Republican Party seeks to strike a balance between broadening its appeal while preserving historical identity with base
Editor’s note: This article has been update from its earlier version.
An intriguing tension unfolded at the Republican National Convention (RNC) on its opening night July 15 with religious pluralism intersecting with political alliances.
Leora Levy, a Connecticut businesswoman and Republican Jewish Coalition leader, delivered a prayer that blended Jewish references with a call for unity while giant screens behind her projected American flags and Christian crosses.
Also, Harmeet Dhillon, a Republican attorney and Sihk, chanted a prayer to “Waheguru, our one true God” seeking blessing upon and protection for the candidacy of former President Donald Trump.
The imagery highlighted the delicate balance of the Republican Party seeking to broaden its coalition.
Other explicitly Christian prayers centered on Trump's protection during an assassination attempt. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene even linked Trump’s survival to America’s historical Christian identity.
The RNC’s embrace of religious diversity appeared awkward, seemingly reflecting the party’s complex electoral strategy in 2024.
It is a strategy made clear in its 2024 platform that emphasizes the 14th Amendment's guarantee of the right to life for the unborn while promoting the state’s rights position of GOP nominee Trump. The platform also removed a call for a federal abortion ban, which some Republicans wanted to be kept in place.
Numerous pro-life and conservative voices have sharply criticized the platform, which received final approval at the convention this week in Milwaukee, Wis.
“The RNC platform, I'm sorry, it is the worst platform I've ever seen,” Tom McClusky, a longtime pro-life activist told LifeSiteNews. “The platform, to me, has always been a promissory note. This is what the Republican Party stands for, this is the ideals that we strive for, and we've lost that now.”
The Family Research Council (FRC) has launched a petition directed to Republican National Committee Co-Chair Michael Whatley and Platform Chairwoman Marsha Blackburn signed by a minority of Platform Committee members who did not support the new document.
The FRC petition reads, “While the new platform provides a good platform for President Trump’s campaign, it lacks the enduring principles upon which a party can stand as important language on the topic of life was removed; language that had been in each GOP platform for almost 50 years.”