Trump enters the Republican convention with a bandaged ear

MILWAUKEE: Donald Trump made a triumphant entrance during the first night of the Republican National Convention on Monday, receiving a raucous ovation from the party faithful two days after a would-be assassin’s bullet lodged in his right ear.

Trump entered the Fiserv Forum in downtown Milwaukee wearing a thick bandage over his ear as the crowd chanted “Fight! Fight! Fight” and pumped their fists, a reference to his reaction in the moments after his injury.

The former president said “Thank you” and settled into a box with some of his children and U.S. Sen. JD Vance, Trump’s pick for vice president announced earlier in the day.

Trump is set to formally accept the party’s nomination in a prime-time speech Thursday and will face Democratic President Joe Biden in the Nov. 5 election.

The four-day convention began less than 48 hours after a gunman opened fire at a Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, killing a Trump supporter. The gunman was shot and killed and his motive remains unclear.

During Monday’s meeting, the party gave speaking slots to six Everyday Americans who highlighted the impact inflation has had on low- and middle-income families, while Republican leaders criticized the Biden administration for being out of touch.

Sen. Tim Scott, who briefly ran against Trump for the nomination, said divine intervention saved Trump’s life.

“God still saves us,” Scott said. “Still delivering and still going free. For on Saturday the devil came into Pennsylvania carrying a rifle, but an American lion rose to his feet again and roared!”

Vance, 39, was a fierce critic of Trump in 2016 but has since become one of the former president’s staunchest defenders, espousing his false claims that the 2020 election was marred by widespread fraud.

Vance is deeply popular among Trump’s core supporters, but it remains to be seen whether he can broaden the ticket’s appeal. He shares Trump’s aggressive approach to politics, and his conservative statements on issues like abortion could turn off moderate voters.

Immediately after Trump’s afternoon announcement, Vance appeared on the convention floor with his wife Usa, shaking hands and hugging the delegates who thronged the couple. He is scheduled to speak at the conference on Wednesday.

Issue of reproductive rights

Biden told reporters at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland that Vance is a “Trump clone on the issues,” while other Democrats criticized Vance’s record on reproductive rights.

In an interview at Fox News on Monday night, Vance said he supported Trump’s position that each state should decide for itself whether to allow abortion.

Polls show a close race between Trump, 78, and Biden, 81, although Trump leads in several states that are likely to decide the election. Trump has not committed to accepting the election results if he loses.

The head of the main fundraising super PAC supporting the Trump campaign, Taylor Budowitz, told X, formerly known as Twitter, that Maga Inc had raised more than $50 million as of Monday.

Billionaire Elon Musk plans to donate about $45 million a month to a new pro-Trump super PAC, the Wall Street Journal he said, citing people familiar with his intentions. Musk endorsed Trump after Saturday’s assassination attempt.

After the shooting, Trump said he was revising his acceptance speech to emphasize national unity, rather than highlight his differences with Biden.

“The speech will be very different, very different than it would have been two days ago,” Trump said Washington Examiner.

The day began with yet another in a string of recent legal victories for Trump, when US District Judge Eileen Cannon dismissed federal charges accusing him of keeping classified documents after he left the White House.

Trump is due to be sentenced in New York in September for trying to cover up a hush-hush payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels in the weeks before his 2016 election victory.

But his other two indictments on federal charges in Washington and state charges in Georgia — both related to his efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss — are mired in delays and may be significantly curtailed after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on July that he had immunity for many of his official duties acting as president.

“This dismissal of the Indictment of the Outlaws in Florida should only be the first step, followed quickly by the firing of ALL the Witch Hunters,” Trump told Truth Social on Monday, also referring to the prosecutions of hundreds of his supporters who stormed the US Capitol. on January 6, 2021.

There is no room for violence

The attempt on Trump’s life immediately changed the dynamics of the presidential campaign, which had focused on whether Biden should drop out over concerns about his age and acuity after the June 27 debate performance was interrupted.

Nearly two dozen of Biden’s fellow Democrats in Congress have called on him to end his re-election bid and allow the party to choose another standard-bearer.

The focus this week will be squarely on Trump.

Having consolidated control of the party, Trump could use the opportunity to deliver a unifying message or paint a dark portrait of a nation besieged by a corrupt left-wing elite, as he has done at times on the campaign trail.

Trump has often turned to violent rhetoric in his campaign speeches, calling his enemies “parasites” and “fascists.”

Biden has called Trump a threat to US democracy, comments some Republicans say helped create an atmosphere that prompted the shooting, even though authorities have yet to determine a motive for the assassination attempt.

After Saturday’s shooting, Biden sought to turn the temperature down after months of heated political rhetoric.

“There is no place in America for this kind of violence,” Biden said in a speech from the White House on Sunday.

In an interview with NBC News On Monday, Biden said it was a “wrong” to tell donors last week that it was “time to give Trump a thumbs up” but noted that Trump has often used inflammatory words.

Biden ordered an independent review into how the gunman could have come so close to killing Trump. Congressional investigators also sought to question the head of the US Secret Service, which is responsible for protecting the former president.