Title: An Inside Look at the 2024 Republican National Convention With GU Politics

Maddie Davis (G ‘25) is a rising second-year student at the McCourt School of Public Policy.

If I had told younger Maddie that she would be standing in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, at the Republican National Convention, she would have laughed in my face.

I’ve never shied away from politics. Some of my earliest memories include watching Democratic National Convention speeches with my dad or attending events for the late Governor Ruth Ann Minner’s reelection campaign in Delaware with my mom. My little brother and I have had countless discussions about the state of the world and our place in helping it.

As an undergraduate at the University of Virginia and now as a master’s student at the McCourt School of Public Policy, my passion has evolved into a mission. Gaining technical skills and institutional knowledge to meaningfully contribute in political spaces has been my guiding educational purpose. I’m spending the summer working on Capitol Hill as an intern for a Democratic representative, and getting to apply classroom conversations to the real world has truly been a dream come true.

More than anything, my first year at McCourt has taught me the value of engaging with diverse perspectives. Moving forward means moving together, even when it seems impossible.

That’s why I wanted to go to the RNC with GU Politics. Aside from the occasional glimpse of Fox News or Thanksgiving dinner table debate, my engagement with Trump supporters and understanding of Republican Party operations were extremely limited. I couldn’t imagine the logistics behind hosting 50,000 people for a week, and I wanted to see the messaging the Republican Party was sending to its base voters and a global audience.

Throughout the week, my cohort and I were able to meet with party officials, respected journalists and impassioned delegates. We got their real-time reactions to convention events, reflections on the party and premonitions for the future.

To give you an idea of what we were up to, here’s a closer look into one of our days at the RNC.

A Day in the Life at the 2024 Republican National Convention

We started our day promptly at 4 in the morning to meet Kasie Hunt, the host of CNN This Morning, who had invited us to sit in on a live broadcast. We arrived bleary eyed and camera ready at the CNN Politico Grill, a restaurant-turned-media center that hosted live panels and convention coverage throughout the week. Journalists and political actors would circle through the Grill, talking over the convention’s events and how they impacted the 2024 election and nation overall. After the panel, we were able to chat with Mike Dubke, former White House communications director and GU Politics Advisory Board Member and Fall 2017 Fellow, and Matt Gorman, former senior adviser to Senator Tim Scott’s (R-South Carolina) presidential campaign, about upcoming speeches and morale within the Republican Party.

Catapulting up on a very fancy elevator, our next stop was meeting Reince Priebus, a former Republican National Committee chairman and White House chief of staff. He discussed his rise through the party, fundraising strategies and the future of voter mobilization. As chairman of the Host Committee for the RNC, Priebus and his team were able to raise $85 million, breaking the Republican Party’s fundraising record.

Chris LaCivita, Donald Trump’s 2024 campaign senior advisor, stopped by a joint Brunswick Group and GU Politics event as part of their Road to 2024 series. Brunswick partner Lanhee J. Chen and GU Politics Executive Director Mo Elleithee led a conversation about campaign strategy and convention takeaways. LaCivita discussed how confident the campaign felt based on battleground polls between Biden and Trump, later answering questions from Georgetown students about the state of the race and national unity.

After the Brunswick event, we navigated the complicated security perimeter to meet with Trey Gowdy, former congressman and current Fox News host, at a nearby hotel. He discussed the difficulty of navigating Congress and the ways in which sowing division has become politically and economically profitable. In the convention hall, we had heard many speeches inferring that the justice system had become a weaponized political tool. Gowdy’s experience as a former prosecutor brought a unique perspective on the dangers of painting the judicial branch as a partisan entity.

Our last official meeting of the day was with Richard Walters, senior adviser to the RNC. He gave us an in-depth explanation of fundraising sources and how different Republican entities come together to put on such a massive production. Walters described how the biggest game changer has been the inclusion of new technologies that create a more immersive experience for online viewers.

After stopping to chat with some journalists, delegates and Senator Tim Scott (R-South Carolina), we headed into the convention itself. The theme of the convention on Tuesday was “Make America Safe Again,” boasting signs calling to “Stop Biden’s Border Bloodbath.” Throughout the week, these signs would rotate, including slogans calling for “Mass Deportation Now” and “Back the Blue,” as well as the traditional “Trump Vance 2024” signs. 

Senate candidates, Congressional Republican leadership and even a bulldog took to the stage. One after another, they pledged their support for Trump while making their individual cases for their role in the party. Connecting with the theme of the night, nearly every speaker mentioned illegal immigration, calling for mass deportation and criticizing the Biden administration.

Notably, several politicians who had previously criticized and ran against Trump gave speeches, all in ardent support of the former president. Every speaker (except Nikki Haley, who was met with boos) was greeted with applause that grew with each mention of Donald Trump’s immigration policies.

Heading back around 10:30 pm, our car ride home was filled with anecdotes from the day, ranging from wackiest convention attire to most powerful speeches to most surprising operational procedures.

Attending the RNC gave me insights into a side of politics that frequently goes unknown. Nowadays, people circulate clips of speeches online, but few see the behind-the-scenes vetting of convention speeches and scheduling of speakers that shape party messaging. Conversing with party officials, politicians, journalists and delegates deepened my understanding of politics but, more importantly, renewed my commitment to public service and political engagement. 

This experience was truly once in a lifetime. I want to give a huge thanks to Mo Elleithee, Scott Siebel, Kritika Sharma and my fellow cohort members for making this convention trip so rewarding and memorable. The 2024 RNC in Milwaukee might’ve been the last place I would’ve imagined myself, but it is an experience that I hope to never forget.