Haley ‘strongly endorses’ Trump, Desantis wages culture wars, Marco Rubio up soon

Nikki Haley, the former South Carolina governor and onetime Trump GOP primary rival, said the Republican nominee asked her to speak to the convention “in the name of unity.”

“It was a gracious invitation and I was happy to accept,” Haley said.

Haley was the last major contender to drop out of the primary against Trump, and her persistence drew heavy criticism from Trump and his supporters. When she exited the race, she did not immediately throw her support behind Trump, as other primary candidates had. She later said she would vote for Trump.

Tonight, Haley declared, “Trump has my strong endorsement, period.”

She urged Republicans who “don’t agree with Trump 100% of the time” to back the GOP ticket.

“Take it from me,” she said. “I haven’t always agreed with President Trump. But we agree more often than we disagree.”

Haley, who was the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations under Trump, attacked Biden on both his foreign policy record and his recent debate performance, which spurred major questions about his fitness for office.

— Kevin Breuninger

Reality TV star Savannah Chrisley began her remarks on what she called the “two-faced” justice system by reading her parent’s prison identification numbers.

Todd and Julie Chrisley, known for their reality TV show “Chrisley Knows Best,” were found guilty of bank and tax fraud charges by an Atlanta jury in June 2022.

The couple was sentenced to 12 and seven years, respectively, in federal prison, though Julie’s sentencing was recently overturned in June. Her case was sent to lower courts for re-sentencing.

“My family was persecuted by rogue prosecutors in Fulton County due to our public profile. I know, Fulton County: they know how to do it don’t they,” she said, referring to the Georgia county where Trump is facing charges that he conspired to attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 election.

“We live in a nation founded on freedom, liberty and justice for all. Justice, it’s supposed to be blind, but today we have a two-face justice system,” Chrisley said. “Just look at what they’re doing to President Trump. All while, let’s face it. Hunter Biden is roaming around free and attending classified meetings.”

A jury in June found President Joe Biden’s son guilty on three criminal counts related to his purchased and possession of a gun. Hunter Biden also faces federal tax-related charges in Los Angeles.

“We need to expose the Democrats’ corruption and better yet, the Biden family’s corruption. And guess what? I know just the man for that job,” Chrisley said. “Donald J. Trump has only one conviction that matters, and that is his conviction to make America great again.”

Trump in May was convicted of 34 felony charges of falsifying business records related to a hush money payment to a porn star.

– Josephine Rozzelle

Dallas, Texas, Mayor Eric Johnson pinned his conversion from a conservative Democrat to a Republican on an incident in which progressive activists sought to “intimidate” him into defunding the police.

“I’ve been a Democrat my entire life, albeit a conservative one,” said Johnson, who switched parties after winning his second term as mayor in 2023.

“But when those activists tried to scare my kids, my fellow Democrats were silent,” he said. “It was Republicans who offered their support, both privately and publicly.”

“Today, I’m the proud Republican mayor of Dallas, Texas, the largest city in the United States led by a Republican,” he said.

— Kevin Breuninger

Virginia Senate candidate Hung Cao, a retired U.S. military officer who was born in Vietnam, drew a contrast between his upbringing in a war-torn country to emphasize his love for the United States.

He began his brief speech my slamming his hand on the podium to mimic the sound of loud knocking, a visceral example of what he recounted as a traumatizing upbringing.

“That’s the scariest sound you’ll ever hear when you live in a communist country,” Cao said. “That’s my family’s real life story. We escaped from Vietnam just days before Saigon fell to the communists.”

“America saved my life,” he said. “I grabbed onto the American dream.”

— Rebecca Picciotto

Former VP hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy energized the crowd with a speech focused centrally on culture war issues like DEI, identity politics and college campuses.

“Our message to Gen-Z is this: You’re going to be the generation that actually saves this country. You want to be a rebel? You want to be a hippie? You want to stick it to the man? Show up on your college campus and try calling yourself a conservative,” Ramaswamy said in his sermon-like remarks.

“Say you want to get married, have kids, teach them to believe in God and pledge allegiance to their country. Because you know what? Fear has been infectious in this country, but courage can be contagious to that too.”

At first a long-shot presidential candidate, Ramaswamy gained traction as a successful entrepreneur who waged the culture wars.

— Rebecca Picciotto

New Jersey Rep. Jeff Van Drew touted his vote against impeaching Trump while a Democrat and his conversion to the Republican party after meeting with the then-president.

“President Trump asked me to meet with him. We spoke about family, faith, freedom and friendship. He has been my good friend ever since that day,” said Van Drew, who is running for the Senate seat currently held by Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez.

“He said that I should be a Republican. I said, Mr. President, I will be a Republican,” Van Drew said.

“I see the independents and especially to the forgotten Democrats out there,” Van Drew said, “For a moment, I want to speak to you. I know how you feel tonight, because that’s how I felt back in 2019 you feel like your party has left you behind because it has.”

Menendez, who filed for re-election as an independent, was convicted Tuesday of corruption charges in New York federal court. Rep. Andy Kim is the Democratic nominee.

– Dan Mangan

New York Rep. Elise Stefanik, once floated as a potential running mate for Donald Trump, reminisced on a December congressional hearing on antisemitism that catapulted her to national attention.

“Who saw that congressional hearing with the college presidents of so called ‘elite’ universities? Oh, wait, they are former presidents,” Stefanik jeered.

During the hearing, Stefanik asked presidents from the University of Pennsylvania, Harvard and the Massachussetts Institute of Technology whether “calling for the genocide of Jews” would violate their respective college rules.

All three presidents flubbed and wavered in their answers, saying it would depend on the context, a moment that quickly went viral as the Israel-Hamas war polarized the country.

Both the Harvard and UPenn presidents later resigned from their posts.

“One after the other after the other, [they] said it depends on the context,” Stefanik recounted. “Let me tell you, America knows it does not depend on the context.”

— Rebecca Picciotto

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., who was nearly killed in a politically motivated shooting at a congressional baseball practice in 2017, praised then-President Trump for consoling his family at the time.

“That’s the kind of leader he is: Courageous under fire, compassionate toward others,” Scalise said.

Scalise’s experience being targeted by a shooter gives him a grim fact in common with Trump, who survived an assassination attempt at a campaign rally on Saturday.

— Kevin Breuninger

Mike Rogers, the Senate hopeful from Michigan, attacked electric vehicles in his speech to the RNC.

“EVs require 40% less labor to build than gas cars,” said Rogers, a former congressman who once headed the House Intelligence Committee. “And here’s the kicker, 85% of the critical minerals needed to build them are processed in China.”

“It is impossible to build an EV without getting into bed with the Communist Party of China,” said Rogers, who is running to replace retiring Democratic Sen. Debbie Stabenow.

– Dan Mangan

Army veteran Sam Brown, who is running for a Senate seat from Nevada compared being badly injured in a roadside bomb in Afghanistan in 2008 to the “difficult times” he suggested Americans are going through today.

“The explosion left me drenched in diesel and burning alive,” Brown said.  “As I was near death. I felt the flames being smothered and heard a voice say, ‘Sir, I’ve got you.”

“Tonight I offer a message of hope,” said Brown, a retired Army captain who is seeking to unseat incumbent Democratic Sen. Jacky Rosen.

“Because I know the importance of hope in difficult times.”

“Look at my face,” said Brown, who was disfigured by the bombing.

“This is the high cost of war. If Joe Biden stays in office, more service members will pay this price. He has brought our nation humiliation, defeat and to the brink of more war. I’ve been through the fire. President Trump has been through the fire. But hope has not been extinguished. It is reignited. And we are more united than ever to save America’s future.”

– Dan Mangan

Tim Sheehy, who is vying for the Montana U.S. Senate seat currently held by Democrat Jon Tester, quipped at the start of his speech, “My name is Tim Sheehy, those are also my pronouns.”

The line, which mocked the mostly progressive practice of articulating gender pronouns, drew laughs and cheers from the crowd.

Tester, one of the most conservative Democrats in the Senate, is defending his seat in a reliably red state that broke 57%-41% for Trump over Biden in the 2020 presidential election. The Senate race is viewed as a toss up by the Cook Political Report.

— Kevin Breuninger

West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice focused his remarks on his personal relationship with Trump, but his convention appearance was largely overshadowed by the large English bulldog sitting to his right.

Babydog, Justice’s famous pet who often appears alongside the governor, sat on a black leather armchair throughout the speech.

“Babydog’s got a prediction,” Justice said. “Babydog says we’ll retain the majority in the House, we’re going to flip the United States Senate, and overwhelmingly we’re going to elect Donald J. Trump and JD Vance in November.”

Justice is running for the Senate seat being vacated by Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin, who is retiring from Congress.

Indiana Rep. Jim Banks, who is running for the state’s open Senate seat, followed a familiar Republican campaign script, calling out Democratic border policies as weak-willed and endorsing a hardline deportation strategy.

“This is no time for wimpy Republicans. That’s why I’m running,” Banks said. “We’ll start by securing the border. If you came here illegally under Joe Biden, you’re going back to where you came from under Donald Trump.”

— Rebecca Picciotto

Like the other Republican Senate candidates who spoke at the convention Tuesday evening, Bernie Moreno used his time on the RNC stage to attack his opponent, Sen. Sherrod Brown, (D-Ohio) and President Joe Biden.

Moreno dropped any pretense of unity, telling the crowd that Bide and VP Kamala Harris “have put the welfare of illegals ahead of our own citizens. They’ve destroyed our border, they’ve destroyed our economy, they’ve destroyed our standing in the world, and they’ll destroy America if we don’t stop them.”

“Sherrod Brown votes with Biden virtually 100% of the time,” he said. “Well, tonight, we’ve gotten a message for failed lifelong politicians like Sherrod Brown and Joe Biden: It’s time to go home. A vote for Trump and Moreno is a vote to put America first.”

– Josephine Rozzelle

U.S. Senate candidate Dave McCormick, who witnessed the assassination attempt against Trump at a Pennsylvania campaign rally on Saturday, praised the nominee and mourned those who were seriously injured or killed in the attack.

“I witnessed firsthand, from a front-row seat in butler, President Trump’s remarkable strength and resolve in a terrifying, terrifying and unpredictable moment,” he said.

“The president rose brilliantly to the challenge, but what a sad, sad and frightening day for the families of those who were injured or lost, and for our great country,” McCormick said. “And we all thank God that President Trump is OK.”

McCormick is competing against Democratic Sen. Bob Casey in the Keystone State, a crucial battleground in both the presidential contest and the race to control the U.S. Senate.

— Kevin Breuninger

Wisconsin Senate candidate Eric Hovde attacked Democratic incumbent Sen. Tammy Baldwin for voting in lockstep with Biden, especially on what he sees as a failed economic agenda.

“Senator Baldwin has been a rubber stamp, voting with him 95.5% of the time,” Hovde said in his brief remarks. “Biden, with Baldwin’s help, has weakened us in every way.”

The Wisconsin businessman, who is running in a key battleground state, went on to accuse Biden of expanding the federal deficit, fueling runaway inflation and squeezing consumers’ wallets.

That economic line of attack has become the standard GOP playbook on the campaign trail as high costs of living remain a top voter priority. The monthly reading of inflation, however, dipped for the first time in the latest Consumer Price Index, an optimistic sign as the U.S. economy teeters along a precarious post-pandemic recovery.

— Rebecca Picciotto

Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz taunted former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy on the floor of the RNC as McCarthy was being interviewed by CNN, saying, “If you took that stage you’d get booed off of it.”

Gaetz in turn was told “Don’t be an a–hole” by a man who appeared to be part of the Illinois delegation.

McCarthy, a California Republican, later told NBC News in an interview that Gaetz “shouldn’t be on the streets.”

The bad blood between the two men stems from a House Ethics Committee probe into allegations that Gaetz had sex with an underage girl who was paid, which Gaetz denies.

McCarthy has said, and repeated at the RNC, that Gaetz “tried to leverage me to stop the Ethics investigation.”

“That’s illegal. I’m not doing that,” said McCarthy to NBC News.

McCarthy was ousted as speaker last October after Gaetz filed a motion to boot him from that spot.

– Dan Mangan

The second day of the Republican National Convention will feature remarks from a bevy of Republican lawmakers and other prominent political figures, including multiple former Trump campaign rivals.

Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, who ran against Trump in the 2016 presidential primary and was recently a finalist to be his running mate, is set to speak.

Trump picked Sen. JD Vance of Ohio to round out the top of the ticket; Rubio quickly expressed support for the choice soon after it was announced.

Also on the schedule: Trump’s former United Nations ambassador Nikki Haley, who challenged Trump in the 2024 GOP primary and did not immediately endorse him when she ended her presidential campaign.

Haley said in an exit speech that Trump would have to “earn the votes” of Republicans who did not back him. She later endorsed Trump, and prior to the convention released her delegates so they could go toward his nomination.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who was once seen as Trump’s most formidable challenger in the primary, is also on the list.

Other speakers include: Lara Trump, whom the Republican nominee handpicked in March to co-chair the Republican National Committee; Kari Lake, who lost an Arizona gubernatorial bid in 2022 and is now running for the Senate; Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York, the House Republican Conference Chair; Vivek Ramaswamy, an entrepreneur and former presidential candidate; and many others.

The schedule also includes another crop of speakers labeled “everyday Americans.”

— Kevin Breuninger

Vice President Kamala Harris and Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) have spoken over the phone, three sources told NBC.

One source said Vance, who on Monday was announced as Donald Trump’s running mate, initiated the call. Another source described the call as brief and cordial.

Harris left Vance a voicemail Monday night, congratulating him and encouraging him to accept an August 13th Vice Presidential debate, NBC previously reported.

– Josephine Rozzelle

Trump’s Secret Service protection was increased after U.S. officials learned of a plot by Iran to kill the former president.

The protection level for Trump was heightened in the weeks before a Pennsylvania man, Thomas Crooks, tried to assassinate the Republican candidate during a campaign rally.

Crooks has no known ties to the Iran plot.

But the disclosure of the Iranian plan, and the Secret Service’s response to it, raised more questions about why the agency failed to intercept Crooks before he opened fire on Trump and others at the rally, one of whom was killed.

– Dan Mangan

A video clip leaked Tuesday morning captured Trump expressing an anti-vaccine conspiracy theory in a conversation with third-party presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

The clip also shows Trump telling his ostensible campaign rival, “I would love you to do something. And I think it’ll be so good for you and so big for you.”

When Trump adds, “We’re going to win” the election, Kennedy responds, “Yeah.”

The conversation took place after Trump survived an assassination attempt at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday.

Trump and Kennedy, who has repeatedly expressed opposition to vaccines, met in person on Monday in Milwaukee, where the Republican National Convention is underway.

— Kevin Breuninger

Sen. Bob Menendez, a New Jersey Democrat who had been chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, was convicted on all criminal counts in New York federal court related to accepting bribes from a trio of businessmen.

Menendez’s conviction comes as Democrats hold a razor-thin majority in the Senate, and as Republicans eye potentially taking control of the chamber in November’s elections.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, urged Menendez to resign.

– Dan Mangan

President Biden is putting together a sweeping set of proposals to reform the Supreme Court including possible term limits for justices and a new ethics code, three sources confirmed to NBC News.

The announcement could come in the weeks ahead, according to the sources.

During a closed-door virtual meeting with Congressional Progressive Caucus members on Saturday, Biden indicated that he had been consulting with constitutional scholars about the proposed legislation for over a month, one person familiar with the meeting told NBC News.

A White House spokesperson declined to comment to NBC News.

Biden’s proposed Supreme Court overhaul would come after the high court ruled that Trump has immunity from criminal prosecution for “official acts” he conducted as president. That decision carried significant complications for special counsel Jack Smith’s four-count indictment of election interference against the former president.

“Look, it’s not, it’s not hyperbole to suggest Trump is literally an existential threat, an existential threat to the very Constitution of democracy we, we say we care about,” Biden told the lawmakers in the Saturday meeting, according to the source.

The congressional meeting took place before the attempted assassination of Donald Trump at his Saturday evening rally in Pennsylvania.

On Monday, Trump received another major legal victory from Florida federal Judge Aileen Cannon who threw out special counsel Smith’s case alleging that the former president illegally held classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago home in Florida. Smith plans to appeal that ruling.

— Rebecca Picciotto

House Democrats have been collecting signatures on a letter to urge the Democratic National Committee to decelerate their nomination process of President Biden.

 The DNC decided in May that it would hold a “virtual roll call” for delegates to vote on and officially designate the presidential nominee, a process that could begin as soon as Sunday.

 That virtual roll call plan would deem Biden the nominee weeks ahead of the Democratic convention where delegates have historically voted in person.

 With Democrats still holding major reservations about Biden’s reelection bid, lawmakers wrote in their letter that the DNC’s accelerated nomination timeline is a “terrible idea.”

 Earlier Tuesday, the letter had received over 20 signatures from Democrats with differing stances on Biden’s political future, two sources told NBC News. The DNC and the Biden campaign both stood by the virtual roll call approach.  

 Read the full story here.

— Rebecca Picciotto