MILWAUKEE — Republicans gathered for the first day of their party’s convention just days after a would-be assassin’s bullet grazed former President Trump’s ear.
But the mood here was far from gloomy. Instead, it was jovial and full of confidence, a sharp contrast to the last time there was an in-person GOP convention, eight years ago.
“The party has never been more unified,” Rep. Jim Banks (R-Ind.), who will speak Tuesday night with other Senate candidates, told The Hill in an interview. “The Republican Party was unified before Saturday, but now the Republican Party is not only unified, but excited in an even greater way to win in November.
“I remember in 2016 when there was still a movement or an attempt to remove Donald Trump from the nomination, even at the convention,” he said. “This convention is solid and there is unanimous support for Donald J. Trump to not only be the nominee, but to win in November.”
Monday marked the first day of this week’s Republican National Convention (RNC). Trump is ahead of President Biden in multiple national and battleground polls, and although the race remains close in places like Michigan and Wisconsin, Republicans feel they are in a strong position to take back the White House and perhaps control of both. chambers of Congress.
Trump himself was given a hero’s welcome, generating thunderous applause at the Fiserv Forum when he made his first public appearance since surviving an assassination attempt at a rally over the weekend.
He waved and fist-bumped the crowd and shook hands with Tucker Carlson, Rep. Byron Donalds and their families before taking his seat in the arena.
The former president wore a bandage on his ear, where he was hit by a bullet just minutes after a campaign rally in Pennsylvania. The Secret Service stormed the stage, covering Trump. When the former president got up, his face was stained with blood. He raised his fist and mouthed the word “fight” to the crowd.
The participants began to occasionally shout “fight!” during Monday’s proceedings, a nod to Trump’s own words.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), a key Trump ally in the House, said the convention was “a celebration” and “a somber moment for our nation.”
At one point early Monday evening, the speakers played “YMCA” and the video board showed footage of Trump dancing to the song at his rallies. The entire crowd of delegates stood up to dance together.
Republicans unanimously formally nominated Trump as their presidential candidate after primary rival Nikki Haley released her delegates. Haley will speak here on Tuesday.
Trump on Monday announced Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) as his running mate, a move that was met with enthusiasm at the convention. The crowd started chanting “JD!” as the senator entered the convention hall with his wife, Usha, and was formally nominated as the party’s vice-presidential candidate.
The final speech of the night was given by Sean O’Brien, president of the Teamsters. It was a somewhat unusual choice, but one that reflected the Republican Party’s outreach to unionized workers during this election cycle to try to eliminate a central part of President Biden’s coalition.
“We have a big tent that is the Republican Party and we are filling it up,” said Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R), who kept his distance from Trump during his 2021 campaign but supported the former president this year in the convention hall.
“This is our chance to not only unite the Republican Party, which you see here, but to unite America,” he added.
Speakers on Monday night included Youngkin, Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem (R), Sen. Katie Britt (R-Ala.), Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), Rep. John James (R-Mich.), and North Carolina gubernatorial candidate Mark Robinson (R).
Taylor Greene criticized illegal immigrants and declared: “there are only two genders”.
Britt, who delivered a widely criticized State of the Union rebuttal, argued that Biden’s economic policies were hurting American families with higher prices.
Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) said President Biden was “asleep at the wheel” and rejected the idea that America is a “racist country.”
Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) said Democrats’ policies pose a “clear and present danger to the country,” a notable observation given calls from both sides of the aisle to tone down the rhetoric. version of his observations.
Some of the most scathing criticism came from technology entrepreneur David Sacks, who called Biden “sleepy and senile” and mocked Vice President Harris as “clueless and embarrassing.”
The former president suggested that his prime-time speech on Thursday, when he formally accepts the party’s nomination, could also take on a different tone.
“This is an opportunity to bring the whole country together, even the whole world,” Trump told The Washington Examiner. “The speech will be very different, very different from what it would have been two days ago.”
This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story
