Lara Trump makes personal pitch to voters for father-in-law in RNC speech

MILWAUKEE — In the absence of former first daughter Ivanka Trump, Lara Trump, the former president’s daughter-in-law and now co-chair of the Republican National Committee, provided personal testimony as to why Donald Trump should be commander in chief again during her address to the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.

“When I look at Donald Trump, I see a wonderful father, father-in-law and, of course, grandfather to my two young children, Luke and Carolina,” Lara Trump told the convention in its closing speech Tuesday. “It’s through that lens that we sometimes wish more people could see this is a man who has sacrificed for his family and a man who has truly sacrificed for his country.

“I have seen this man dragged through hell and back,” she said, adding “yet he has never backed down” to chants of “We love Trump.” “So tonight to my father-in-law, I want to say thank you for your resilience, thank you for continuing on, thank you for raising wonderful kids, thank you for being an amazing grandfather, thank you for never giving up on me, and thank you for never giving up on our country.”

Lara Trump, who is married to Eric Trump, was promoted to RNC co-chair with former North Carolina Republican Chairman Michael Whatley after the South Carolina GOP primary cemented the former president’s place as the party’s presumptive nominee and previous chairwoman Ronna McDaniel stepped down.

Lara Trump’s remarks concluded the second night of the Republican convention, which focused on safety and unity, with appearances from former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley and Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL).

Trump reflected on last weekend’s attempt on the life of her father-in-law with the Washington Examiner earlier Tuesday, calling it “terrifying” and recalling how the moments afterward felt “like an eternity.”

“A millimeter’s difference and we would be having a very different conversation, and I think he knows that too,” Trump said. “I don’t think you go through something like that without it having an impact and really, I think changing you… He has seen maybe something different in his role and how he can impact the country in the world right now, and I think he’s taking that very seriously.”

Trump defended the former president encouraging the crowd gathered in Butler, Pennsylvania to “fight, fight, fight” before the Secret Service whisked him to a secure location.

“For him to stand up and put his fist in the air and say that was so much bigger than that rally or people who were tuning in,” she said. “It was really about this country and showing America he was ok, and really giving a message to the rest of the world that, in some ways I see it as really he’s kind of the personification of America. And yes, we get knocked down. Yes, we have hard times. We always get back up, we always fight, we always rise to the occasion.”

Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared Kushner had prominent roles in the former president’s administration and were among his closest advisers, but have supported his second reelection campaign from afar, citing their own three children.