On the first night of the Republican National Convention, the party focused on “Making America Wealthy Again,” despite the fact that the United States has the strongest economy on the planet and is currently “the envy of the world.” On the second night, Republicans emphasized a “law and order” message, despite the fact that the party has nominated a criminal to lead its presidential ticket.
On the third night of the gathering in Milwaukee, the Republicans’ vice presidential nominee tried to sell voters on the idea that the party is prepared to shift its focus away from the wealthy elite as Donald Trump pitches tax breaks for billionaires at his glorified country club.
Perhaps the “Make America Great Again” theme should be replaced with “Impose Cognitive Dissonance on America Again.”
Voters unfamiliar with Sen. JD Vance might’ve tuned in to his convention speech, if for no other reason than to see and hear what the Ohio Republican had to say as he introduced himself to a national audience. His remarks were notable for a variety of reasons, though it was his economic vision that stood out. From the transcript of his remarks:
“Wall Street barons crashed the economy and American builders went out of business. … President Trump’s vision is so simple and yet so powerful. We’re done, ladies and gentlemen, catering to Wall Street. We’ll commit to the working man.”
The senator added soon after that he sees Trump as “America’s last best hope” for the nation’s working class. Vance went on to say, “We need a leader who’s not in the pocket of big business.”
For viewers who didn’t know better, Vance’s rhetoric might very well have sounded like a refreshing break from party orthodoxy. It’s not exactly a secret that the Republican Party has championed the interests of the wealthy and corporate America for generations, so Vance’s version of “populism” appeared to represent an important shift.
There was, however, a rather dramatic problem hanging overhead: Trump’s record and future plans.
Indeed, literally one day before Vance boasted about Republicans no longer “catering to Wall Street,” the GOP’s presumptive presidential nominee boasted about his eagerness to slash the corporate tax rate in a prospective second term.
The same day, The New York Times published a striking report on the degree to which Trump’s plans for trade tariffs would “widen the gap between the rich and the poor” and hit “lower-income households” the hardest.
This is the same Trump who not only rewarded the wealthy and big businesses with massive tax giveaways in his first term, but who also supports undoing Wall Street safeguards — which helps explain why billionaires are rallying behind his candidacy. As for Vance’s idea that the United States needs “a leader who’s not in the pocket of big business,” the Washington Post recently reported on the former president recently huddling with Big Oil leaders at Mar-a-Lago. If the account is accurate, the Republicans’ presumptive presidential nominee told the oil industry executives that they should raise $1 billion to return him to the White House — and if they did, he’d reward them by eliminating environmental safeguards and approving new tax breaks. The “deal” that Trump described, the Post added, “stunned several of the executives in the room.” Soon after, three oil executives organized an event for Trump — attendees paid $250,000 per person to be there — where the Republican assured his wealthy supporters that he’d do everything the oil industry wants, including lifting the natural gas export ban, scrapping existing energy safeguards and opening up more federal lands to oil drilling. After Vance exited the convention stage, I was left with one question: Does he have any idea what his new boss intends to do after the election?
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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