What Went Down On Night 2 Of The RNC

Ryan Holets, a police officer from Albuquerque, New Mexico, speaks of his adoption of a baby of a drug addict, who is now recovering. This segment seems to both be a play at promoting Trump’s efforts to help fight the opioid crisis in the U.S. but also, more subtly, a way to buoy attitudes toward the police by focusing on a police officer with a very moving story at a time when views of the police have been more politicized as the country deals with systemic racism in policing.

The opioid epidemic has devastated communities all over this country and there are signs that the COVID-19 pandemic only worsened the problem. A survey of laboratory urine tests in July found a 32 percent increase for nonprescribed fentanyl, 20 percent increase for methamphetamine and 10 percent for cocaine from mid-March through May this year.

One thing that has been a lot more absent (even before the pandemic) is talk about the opioid crisis. Republican candidates Chris Christie and John Kasich spent a lot of time talking about it during the 2016 primary. So, it’s striking that this is popping up here. I’m not sure we heard much about it at the DNC, which was more focused on COVID-19. (Obviously, the RNC hasn’t talked about COVID-19 much at all.)