Haley, DeSantis promote GOP unity as convention focuses on safety: RNC Day 2 takeaways

MILWAUKEE - At one time Republicans Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley were doing all they could to warn primary voters that Donald Trump couldn't win the 2024 presidential election.

But millions of ballots and an attempted assassination has changed all that.

The two affirmed Trump's perch on the party's mountaintop and further solidified this week's presentation that conservatives are closing ranks as Democrats remain divided over President Joe Biden's nomination.

"President Trump asked me to speak to this convention in the name of unity," Haley told delegates. "It was a gracious invitation and I was happy to accept."

Trump's brawny populism agitates certain segments of the conservative movement because it elevates people who aren't typically thought of as Republicans. However, delegates inside the Fiserv Forum on Tuesday ate up much of the convention's tough-on-crime and border-security messages.

Throughout the evening, speakers spoke to convention-goers and the national audience's fears about migrants streaming across the southern border or reports of violent crime in U.S. urban centers.

Here are key moments from the second day of the Republican National Convention.

Haley makes plea to anti-Trump Republicans

Haley approached the lectern to growing jeers, but those taunts were quickly drowned out by supportive hoots and hollers.

The former South Carolina governor aggravated Trump's base by staying in the 2024 GOP primary longer than any other rival. She used her 11-minute speech to make a direct appeal to those who supported her campaign and outlined why they must overcome their misgivings about Trump.

"My message to them is simple: you don't have to agree with Trump 100% of the time to vote for him," she said.

DeSantis, the governor of Florida, similarly put his past (and often personal) clashes with Trump to the side for the greater goal of defeating Biden.

But he put that in sharper terms by questing the sitting president's capacity to serve and providing one of the most fiery speeches boosting Trump at the convention.

"America cannot afford four more years of a 'Weekend at Bernie's' presidency," DeSantis said, referring to the 1989 film where two men pretend their dead employer is alive.

The moment completes Trump's takeover and is a remarkable consolidation compared to a year ago when Haley and DeSantis were looking to vanquish the former president, whose party and base increasingly are bullish about his chances in November.

Republicans emphasize making America safe again

Reality TV star Amber Rose's appearance Monday rubbed some traditional conservatives the wrong way even if it showcased Trump's attempt to broaden MAGA populism's appeal.

Before Trump's brush with death, for instance, anti-abortion activists were upset about changes to the party platform.

But Republicans returned to safer ground Tuesday with a theme that emphasized supporting law enforcement and combating violent crime, which is at historic lows according to experts

"We in the Republican Party will always be the law-and-order team," House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said.

A string of GOP officials and candidates running this fall stepped forward to make that case, with many espousing Trump's plan to deport millions of undocumented immigrants living in America.

"This is no time for wimpy Republicans," Rep. Jim Banks, R-Ind., told delegates. "If you came here illegally under Joe Biden, you're going back to where you came from under Donald Trump."

Others shared dire warnings about what they described as a dangerous world from attacks on Israel to threat of Chinese communism.

Noticeably absent from the conversation was any mention of Jan. 6 rioters, who Trump and others frequently have defended as "political prisoners" on the campaign trail.

Ramaswamy makes generational pitch amid 'oldgate'

One speaker who hyped up delegates Tuesday was former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, who called on Millennial and Gen Z voters to give the GOP a chance.

The generational message was noteworthy because Biden is 81 and Trump is 78, both born before the United Nations was founded.

"You want to be a rebel. You want to be a hippie. You want to stick it to the man," Ramaswamy said. "Show up on your college campus and try calling yourself a conservative."

The 38-year-old Ohio entrepreneur challenged younger Americans to get married, have kids, teach them religious values and "pledge allegiance to their country."

Much like during his 2024 primary bid, Ramaswamy said the country must reassert "national pride." He also attacked Democrats for focusing too much on race, gender and other cultural differences.

It was a conservative remix of sorts on then-Sen. Barack Obama's speech at Democratic National Committee two decades ago, which put the rising star on a trajectory that led to his presidency.

"And if we can revive that dream over group identity and victimhood and grievance, then nobody in the world — not a nation, not a corporation, not a virus — will beat us," Ramaswamy said.

Veep speak: Harris, Vance chat but debate still uncertain

Vice President Kamala Harris tried to reach JD Vance, the newly tapped Republican VP nominee, by phone Monday but had to leave a voicemail.

"She was very gracious, very cordial," Vance said.

Both parties are bragging that their veep contenders will wax the other in a debate, arguing the other doesn't have the brain power or experience to help the top of the ticket.

But it's unclear when or if the two will tangle.

The Biden-Harris campaign accepted an invitation from CBS News for a vice presidential debate on July 23 or Aug. 13, but Trump's team has yet to respond.

RFK Jr. continues to provide Dems fodder

Republicans largely stayed on message Tuesday inside the Fiserv Forum, where the NBA's Milwaukee Bucks play, but outside it was a bit more difficult.

That's in part because of independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., whose phone call with Trump continued to be a distraction to the GOP narrative.

Parts of the call were leaked online Tuesday by RFK, Jr.'s son, where Trump can be heard coaxing Kennedy to endorse the Republican ticket.

"I would love you to do so," Trump tells Kennedy.

But things took a turn when Trump began alluding to Kennedy's history of swimming in skepticism about vaccines, with the GOP nominee for president sharing disproven claims.

Kennedy later apologized in a post on X about the conversation coming out.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: RNC Day 2 takeaways: Haley, DeSantis back Trump, promote unity