FFormer President Donald Trump slowly walked through the crowd and into a box at the Republican National Convention on Monday, his first public appearance since a bullet pierced his ear during an assassination attempt.
It was a dramatic televisual spectacle: His ear was covered with a carefully folded white bandage. He raised his fist and waved as Lee Greenwood sang “God Bless the USA.” The crowd in Milwaukee chanted “we love Trump” and “we fight, fight, fight,” echoing Trump’s cry to his supporters as Secret Service agents chased him off the stage on Saturday.
Trump entered with his newly announced running mate, Senator J.D. Vance of Ohio. The two sat together in the room as several speakers described their economic difficulties and why they support Trump’s campaign.
Saturday’s image of Trump standing and raising his fist moments after the shooting energized the Republican Party convention and gave Trump’s candidacy a new wave of momentum heading into the November election.
Trump’s appearance came just hours after GOP convention delegates officially voted to name him the party’s nominee for president, and the same day he won a major legal victory when U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon dismissed the confidential federal documents case against him.
“Even in the most dangerous moment, his instinct was to resist and fight,” South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem said in the convention hall before Trump was sworn in. “Donald J. Trump is our man in the arena.”
The attempt on Trump’s life alarmed a nation already torn by political discord. That prompted calls from President Biden and others for divisive political rhetoric to tone down, a call that was largely ignored by speakers during the first day of the convention.
This story originally appeared on Time.com read the full story
