Throughout his 2024 campaign, Donald Trump remains a contentious figure within actual conservative Christian communities and has done little to assuage doubters in his quest for a second term. His efforts have decidedly pushed the party to the left on abortion despite championing the issue for Evangelical voters in 2016, and with the 2024 GOP convention underway, the Republican Party is updating its platform for the first time since 2016.
It should be noted that the 2016 platform was admirable in the stances it took, which are unfortunately undone by this platform, at least in the draft form, in what is a massive downgrade.
MAGA Promises and Priorities
The platform outlined 20 promises designed to “Make America Great Again” that will be the priorities of the combined majorities of the GOP House and Senate.
1. SEAL THE BORDER, AND STOP THE MIGRANT INVASION
2. CARRY OUT THE LARGEST DEPORTATION OPERATION IN AMERICAN HISTORY
3. END INFLATION, AND MAKE AMERICA AFFORDABLE AGAIN
4. MAKE AMERICA THE DOMINANT ENERGY PRODUCER IN THE WORLD, BY FAR!
5. STOP OUTSOURCING, AND TURN THE UNITED STATES INTO A MANUFACTURING SUPERPOWER
6. LARGE TAX CUTS FOR WORKERS, AND NO TAX ON TIPS!
7. DEFEND OUR CONSTITUTION, OUR BILL OF RIGHTS, AND OUR FUNDAMENTAL FREEDOMS, INCLUDING FREEDOM OF SPEECH, FREEDOM OF RELIGION, AND THE RIGHT TO KEEP AND BEAR ARMS
8. PREVENT WORLD WAR THREE, RESTORE PEACE IN EUROPE AND IN THE MIDDLE EAST, AND BUILD A GREAT IRON DOME MISSILE DEFENSE SHIELD OVER OUR ENTIRE COUNTRY — ALL MADE IN AMERICA
9. END THE WEAPONIZATION OF GOVERNMENT AGAINST THE AMERICAN PEOPLE
10. STOP THE MIGRANT CRIME EPIDEMIC, DEMOLISH THE FOREIGN DRUG CARTELS, CRUSH GANG VIOLENCE, AND LOCK UP VIOLENT OFFENDERS
11. REBUILD OUR CITIES, INCLUDING WASHINGTON DC, MAKING THEM SAFE, CLEAN, AND BEAUTIFUL AGAIN.
12. STRENGTHEN AND MODERNIZE OUR MILITARY, MAKING IT, WITHOUT QUESTION, THE STRONGEST AND MOST POWERFUL IN THE WORLD
13. KEEP THE U.S. DOLLAR AS THE WORLD’S RESERVE CURRENCY
14. FIGHT FOR AND PROTECT SOCIAL SECURITY AND MEDICARE WITH NO CUTS, INCLUDING NO CHANGES TO THE RETIREMENT AGE
15. CANCEL THE ELECTRIC VEHICLE MANDATE AND CUT COSTLY AND BURDENSOME REGULATIONS
16. CUT FEDERAL FUNDING FOR ANY SCHOOL PUSHING CRITICAL RACE THEORY, RADICAL GENDER IDEOLOGY, AND OTHER INAPPROPRIATE RACIAL, SEXUAL, OR POLITICAL CONTENT ON OUR CHILDREN
17. KEEP MEN OUT OF WOMEN’S SPORTS
18. DEPORT PRO-HAMAS RADICALS AND MAKE OUR COLLEGE CAMPUSES SAFE AND PATRIOTIC AGAIN
19. SECURE OUR ELECTIONS, INCLUDING SAME DAY VOTING, VOTER IDENTIFICATION, PAPER BALLOTS, AND PROOF OF CITIZENSHIP
20. UNITE OUR COUNTRY BY BRINGING IT TO NEW AND RECORD LEVELS OF SUCCESS
From the standpoint of what can be achieved via Congress or the Executive Branch, Immigration is the number one issue, and that takes center stage with 3 of 20 issues. This is the most positive aspect of the platform. There are various economic issues addressed and unfortunate and unavoidable Zionism, which is contrary to America First. Energy policy and tax cuts also take up several planks as standard GOP issues. It is important to remember that taxes go up for Americans if the Trump tax cuts are not renewed. There is no promise pertaining to the appointment of federal judges.
There are several in the “pro-life” and abolitionist camp that object to the lack of mention of abortion in the top 20 issues. At the end of the day, Congress is not passing any abortion-related legislation, so to even list abortion would be only a virtue signal. Apart from an FDA ban on abortion pills, which will doubtless be harangued in courts, it is unlikely to be an issue the Federal Government can handle. The absence of a stance on marriage is also a major downgrade within the platform, while it mentions promoting the “Sanctity of Marriage,” this is ambiguous in its meaning. The 2016 had talk of using judges to overturn the judicial activism that brought about Obergefell.
Compared to the 2016 platform, this draft is considerably subdued with an emphasis on brevity. However, compared to the prose of the 2016 platform, which contained a narrative flow, it is incredibly dumbed down in its presentation and aspiration. 2016 Trump tapped into American identity, and the platform reflected that, but this is just a list of talking points with little substance. The 2016 was a serious platform spanning 66 pages, and being truncated and brief, the 2024 is made for a stupid populace with TikTok brain.
Abortion
One of the major weaknesses and moral failings of the GOP is the stance on abortion, which is as stated:
4. Republicans Will Protect and Defend a Vote of the People, from within the States, on the Issue of Life
We proudly stand for families and Life. We believe that the 14th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States guarantees that no person can be denied Life or Liberty without Due Process, and that the States are, therefore, free to pass Laws protecting those Rights. After 51 years, because of us, that power has been given to the States and to a vote of the People. We will oppose Late Term Abortion, while supporting mothers and policies that advance Prenatal Care, access to Birth Control, and IVF (fertility treatments).
Functionally, the GOP is matching Donald Trump’s stated position on abortion and IVF which have been scrutinized for months within evangelicalism. Although it is worth noting his stance is functionally the same as that of Mitt Romney, John McCain, or George W. Bush, whom conservatives voted for dutifully to “save America,” the Trump 2024 campaign is not gaslighting or pretending on the issue of life. But it is not just Donald Trump that is soft on the issue. JD Vance supports mifepristone and Marco Rubio believes the platform should reflect the candidate while stating that the Democrats are worse. Every Senate Republican supported IVF as of June 2024, including so-called Christians like Ted Cruz—the once evangelical darling and Southern Baptists like James Lankford (OK). It must be asked, how much of this is new information? All that has been done on the platform is a normalization of the status quo.
Newsmax Commentator Todd Starnes stated the following insider information:
Conservative Christians on platform committee are being told by Republican leadership to basically get with the program and support the eradication of culture war issues from party platform. “Where else are your people going to go?” a GOP leader told an evangelical leader.
Many gambled on Trump in 2016 due to the prospect of overturning Roe via the appointment of justices. Abortion is significant, and a stain on America, but at the end of the day, the cowardice on abortion is because it is not seen as a winnable issue, and not without reason. Whorish women will sabotage an entire nation, economically, fiscally, and morally, so they can be “raw-dogged” by a man whose child they do not even want—black women especially. Unmarried women will invite their rapists into the country with open arms, just as they are in Europe.
Much like the Evangelical church, Trump is cowering to the women.
Reactions and Analysis
This is the battered republican syndrome in which there is not an alternative party to vote for. Unlike Europe, America has an actual right wing, but whereas Europe’s parliamentary system enables a new party to emerge, the duopolistic structure of America prohibits a third party from effectively emerging. It also cannot be neglected that there really is not a true Pro-Life movement when the major organizations grift off the life, like National Right to Life, who will stop Abolition bills from seeing the light of day. So, is there a lack of conviction in the grassroots, or is the party impotent on this issue? Yes.
Friends like Ben Zeisloft are proclaiming that they would not support any candidate who abides by this platform. It can be expected that other staunch abolitionists will take similar stances. It is wise to caution against overreacting to the platform as it is (poorly) written and unserious in its presentation. It is both low effort and low IQ. One should not assume that the GOP will abide by its word or that candidates, prospective or otherwise, will read its contents.
If personnel is policy, then the platform is irrelevant. The benefit of the recently disavowed Project 2025 was not the lengthy, aspirational platform it delivered, which was actually right-wing, but rather the network of talent recruited into it. Their goal is to have the personnel ready for Trump on Day 1, something that gives them leverage when negotiating with Trump as they have the talent pool at their disposal. The presidential transition will be a busy period where many of these appointments could be drawn from the available talent of Project 2025, spearheaded by DC think tanks like the Heritage Foundation, even if Trump has distanced himself in the interim. In other words, when King Trump needs to raise his army, the Heritage Foundation will have soldiers under their banners. They get implanted into the bureaucracy, they gain experience and skills while implementing policy, and then these skills are transferrable into other offices, including political campaigns. Without money or institutions, this is how a political bench is formed. There is a long game to be played.
Most importantly, immigration is the number one issue. The language on illegal immigration is strangely ambiguous, emphasizing the deportation of illegal aliens who commit additional crimes while being far less clear about other cases. Whatever Trump’s failures on immigration, sealing the border remains the most compelling reason left to gamble on Trump in 2024 as many did in 2016 for the life issue. The longer the issue goes unresolved, the worse it will be to redress, and if demographic replacement is achieved, then it is game over for the pro-life movement. Just ask Britain and France how abortion can be reversed after years of unmitigated population replacement.
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