July 16 (UPI) — The second night of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee featured a long list of notable speakers, including House Speaker Mike Johnson, former Trump rival Nikki Haley and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, as the focus shifted to immigration, crime and safety under the banner “Make America Safe Once Again.”
Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York and chair of the House Republican Conference opened the evening as one of the first of many speakers.
“Our constitution and the soul of our very nation are on the ballot. Under Joe Biden, Americans have suffered crisis after crisis,” Stefanik said, as she cited the border crisis, violent crimes and inflation. “All while corrupt democrat prosecutors and judges wage illegal and unconstitutional lawfare against President Trump in an effort to do Joe Biden’s political bidding.”
“From the catastrophic withdrawal from Afghanistan to Putin’s invasion of Ukraine to Hamas‘ terrorist attack against our most precious ally Israel,” Stefanik added, as she condemned anti-Semitic protests on college campuses and blasted elite university presidents for failing to protect Jewish students.
“President Trump will bring back moral leadership to the White House, condemning anti-Semitism and standing strong with Israel and the Jewish people. President Trump will once again deliver the most secure border in our nation’s history and unleash the American economy and he will bring strength as commander-in-chief,” Stefanik shouted. “President Trump has done it before and he will do it again.”
Louisiana Rep. Steve Scalise, House Majority Leader who survived a politically motivated shooting at a Congressional Baseball Game practice in 2017, also spoke Tuesday as he addressed the recent assassination attempt on Trump.
“Not many know that while I was fighting for my life, Donald Trump was one of the first to come console my family at the hospital. That’s the kind of leader he is,” Scalise said, adding “Courageous under fire, compassionate toward others.”
During his speech, Scalise attacked Biden’s energy policies, saying, “We will end the Democrat’s assault on American energy once and for all,” as he blasted Biden for “waving taxes on Chinese solar panels, but raising taxes on Americans.”
Scalise attacked Biden’s spending, saying once Trump is back in the White House he will “make the Trump tax cuts permanent. And yes. We will end taxes on tips and deliver another tax cut for working families.”
On immigration, Scalise accused the Biden administration of opening up the U.S. southern border “to the entire world,” as he promised Trump will “lock down the border and yes, we will finish building the wall,” as the crowd on the convention floor cheered loudly.
“Biden and Harris want illegals to vote, now that they’ve opened up the border. Republicans will re-pass the SAVE act to block illegal aliens from voting in our elections,” Scalise said.
House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana talked about unity and called the convention a “great time to unite our party and to send President Donald Trump back to the White House.”
“We are not just united as Republicans, we are uniting as Americans in the wake of the assassination attempt on the life of President Trump,” he said as he outlined an immediate House investigation into Saturday’s events.
“American people deserve to know the truth and we will ensure accountability,” Johnson vowed.
“We in the Republican Party are the law-and-order team. We always have been and always will be the advocates for the rule of law,” Johnson said, adding, “and we all know that that principle is in serious jeopardy today.”
“Our rights do not come from government, they come from God,” Johnson told the cheering crowd, before listing the seven core principles of American conservatism.
“Individual freedom, limited government, the rule of law, peace through strength, fiscal responsibility, free markets and human dignity,” Johnson said, adding that the “radical, woke progressive left has disdain for those principles.”
“They want tear down those foundations and remold us into some sort of borderless, lawless, Marxist, socialist utopia. We are here to say, ‘Not on our watch,'” Johnson added.
Former Trump rivals Haley and Vivek Ramaswamy, along with Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, are among the speakers scheduled to take the stage next.