Congress was not on Capitol Hill this week as Republicans gathered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to nominate their 2024 standard bearers: former President Donald J. Trump accepted the GOP nomination for President, and Ohio U.S. Senator JD Vance accepted the nomination to be Trump’s Vice Presidential running mate.
Even though Milwaukee is 1,500 miles from Mexico, the crisis at our Southern border was front and center throughout the Republican National Convention. Governor Greg Abbott (R-TX) set the tone, telling GOP delegates: “Under Joe Biden, illegal immigration has skyrocketed. Under his watch, around 11 million immigrants have crossed our border illegally. That’s more than the entire population of Michigan. It’s even twice the population here in Wisconsin.” Abbott added: “Biden has welcomed into our country rapists, murderers, and even terrorists…and the price we have paid has been deadly.”
On the Salem Media Group news program THIS WEEK ON THE HILL, Congressman Mark Green (R-TN)—chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee—said the momentum of Donald Trump’s campaign gives him hope that major border policy changes are on the horizon.
“It has been over a year since we passed HR2, the most conservative border bill in the history of our country, and it has languished in the Senate. Chuck Schumer has done nothing with it.” Green says if the Senate had honest objections to parts of the House bill, they could have easily added amendments and moved to a conference committee to enact HR2. But they just don’t care. They’re all about the open-door policies of this President.”
Chairman Green added that he’s excited at the prospect of Republicans recapturing the White House in November, and hopefully regaining a majority in the Senate while expanding their numbers in the House because—in his view—the greatest threat to America’s national security is our porous Southern border.
U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) told THIS WEEK ON THE HILL host Tony Perkins that coupled with the “free fall” of the Democratic Party in recent weeks, there’s a very real possibility that President Biden may withdraw (or be forced to step down) as the Democratic nominee in November. That would send the Democrats into chaos even before their own national convention in Chicago next month.
As a result, Speaker Johnson says that while Republicans are not taking anything for granted or measuring the drapes in the Oval Office just yet, he and House leadership are mapping out a blueprint for new government leadership starting in January, so Republicans are prepared to lead this nation.
“We really do believe we have momentum on our side,” Johnson says. “If all of this continues on the trajectory we’re seeing right now, we anticipate that Donald Trump will be elected President, and we have a chance of regaining control of the Senate. If that happens, we’ll have unified government, and it will also be a time of unifying the country.”
Johnson noted that convention delegates and Americans nationwide have been reminded how precious human life is, after experiencing Donald Trump coming within a centimeter of being killed by an assassin’s bullet at his recent rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. Prayers from millions of concerned Americans poured in for Trump’s safety and for all affected by the assassination attempt, and Johnson hopes everyone will continue to lift America’s leaders in prayer during the remainder of the 2024 campaign.
That view was echoed by THIS WEEK ON THE HILL guest Jack Hibbs, senior pastor at Calvary Chapel Chino Hills in California. After the failed assassination attempt on President Trump’s life, Pastor Hibbs asks, “Does God need to send us any further indication that we’re a nation in peril without Him? Our school system, our judicial system, and all the violence…how much further does God need to go to give us warnings that we—his people—need to repent and seek his face?”
Prayer was woven throughout the GOP gathering in Milwaukee, including poignant tributes to the 13 American soldiers who died in Joe Biden’s bungled withdrawal from Afghanistan and then delegates taking time to pray after learning of the passing of conservative broadcast legend Lou Dobbs. Evangelist Franklin Graham offered a poignant prayer from the mainstage on the final night of the convention, thanking God for “saving the life of President Donald J. Trump.” He acknowledged that God is the only one who can fix our complex problems and asked that He continue to protect President Trump. He also prayed for all the leaders of our nation, whichever side they represent.
It is always easy to get caught up in the enthusiasm of any political party’s national political convention. Reality will set in as Trump and his running mate, JD Vance, face the rigors of campaigning all over America…and as we all contemplate the kind of sneaky tricks Democrats perfected in 2020 to influence the collection and tabulation of votes. The GOP must prioritize securing the integrity of America’s elections during “early voting” as well as on November 5th.
Barring election interference at the polls and regardless of whom the hapless Democrats emerge from Chicago with as their standard bearer, Donald J. Trump appears to be on a glide path back to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Let us all pray that with God’s guidance, he will once more be given the opportunity to Make America Great Again.
Tom Tradup is VP/News & Talk for Dallas-based Salem Radio Network, and serves as Executive Producer of THIS WEEK ON THE HILL, which airs on leading radio stations nationwide and on the Salem News Channel.
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