California Republicans, long in the minority at home, get a Trump boost at RNC

Eric Trump watches the roll call of states during the Republican National Convention on Monday night.

July 16, 2024 1:21 PM PT

MILWAUKEE — California Republicans, long banished to the hinterlands of their home state’s politics, enjoyed being surrounded by like-minded conservatives at the Republican National Convention — and hearing some bashing of the blue state’s politicians and policies.

Eric Trump, son of the former president and 2024 GOP nominee, noted that his family owns an oceanfront golf course in Rancho Palos Verdes.

“The most beautiful views anywhere, the most perfect weather anywhere,” Trump told hundreds of California delegates and guests at a breakfast Tuesday morning. “Every time I go out there I go, ‘Man, if it wasn’t for the taxes, if it wasn’t for the taxes and the lunacy, I would probably live out here.’ ”

Trump was speaking on the second morning of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, one day after the party officially nominated former President Trump and Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance as its White House ticket, adopted a slimmed down platform that softened language on traditional marriage and abortion, and was rocked by a surprise public appearance by Donald Trump, his first since a gunman tried to assassinate him on Saturday.

Delegates have been buoyant about their party’s prospects, speaking about Trump’s appearance, just days after the shooting that clipped his ear in Pennsylvania, as something akin to a religious resurrection.

“Some of my colleagues in my delegation, I looked around and I could see them tearing up,” when Trump appeared before delegates, said Cindy Spray, a delegate from Florida. “And there was a huge emotional rush of, ‘Thank God he’s still here.’ God saw over him.”

While Democratic elected officials spoke outside the convention hall, a designated protest space at a park near Fiserv Forum stood mostly empty during the day Tuesday.

Trump’s team announced that he would return to the campaign trail Saturday, along with Vance, for a rally in Grand Rapids, Mich. The event will come just one week after the shooting, which killed one and severely injured two others, while narrowly failing to take the candidate’s life.

Tuesday’s convention theme is “Make America Safe Again,” intended to focus the gathering on crime and illegal immigration. Scheduled to address the gathering in the evening session were former rivals Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley. Also expected to be on the agenda: people speaking about their experiences with the fentanyl crisis and with crimes committed by people not authorized to be in the country.

Those topics percolated into the conversation at the California delegation breakfast, where attendees sipped bloody Marys and ate fried chicken and waffles at their hotel in Brookfield, a suburb of Milwaukee.

“Every state in America is a border state today. But that does not diminish the overwhelming challenges that I know you see in California,” Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin told the delegation. “They are unprecedented. You do not have [Texas Gov.] Greg Abbott as your governor, and I’m sorry. I’m sorry.”

Abbott has gained both renown and condemnation for his immigration policies. In March, he signed a measure to allow Texas law enforcement to arrest Mexican migrants who enter the state without legal approval. He said the federal government had failed in its efforts to stem unauthorized migration.

The law promised a showdown with federal officials over which branch of government has authority over the U.S. borders and immigration. Opponents said the Texas law would lead to racial profiling and detentions of U.S. citizens of Mexican descent. The Texas governor also rankled Californians by sending tens of thousands of migrants to California and other states controlled by Democrats.

Democrats in Washington held a press briefing decrying the Republican position on immigration as extreme, saying it would divide families, as Trump follows through on his promise of mass deportations.

Rep. Veronica Escobar (D-Texas) said Americans should oppose “a right-wing extremist’s dark vision for America that is centered around attacks on immigrant and border communities.” Trump’s plan amounts to a “xenophobic blueprint,” she said, “setting out to remake the United States in their white-only, supposed-Christian image.”

State party chairwoman Jessica Millan Patterson contrasted Trump’s policies with those enacted by the Democrats who run California’s government.

“No one knows the consequences of failed Democrat policies better than Californians,” she said.

“Under California Democrats’ failed one-party rule, thanks to disastrous leaders like [Gov.] Gavin Newsom and [Vice President and former Sen.] Kamala Harris, California has the highest unemployment rate of any state in the nation, the highest gas prices, the highest poverty rate, the largest homeless population, surging crime, failing schools, and one of the top entry points for illegal immigration. The list goes on and on.”

California’s government and voters are overwhelmingly Democratic, however, because of its size and how it draws its congressional districts, the state is home to the most competitive House races of any state in the nation and millions of Trump voters.

But speakers addressing the state delegation tried to offer reasons for optimism.

“I firmly believe that not just our majority, but expanding the majority in our House of Representatives, runs through California,” Youngkin said.

Eric Trump added that California has donated more money to his father’s campaign than any state in the nation; a fact that is often true for Republican candidates in contested races across the nation because of the state’s size and high concentration of wealthy donors.

“California has bought more MAGA hats than any state in the country,” Trump added to cheers.

Attendees expressed delight at those messages and, more broadly, at spending time with like-minded conservatives.

“It’s great to see people that think the same, share the same values. And support the same people that you support,” said Jon Huey of Woodland, near Sacramento, adding that it was a contrast from his home state.

“It’s hard because obviously, if you live in the blue part of California or a Democrat county, your neighbors are mostly Democrat,” added the 42-year-old, who works on GOP races. “You’re not as outwardly Republican or conservative.”

Mehta reported from Milwaukee and Rainey from Los Angeles. This article includes reporting from the Associated Press.