Rebranding the brand man, softer Trump vs. fighter Trump, regular mentions of Harris: RNC Takeaways

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Republicans are wrapping a nominating convention that has celebrated former President Donald Trump not just as a party leader but a living martyr who survived a would-be assassin’s bullet and is ready to work for everyday Americans after a sweeping victory in November.

The unified portrayals sought to erase the image of a man whose presidency often swirled in chaos and infighting and ended with a violent insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. Democrats have repeatedly wielded images of that day to try to thwart his return and spotlighted his recurring use of inflammatory and hardline rhetoric.

There’s plenty of campaigning left between now, early voting windows and Election Day. So the effectiveness of the messaging effort remains to be seen. But it’s been a striking four days for a Republican Party that over three presidential elections has been reshaped by Trump’s personality and his politics.

Here are some takeaway from the closing stanza of the GOP gathering in Wisconsin.

The brand man is being rebranded (kind of)

Trump, the name and the man, has been ubiquitous for decades. Americans and the world recognized those gold letters, T-R-U-M-P, and watched him say, “You’re fired!” on his hit show “The Apprentice” long before Trump first ran for president. He took over the GOP and won the presidency in 2016 as the unapologetically bombastic political outsider. He was engaging in the same kind of rhetoric and showmanship last Saturday when he was nearly assassinated in Pennsylvania.

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