Exclusive – Republican Sen. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee lauded her successful leadership overseeing the committee responsible for writing the Republican National Committee’s platform, touting the GOP’s 2024 platform as a “succinct” document that will “attract more Americans to the Republican Party.”
“The reason this platform was adopted so quickly is because people got it this morning. It’s 16 pages long, so people were able to read through it quickly. And as they read it, they thought, ‘This is really good. This is solid. It addresses the issues that the American people are talking about.’ And one of the complaints I’ve heard from people is, ‘That platform is too long, no one is going to read it. It’s being used against my opponent. It’s time for a concise and specific explanation of what we’re going to do,'” Blackburn said in a phone interview with Fox News Digital on Monday evening.
The Republican National Committee’s Platform Committee, chaired by Blackburn, overwhelmingly passed the draft party platform on Monday by a vote of 84 to 12. Titled “2024 Republican Platform: Make America Great Again!”, the draft outlines 20 promises that former President Trump and other Republican leaders will make to voters ahead of November, including closing the border and ending the “immigrant invasion,” ending inflation, preventing “World War III,” and uniting the U.S. by “raising the country to new record levels of success.”
Blackburn explained to Fox News Digital that the platform was crafted to address the main concerns of voters that President Trump has personally heard from the American public, dismissing questions about whether the platform was written with Democratic turmoil in mind or whether Biden would actually be the party’s nominee in November.
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Then-President Trump watches as U.S. Senate candidate Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) speaks during a rally at Nashville City Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee, on May 29, 2018. (Getty Images)
“I’m going to leave it to Democrats to sort that out,” Blackburn said when asked about the Democratic Party’s current turmoil. “What I can say is this platform is going to be well received by a lot of people. I’ve already heard from a lot of people how well received it is. And people are very happy that this isn’t an 80-, 60-, 100-, 200-page document, but a document that they can take to their lunches, their coffee groups, their banco groups, their Sunday school classes, and read and discuss it and use it to get people involved in the electoral process and to vote in November.”
Asked whether the platform was designed to defeat Biden or any other candidate in November amid growing calls for him to withdraw from the presidential race due to concerns about his mental health, Blackburn said it was written with a focus on the American people.
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“This platform is designed to help the American people understand the values of the Republican Party and the values of President Trump. This platform is simple, concise, easy to read and will be used by candidates in local, state and federal elections. And this is the document we will use to send President Donald Trump back to the White House.”
Former President Trump addressed supporters at a local candidate rally in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, on September 3, 2022. (Spencer Pratt/Getty Images)
Blackburn said Trump personally commented on the platform, “read it, reviewed it, edited it and approved it,” and that he attended Monday’s platform committee meeting.
“As we started today, President Trump called and wished everybody well and thanked them for volunteering and serving on the platform committee and talked about some of the issues he’s been hearing about and the broad network they’ve been casting,” she said.
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Pointing to Trump’s recent pledge that service industry workers would no longer be taxed on tips if re-elected, Blackburn pointed to Fox Digital’s platform’s sixth point: “Big tax cuts for workers — and no tax on tips!”
“It shows how closely connected Trump is to the voices he’s hearing, the voices that many of us in elected office are hearing. And what the American people are saying is, ‘Can you please take a moment to care about these issues that affect us?’ And I think that’s one of the really key points: This election is about them. It’s not about bureaucrats. It’s not about elected officials. It’s about them and their way of life,” she said.
Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) slammed President Biden’s expansion of Title IX, saying the administration continues its attack on opportunity for young women. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
Blackburn stressed that unlike previous party platforms which are dozens of pages long, the 2024 platform is “simple” and easy for Americans to understand.
“I’m one of those people who has said for years that this needs to be simple. It doesn’t need to be long. It needs to be concise. It should be easily stated and something that people will look forward to printing, reading and sharing with their friends,” she said.
The platform mentions abortion only once, instead focusing on protecting life and returning power to states in enacting abortion laws. Blackburn said that when drafting the platform, committee members had to take into account the 2022 Dobbs decision, which overturned Roe v. Wade, effectively ending recognition of the constitutional right to abortion and ruling that states have the power to allow, restrict or ban abortion procedures.
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“So, like every other issue, we’re committed to protecting religious freedom, we’re committed to protecting freedom of speech, we’re committed to ending gender insanity, this left-wing gender insanity, and we’re committed to protecting our rights and our freedoms. And what’s written in the platform is, we’re proud to stand up for families and we’re proud to stand up for lives.”
“The 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution guarantees that no person shall be deprived of life or liberty without due process, and therefore I believe the United States is free to make laws to protect those rights. And that was a very appropriate way to address this issue. This responsibility has now shifted back to the states. The states are leading the charge on this issue,” she continued.
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On his Truth social account on Monday, Trump touted the policy as “a forward-thinking policy with strong promises that can be accomplished very quickly” and thanked Blackburn and the committee’s vice chairman, Rep. Michael Walz of Florida, for their “tireless efforts to put America First.”
Former President Trump spoke at a rally at Dayton International Airport in Vandalia, Ohio, on November 7, 2022. (Drew Ungerer/Getty Images)
“We are, simply put, the party of common sense! America needs resolute Republican leadership at all levels of government to address the fundamental threats to our very existence: our disastrous open borders, our weak economy, inflation, crippling limits on U.S. energy production, a weakened military, attacks on our justice system, the weaponization of politics, and so much more,” he wrote.
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The bill passed committee on Monday and is scheduled for a vote on the floor Tuesday before being formally approved at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee next week.
“This is what’s going to draw more Americans to the Republican Party. I truly believe that when you print this document and look at it, you’re going to open to the first page and see that the Republican National Committee dedicated this document to America’s forgotten people. And in the preamble it talks about common sense, and at the end it lists 20 promises that I want people to act on – addressing energy, addressing the border, addressing crime, rebuilding our military, being strong at home and abroad, defending our freedoms, addressing the weaponization of government.”
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