The “Never Trump” Republican Convention that got some Democrat’s Attention
Evan McMullin, Mindy Finn and Heath Mayo opened the virtual Convention on Founding Principles on Monday, Aug. 24, 2020. Source.
While the Republican National Convention occurred in Charlotte last week, at which President Donald Trump officially received the nomination from the Republican party, another convention occurred simultaneously: the Convention on Founding Principles, led by Republican leaders disillusioned with Trump’s presidency.
The Convention on Founding Principles was put on by Evan McMullin and Mindy Finn, who ran as independents in the 2016 presidential election, as well as the Niskanen Center, who focuses on center-right policy ideas to revitalize the post-Trump Republican Party.
The convention featured speakers who share a commitment, in their words, to founding principles and political renewal in America. These are mostly disaffected Republicans, speakers included former CIA Director Michael Hayden, former FBI Director James Comey, former RNC Chairman Michael Steele, former Members of Congress David Jolly and Charlie Dent, TV pundits Amanda Carpenter and S.E. Cupp, human rights activist Garry Kasparov, former South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford, and former Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez.
At the official Republican National Convention, the Republican party announced it would not have a party platform in the 2020 presidential election, instead pledging its total loyalty to President Trump: “the [Republican National Committee] enthusiastically supports President Trump and continues to reject the policy positions of the Obama-Biden Administration, as well as those espoused by the Democratic National Committee today… [and that] the Republican Party has and will continue to enthusiastically support the President’s America-first agenda.” Many traditional Republican voters saw this resolution as the Party’s descent into following a cult of personality, because, according to this resolution, any platform would be ruled “out of order.” Furthermore, the party is now on record supporting all of Trump’s ideas that were not formerly a part of the Republican platform, including his denial of Russian interference in the election, defense of confederate imagery, opposition to legal immigration, insistence that there is nothing wrong with extorting an ally to fabricate dirt on political rivals, animosity towards NATO, embrace of trade wars, and questionable knowledge and opinion of democratic norms.
The Republican Counter-Convention strove to bring together disillusioned former Republicans and independent voters in opposition to the renomination of Donald Trump and support of a new, more complete vision for the party and country.
The convention targeted a national audience of Republicans and conservatives dissatisfied with Trump’s presidency. It was intended to draw hundreds to Charlotte, NC for an event that would be counter-programming to the Republican National Convention. Originally scheduled for the Spectrum Center, the pandemic forced a change of plans and the convention was conducted virtually. It was broadcasted from Charlotte and live-streamed on Facebook and Youtube. Most speakers appeared remotely. 17 million people watched the first night of the Republican National Convention, but no TV networks covered Charlotte’s counter-convention.
It was however able to garner media attention. McMullin and Finn appeared on MSNBC’s Morning Joe Wednesday, the Religion News Service ran a story about the convention’s appeal to evangelicals, and the Washington Post headlined an opinion column, “Republicans are putting on two conventions this week. One of them will be sane.” The first night’s live stream reached 23,000 viewers on Youtube and 10,000 on Facebook. This, in addition to social media shares made for a total reach of hundreds of thousands, which, while certainly impressive, is still nowhere near to the viewership achieved by the official convention.
This week the Pew Research Center found that an average of 87% of Republicans approve of the President’s job. In an election expected to draw more than 130 million voters, disaffected Republicans could make the difference between a Biden victory and a Trump reelection.