's going to be the entertainment that party at the Harley Davidson Museum, which is also a phenomenal place to come

[00:52:37] visit if you're ever in Milwaukee. So I'm really excited about that. I have some event tickets to certain parties, but that's tomorrow in the afternoon. I'm excited there's parties happening everywhere. I mean, my calendar could I could be triple booked. And so I just pick and choose

[00:52:56] because these are long days. But it's always a good time and you just run into the most fascinating people just walking the corridors at the Pfizer forum. I mean, I saw I got to say hi to Laura Trump. It's exciting just meeting some of these people

[00:53:12] and they're just walking. And if you it half the people don't recognize who they are, some do, but some don't. But it's just amazing everything happening from inside the forum to outside. They've got food trucks and they've got the Mecca the restaurants. You've got the CNN political cafe

[00:53:31] there's just so much to do. I the most famous when I went to the last National Committee, I was a delegate in 08. I was at the National New York Convention in 04. Just two quick stories on random celebrities. I was standing in line at the concession stand

[00:53:44] at Madison Square Garden in front of someone. And I looked at them and I said, Weren't you Denise's husband on the Cosby show? And it was the actor who played Denise's husband show. And then I was going down an escalator. I'm like, aren't one of you

[00:53:58] or both of you Brooks and or Dunn and they were. And so those are some funny things that have national conventions are great. The drama if I was a cajillionaire, I would just go to national conventions because I love political conventions. The swag bags, all that stuff.

[00:54:13] I was been doing some renovating and going through some getting rid of some stuff. I found just just last weekend for some reason. I still have a spare bag from the 2004 and 2008 Republican Convention where I was a staffer in 04 and a delegate in 08.

[00:54:31] For some reason, I still have full complete swag bags from both of those conventions that are untouched. But conventions are great on both sides. And I get that sense, Kelly, that you're triple double book. So it's even more generous that you made time for us today

[00:54:45] and John's going to be going over tomorrow and it's going to be wonderful. I'll look forward to seeing you, John. Thank you guys both so much for joining us. It's a big week. There is a lot going on. We're certainly going to be talking more about the speeches

[00:54:59] from Emma and obviously Trump after that fact on Thursday when he is most expected to speak. So if anything comes up, let us know. We'd be happy to chat again, but I really appreciate you both giving us the time and have fun, be safe and enjoy. Thank you.

[00:55:16] Thanks, guys. We want to thank you for listening to The Breakdown with Broadcore and Becky before we go show some love for your favorite podcast by leaving us a review on Apple podcast or on the platform where you listen. You can also leave us a

[00:55:29] review or give us a shout out on our website or across all social media platforms at BB Break. But the breakdown with Broadcore and Becky will return this week with analysis about the Republican National Convention. Thank you for listening.