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On Monday the Republican National Committee, whose platform executive director is Georgia attorney Randy Evans, adopted the official GOP platform. There is plenty of misinformation about it in the mainstream and on social media, so you may view the entire document by clicking HERE. It highlights sections on inflation, illegal immigration control, cost of living and affordable housing, foreign policy, trade, abortion, cryptocurrency, education and other issues— many of which appear aimed at younger voters. 

The Biden presidential campaign is making abortion a big issue and former President Donald Trump, as reflected in the platform, backs the U.S. Supreme Court decision that overturned Roe v. Wade. The presumptive GOP presidential nominee supports how Roe leaves the issue of abortion bans to the states and Trump has repeatedly expressed support for exceptions in the case of rape, incest and life of the mother.  

The new party platform says the 14th Amendment guarantees “no person can be denied Life or Liberty without Due Process, and that the States are, therefore, free to pass Laws protecting those Rights.” It also opposes late-term abortion (backed by President Joe Biden and the entire Democratic U.S. Senate Caucus) and supports protecting access to in vitro fertilization (IVF). 

“This party has stood for life for a half century and for 40 years has called for either the passage of a human life amendment to the U.S. Constitution or an acknowledgement that the unborn child has a right to life under the due process clause of the 14th amendment,” Georgia’s Faith and Freedom Coalition founder Ralph Reed said on the “John Solomon Reports” podcast. “This platform … continues that tradition by making it clear that the unborn child has an inalienable right to life that cannot be infringed that that life is protected under the due process clause of the 14th Amendment, which by the way, was Ronald Reagan’s position.” 

“Because of that,” Reed continued, “states are free to protect unborn life. It also calls for a ban on late-term abortion. And that language clearly anticipates both state and federal action. And the 14th Amendment applies to both the federal government and the states.” 

Among the most contentious of Trump’s positions in the 2016 primary was his rejection of the Bush-era “neoconservative” and interventionist foreign policy. Throughout his tenure, moreover, his efforts to make NATO allies contribute more to the alliance rankled many foreign policy hawks. 

Through Trump’s tenure, the majority of NATO members did not meet their pledges to spend 2% of their GDP on defense. The former president, while in office, repeatedly pushed for NATO members to meet their spending targets and even suggested the U.S. might leave the alliance if they failed to do so. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in February of this year announced that a majority of the nation’s members were on track to meet the spending target. 

“I said NATO has to pay its bills, and if it doesn’t pay its bills, we are not going to protect you. THE MONEY CAME POURING IN! Under other Presidents, NATO was BROKE,” Trump posted in March. 

The platform doubled down on Trump’s prior efforts, vowing to restore “peace through strength” and to “strengthen Alliances by ensuring that our Allies must meet their obligations to invest in our Common Defense and by restoring Peace to Europe.” 

In a break from “free trade” policies under the Bush administration, and with an eye toward “fair trade,” the platform addresses proposals to protect American domestic industries and to revitalize manufacturing, in part through tariffs. It further commits the party to “rebalancing trade, securing strategic Independence and revitalizing Manufacturing.” 

That section included a pledge that “Republicans will support baseline tariffs on foreign made goods, pass the Trump Reciprocal Trade Act and respond to unfair trading practices.” 

Further showing Trump’s direct influence are new provisions addressing cryptocurrency. The platform opposes the creation of a central bank digital currency (CBDC) and promises to “defend the right to mine Bitcoin, and ensure every American has the right to self-custody of their Digital Assets, and transact free from Government Surveillance and Control. 

Democrats, especially in Georgia, have been criticizing Trump and Republicans for not addressing cost of living and prioritized housing affordability. Not so. Read the provisions that address the GOP party’s commitment to lowering the costs of higher education, healthcare and everyday costs.