Trump campaign memo signals plans to reduce the national GOP platform
Written by ABC AUDIO on July 1, 2024
(NEW YORK) — Donald Trump’s top advisers are planning to overhaul and shorten the Republican Party’s platform so that it will be “in line” with the former president’s “vision for America’s future,” according to a memo sent to the party’s platform committee that was obtained by ABC News.
The memo comes as some more socially conservative RNC members — along with some anti-abortion groups — have expressed concern that the platform this cycle might adopt Trump’s stance on reproductive rights, which would lift the call for a 20-week federal abortion ban that is part of the current platform’s language.
Trump has been clear about his opposition to a federal ban and his preference for this issue to be left up to the states.
This memo did not specifically mention abortion or reproductive rights but doubled down on the notion that the new platform will reflect Trump’s political stances.
“For decades, Republicans have published textbook-long platforms that are scrutinized and intentionally misrepresented by our political opponents. The mainstream media uses their bully pulpit to perpetuate lies and misrepresentations, and the voters are often left believing we stand for something different than we actually do,” the memo, sent by Trump campaign managers Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles, says.
The RNC’s 2016 platform, which was approved again in 2020 – both times with Trump at the helm of the party – is over 60 pages long.
“Publishing an unnecessarily verbose treatise will provide more fuel for our opponent’s fire of misinformation and misrepresentation to voters. It is with that recognition that we will present a streamlined platform in line with President Trump’s principled and popular vision for America’s future,” the memo states.
The memo was sent to Platform Committee members on Thursday.
The committee begins convening in Milwaukee on the evening of July 7, and has meetings scheduled on July 8 and 9, ahead of the RNC’s convention.
Draft language for a new platform has not yet been circulated to most Platform Committee members or general RNC members yet, according to several people with the process, though a number of conversations and lobbying on the issues with Trump allies have been ongoing among leaders of key advocacy groups and with some individuals.
“The talk of changing the Republican party’s pro-life platform is deeply concerning for pro-life Americans across the country. There has only been one party that is the defender of life, and if Republicans back away from this fight, there will be no one to carry on this battle,” said Tim Chapman, the incoming president of former Vice President Mike Pence’s nonprofit political advocacy group.
“Our expectation is that the GOP platform will continue to unequivocally call for national protections for unborn children, rooted in the 14th Amendment. Watering down the GOP platform’s stance on life would entail an abandonment of its defense of the human dignity of all people,” Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, said in a statement to ABC News.
ABC News’ Brittany Shepherd contributed to this report.
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