The theme for the third day of the Republican National Convention was “Make America Strong Again.” Speakers addressed border security, national security, and foreign policy.
 
There was an especially poignant moment when the Gold Star families of the 13 service members killed at Abbey Gate during Joe Biden’s disastrous retreat from Afghanistan took the stage. They received a long standing ovation from the delegates, and chants of “USA! USA!” filled the arena.
 
Herman Lopez, who lost a son at Abbey Gate, said:
 
“During last month’s debate, [Joe Biden] claimed no service members have died during his administration. None. That hurt us all deeply. So, Alicia and I are here to say the names of all 13 service members who lost their lives at Abbey Gate.”
 
As Mr. Lopez read the names of our fallen heroes, the delegates on the convention floor repeated each name.
 
All of the Gold Star family members who spoke to the convention and the country told a similar story: While Joe Biden and Kamala Harris ignored them and forgot them, Donald Trump did not. One grieving mother noted that Trump spent six hours with the Gold Star families and knew the stories of their sons and daughters.
 
Not only did their speeches remind America about Joe Biden’s failed leadership and weakness, they also showed a side of Donald Trump that the media doesn’t want you to see.
 
Kai Trump, the president’s granddaughter, gave a very moving speech that also dispelled the myth that Donald Trump is a monster. Here’s some of what she said:
 
“To me, he’s just a normal grandpa. He gives us candy and soda when our parents aren’t looking. He always wants to know how we’re doing in school… He calls me during the middle of the school day to ask how my golf game is going…

"Even when he’s going through all these court cases, he always asks me how I’m doing… A lot of people have put my grandpa through hell, and he’s still standing… The media makes my grandpa seem like a different person, but I know him for who he is. He’s very caring and loving. He truly wants the best for this country.” 
 
Other notable speakers included Shabbos Kestenbaum, a Jewish student who has faced unbelievable anti-Semitism on Harvard’s campus. Kestenbaum said:
 
“Although I once voted for Bernie Sanders, I now recognize that the far-left has not only abandoned the Jewish people, but the American people. The Democratic Party, the party I registered to vote for the day I turned 18, has been ideologically poisoned.”
 
 
 
A Changed Party
 
Of course, Wednesday night’s main event was the address by J.D. Vance accepting the Republican nomination for vice president. If you missed his speech, I urge you to watch it.
 
Vance talked about growing up in rural America, the struggles working-class families face every day, and he vowed to never forget where he came from.
 
He blasted the political establishment that has forgotten about rural America. The people Barack Obama described as “bitter, clinging to their guns and Bibles.” The people Hillary Clinton called “deplorable and irredeemable.” The people Joe Biden called “semi-fascist.”
 
Here’s an excerpt of Vance’s remarks:
 
“As always, America’s ruling class wrote the checks; communities like mine paid the price. For decades, that divide between the few, with their power and comfort in Washington, and the rest of us only widened.
 
"From Iraq to Afghanistan, from the Financial Crisis to the Great Recession, from open borders to stagnating wages, the people who govern this country have failed and failed again.”
 
There has always been a populist conservative wing of the GOP, but it never controlled the party. Vance’s speech Wednesday night made it clear that the Republican Party is a changed party, and for the better, in my opinion.
 
 
 
A Personal Note
 
You heard it Wednesday night, and you heard it again last night: This Republican Party is the party of the working man and woman, not the party of Wall Street.
 
It’s the party of secure borders, not open borders.
 
It’s the party of American companies, not multinational corporations reaping big profits in communist China.
 
It’s the party of peace through strength, not endless no-win wars.
 
Pat Buchanan championed these populist themes in the early 1990s. They were also central to my presidential campaign in 2000.
 
While I was often portrayed by the media as a “religious right candidate” like Pat Robertson, we were very different. Not on life and religious liberty, but on economics.
 
Roberston supported giving communist China most favored nation trading status. I vehemently opposed it. Some of the most heated arguments in the 2000 debates involved George W. Bush and me disagreeing over trade with China.
 
Early in Donald Trump’s first campaign in 2016, I was in a greenroom waiting to speak at an event. The room was filled with important people.
 
When Trump entered the room, he immediately walked over to me and said how much he loved the story I often told about my janitor father, my family’s blue-collar background, and how I frequently spoke out against the gutting of our manufacturing base. Trump said to me, “That’s why I’m running — to turn that around.”
 
 
 
Democrat Disarray
 
As Donald Trump appears to be like a phoenix rising from the ashes, Joe Biden appears to be going under for the third or fourth time. The pressure on him to drop out of the presidential race increased dramatically. Consider these developments: 

• Biden has lost the support of Nancy Pelosi, House Democrat Leader Hakim Jeffries, and Senate Democrat Leader Chuck Schumer. 

• The Washington Post just broke a story saying Barack Obama thinks Biden should step aside. That’s not “good journalism.” That’s publicizing an intentional leak to create more pressure. 

• Democrat mega-donors are not only deserting Biden, they are pressuring other Democrat candidates to publicly disown him. 

Curiously, Biden said in an interview Wednesday that he would consider getting out of the race if “some medical condition emerged.” Then he suddenly got COVID and returned to his basement in Delaware.
 
Now, Axios is reporting that Biden will likely drop out of the race, perhaps “as soon as this weekend.”
 
 
 
The Timeline
 
Everyone agrees that the assassination attempt on Donald Trump’s life was a catastrophic security failure. We have noted several areas where security seemed to breakdown. But looking at the timeline of events raises serious concerns.
 
Here’s what we know (times listed are approximate):
 
3:00 — The shooter enters the restricted area, and his rangefinder sets off a magnetometer. He is flagged by security.
 
5:11 — The shooter is spotted by police near the building he will eventually fire from.
 
5:40 — One officer sees the shooter and reports him as a suspicious person – the second time he is flagged.
 
5:45 — Another officer notices the shooter surveilling the building roof and reports it – the third time he is flagged.
 
5:51 — The Secret Service sees the shooter.
 
5:53 — The Secret Service identifies the shooter as a threat – the fourth time he is flagged.
 
6:00 — A law enforcement officer sees the shooter now has a backpack and reports it – the fifth time he is flagged. The officer observes the shooter using the rangefinder to judge the distance between the building and the stage and also reports this – the sixth time he is flagged.
 
6:02 — Donald Trump walks out onto the stage to begin the rally.
 
6:03 — The shooter climbs up the back of the building just as officers begin a perimeter walk around the building.
 
Not long after this, rally attendees see the shooter crawling on the roof and alert law enforcement.
 
One police officer, standing on another officer’s shoulders, pulled himself up to the roof and saw the shooter, who pointed his rifle at the officer. The officer let go of the roof, fell, and then called in the threat.
 
6:11 — The shooter fires several rounds. He fired what would have been a killing shot but at that exact moment, Donald Trump turned his head and the bullet ripped through his ear. Sadly, one attendee was killed, and others were wounded.
 
6:12 — The shooter is neutralized.
 
There are many questions, but here are two fundamental things no one can understand: 

• Why wasn’t this wannabe assassin taken into custody when the Secret Service identified him as a threat — 18 minutes before he opened fire? 

• And why was Donald Trump allowed to go on stage while the shooter remained a known threat?

 
 
Defending Faith, Family, & Freedom
 
In this week’s Defending Faith, Family, and Freedom podcast for the James Dobson Family Institute, I share my thoughts on the failed assassination attempt on former President Trump.
 
Listen to the podcast here.