The Republican National Convention heads into its second day — now with Donald Trump officially as its presidential nominee.
Trump energized the crowd Monday night by entering the arena with a bandage on his right ear after being injured during an assassination attempt Saturday. Expect more speakers Tuesday to mention what they described as the former president’s strength and resilience after the shooting at his rally in Pennsylvania.
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The first night of the Republican National Convention kept its official focus on the economy Monday even after Saturday’s shooting at a rally in Pennsylvania in which former President Donald Trump was injured.
Speakers argued that Trump would fix inflation and bring back prosperity simply by returning to the White House as president. Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin lamented, “Tonight, America, the land of opportunity, just doesn’t feel like that anymore.”
But Trump has released few hard numbers and no real policy language or legislative blueprints, and most of the speakers Monday didn’t get into details either. Instead, his campaign is betting that voters care more about attitude than policy specifics. Trump says he wants tariffs on trade partners and no taxes on tips. He would like to knock the corporate tax rate down a tick. The Republican platform also promises to “defeat” inflation and “quickly bring down all prices,” in addition to pumping out more oil, natural gas and coal.
The platform would address illegal immigration in part with the “largest deportation program in American history.” And Trump would also scrap President Joe Biden’s policies to develop the market for electric vehicles and renewable energy.
Democrats and several leading economists say the math shows that Trump’s ideas would cause an explosive bout of inflation, wallop the middle class and — by his extending his soon-to-expire tax cuts — heap another $5 trillion-plus onto the national debt.
▶ Read more about Trump’s economic agenda
President Joe Biden will speak at the NAACP convention in Las Vegas today, aiming to showcase his administration’s support for Black voters who are a tentpole of the Democratic coalition and his personal political support.
He’ll also participate in an interview with BET. Tomorrow, he’ll address UnidosUS, looking to bolster his appeal to Latino voters, another crucial Democratic-leaning bloc.
Trump chose U.S. Sen. JD Vance of Ohio to be his running mate as he looks to return to the White House. Here are some things to know about the 39-year-old Republican now in his first term in the Senate:
1. Vance rose to prominence with his bestseller memoir “Hillbilly Elegy,” a book about his roots in rural Kentucky and blue-collar Ohio.
2. Vance was a “never Trump” Republican in 2016, but by the time Vance met Trump in 2021, he had reversed his opinion.
3. Vance and Trump have a personal chemistry: The two speak on the phone regularly, and Trump has complimented Vance’s beard, saying he “looks like a young Abraham Lincoln.”
▶Read more about JD Vance
Nikki Haley, Trump’s former primary rival, was a last-minute addition to the schedule.
The former United Nations ambassador and South Carolina governor waited two months after dropping out in March to say she would vote for him. Then last week, she announced she would instruct her convention delegates to vote for Trump but wasn’t planning to attend the convention.
It wasn’t until Sunday — hours after the shooting — that her office reversed itself and said she would speak.
Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell is arguably responsible for the GOP’s biggest policy accomplishments, particularly in installing conservative judges at all levels of the judiciary. But that didn’t matter much to the Trump-friendly crowd at the RNC, which greeted the Kentucky Republican with boos — a tangible rejection of someone demonized as an establishment Republican who has insufficiently supported the former president.
Just a short while later, JD Vance enjoyed a much different reception. The second-youngest U.S. senator — and the first millennial to appear on a major party ticket — received raucous applause when he walked onto the convention floor for the first time as Trump’s running mate.
The dueling moments offered a window into the changes that have swept the GOP under Trump — bookending an era in which McConnell has gone from one of his party’s most powerful leaders and incisive tacticians to getting jeered on the convention floor by his own party’s activists.
▶Read more key takeaways from day 1 of the RNC
The Republican National Convention heads into its second day — now with Donald Trump officially as its presidential nominee.
Trump energized the crowd Monday night by entering the arena with a bandage on his right ear after being injured during an assassination attempt Saturday. Expect more speakers Tuesday to mention what they described as the former president’s strength and resilience after the shooting at his rally in Pennsylvania.
The Republican National Convention opened less than 48 hours after Trump was the subject of a shocking assassination attempt in Pennsylvania. The shooting, which left Trump injured and one man dead, loomed over the convention with speakers expressing gratitude for the former president’s survival and resolved to win back the White House in November.
Trump greeted supporters as he exited the arena. He was being protected by a noticeably larger security contingent of U.S. Secret Service agents.
Just a week after the AFL-CIO reaffirmed its backing of President Biden, another union leader came and spoke at the Republican National Convention.
Teamsters Union President Sean O’Brien said workers are being taken for granted and sold out to big banks, big tech and the corporate elite. O’Brien said the Teamsters “are not beholden to anyone or any party” and will work with a bipartisan coalition.
“I don’t care about getting criticized,” O’Brien said as he defied organized long-standing support of Democrats.
With a large white bandage on his right ear following the assassination attempt against him, President Trump entered a convention floor where delegates stood and cheered, many holding up signs or their phones to take photos and video.
He was heralded by musician Lee Greenwood, who sang his signature song, “God Bless the USA.”
“Is there any doubt who’s going to be the next president of the United States? Prayer works,” Greenwood said when the former president took the stage.
JD Vance said his 7-year-old son was being noisy in the background when Trump called to offer him the vice president spot on the Republican ticket.
Vance knew Trump was calling with big news, but he didn’t know if it was good or bad news for him, the first-term Ohio senator told Fox News host Sean Hannity in his first interview since Trump announced his pick.
He said Trump also asked to speak to his son.
“The guy just got shot a couple of days ago, and he takes the time to talk to my seven-year-old,” Vance said.
“It’s a moment I’ll never forget.”
He said he and Trump have been close since Trump endorsed him in his 2022 Senate race, which he said he would not have won without Trump’s support.
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