Donald Trump, sporting a bandage that partially covered his right ear, made his first public appearance since surviving an assassination attempt over the weekend.
Entering to loud cheers on the first night of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Trump was greeted with chants of “USA!” and “fight!” as he walked into the convention hall around 9pm CT to the tune of Lee Greenwood’s “Proud to be an American.”
He made his way across the convention floor, eventually joining prominent Republicans like Tucker Carlson, Congressman Byron Donalds, and JD Vance, who had been announced as his running mate earlier that day.
“He has proven to be one tough SOB,” Sean O’Brien, president of the Teamsters union, said to thunderous applause following Trump’s entrance.
Throughout the night, various speakers, including far-right Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene from Georgia, praised Trump, calling him a “founding father” of the “America First movement.”
They portrayed his survival as a divine act and painted a picture of America in decline under Joe Biden, contrasting it with a prosperous nation under Trump.
“Unfortunately, this is also a somber moment for our nation.
Two days ago, evil came for the man we admire and love so much.
I thank God that his hand was on President Trump,” Greene said, referencing the assassination attempt.
Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina echoed this sentiment, suggesting divine intervention played a role.
“If you didn’t believe in miracles before Saturday, you better be believing right now,” he said.
“A devil came to Pennsylvania holding a rifle, but a lion got back on his feet and he roared,” he added, drawing loud applause from the crowd at the Fiserv Forum.
South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem also spoke about the assassination attempt.
“Two days ago, the whole world changed.
Evil displayed itself in the very worst way through a cowardly act,” she said.
“An innocent American lost his life, and we will continue to lift his family up in our prayers every single day.”
Despite calls for unity, Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin described Democrats and their policies as a “clear and present danger to America, to our institutions, our values, and our people.”
However, a Johnson staffer later clarified to the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel that this line was from an old version of the speech mistakenly loaded into the teleprompter.
Mark Robinson, North Carolina’s lieutenant governor, also spoke, focusing on his personal story and rising prices in alignment with the convention’s theme of “Make America Wealthy Again.”
“Grocery prices have skyrocketed, gas is nearly double, factories, just like the one I worked at closing, leaving North Carolina families feeling hopeless,” he said.
Charlie Kirk, founder of Turning Points USA, criticized Democratic policies, stating, “Democrats have given hundreds of billions of dollars to the illegals and foreign nations while Gen Z has to pinch and it’s just so that they can never own a home, never married and work until they die.
Donald Trump refuses to accept this vacant, pathetic, and mutilated version of the American dream.”
The evening also included speeches from several “ordinary Americans” who shared how Biden’s policies had adversely affected their lives.
Multiple speakers addressed LGBTQ issues and immigration, emphasizing them as critical points of concern.
“Let me state this clearly, there are only two genders,” Greene declared in her remarks.
The convention highlighted the Republicans’ strategy for the final stretch of the election, emphasizing a stark contrast between Biden and Trump.
“We don’t have to imagine a brighter day, we just have to remember,” said John James, a Republican congressman from Michigan, encapsulating the party’s message.
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