At the RNC, the GOP Poured Old Wine Into New Bottles
Republicans claim to have abandoned economic libertarianism and embraced labor. But their platform doesn’t mention unions, and the party’s stalwarts at the RNC suggested a second Trump term would let the good times roll for the rich with little for workers.
Donald Trump gestures at the first day of the Republican National Convention on July 15, 2024, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Andrew Harnik / Getty Images)
MILWAUKEE — The end of this year’s Republican National Convention (RNC) brought a lot of grand pronouncements from prominent party figures.
“This is officially a brand-new Republican Party,” tweeted Republican pollster Frank Luntz on the convention’s final night.
“The RNC was proof positive that the old GOP — socially conservative, economically libertarian, and internationally interventionist — was well and truly dead,” Newsweek opinion editor Batya Ungar-Sargon wrote for Compact. “Trump’s GOP is economically protectionist, socially moderate, and antiwar.”
This article is for subscribers only. Please login or subscribe to access our full archives and beautiful print and digital magazine starting at just $3 a month.