The streets outside the northern side of the perimeter were deserted, and all buildings there looked temporarily abandoned. There were also almost no citizens walking around – the only people in that zone were heavily armed and armoured police officers.
July 18, 2024
Trump dominates political landscape at Republican convention overshadowed by assassination attempt
July 16, 2024. Former US President Donald J Trump and United States Senator JD Vance (Republican of Ohio) on the second night of the Republican National Convention
Two days after an assassination attempt on Donald J. Trump during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, the ex-president took the stage at the National Republican Convention.
The centre of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, is under a security lockdown for the four-day event. The Secret Service and forces from 24 states and Washington, DC protect a large, fenced-off area surrounding the Fiserv Forum. There are military drones, patrols armed with rifles, snipers and roadblocks. Parking is forbidden on the streets adjacent to the site, and each car entering the convention is inspected at checkpoints.
According to news sources, about 50,000 delegates, guests and media are attending the convention. On the first day, Monday July 15, former president Donald Trump was formally nominated by the Republican Party (GOP) as its candidate in the upcoming US presidential election, which will take place on November 5 this year.
On Monday evening, with a large bandage covering his right ear, Trump appeared publicly for the first time since the assassination attempt.
Several hours earlier (and two days earlier than expected), he announced that JD [James David] Vance, a 39-year-old senator from Ohio, would become the candidate for the vice president of the United States.
Trump praised Vance as a politician, businessman and writer. “J.D.… now, during the Campaign, will be strongly focused on the people he fought so brilliantly for, the American Workers and Farmers in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio, Minnesota, and far beyond…,” he wrote on his social media platform, Truth Social.
Vance’s nomination can be perceived as surprising. Before the 2016 elections (when Trump defeated Hillary Clinton to become president), Vance was highly critical of Trump and even called him “reprehensible.” Additionally, one of Vance’s former roommates reported that in a private conversation, the current vice presidential candidate wondered if Trump was “America’s Hitler.”
Vance had U-turned since then and become a staunch supporter of Trump and his policies. “I was wrong about Donald Trump. I didn’t think he was going to be a good president. He was a great president, and it’s one of the reasons why I’m working so hard to make sure he gets a second term,” Vance said in a recent interview with Fox News.
Boston University experts said that Vance will help Trump solidify support “among working class, rural white voters in middle America.” CNN’s verdict was that “the choice reflects Trump’s belief that Vance is an effective communicator who can sell Trump’s populist agenda”.
Trump and Vance opened the second day of the convention with an announcement that they will appear at a rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on Saturday, July 20. That is exactly one week after 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks opened fire at the rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, killing one person and wounding four, including Trump, before being fatally shot by security.
The motives, opinions, affiliations and potential allies of the 20-year-old gunman responsible for the assassination attempt on Donald Trump remain unknown, authorities say. https://t.co/gMiJahoHWJ
— ABC News (@abcnews) July 15, 2024
Also on Tuesday, Donald Trump met with Boris Johnson, a former UK prime minister, who urged Trump to stand by Ukraine. Both Trump and Vance have stated in the past that they would be seeking ways to end the war in Ukraine and limit US commitment to NATO.
Trump’s senior adviser, Chris LaCivita, spoke at the convention on Tuesday, doubling down on Republicans’ support for the second amendment, which is “the right of the people to keep and bear arms”. He said: “It’s also really important in this election, because Biden has made it clear he wants to ban them [guns].”
The stage was also given to the families of victims of violent crimes committed by undocumented migrants, which analysts see as part of Trump’s long-term goal to link crime with border control policies.
Asa Hutchinson, the former governor of Arkansas, made headlines last year when he stated that he would not be voting “for a convicted felon”, but when questioned on Tuesday he said he might change his mind depending on “how it develops in the future.”
Speeches from the most prominent competitors of Mr Trump during the primaries, the governors of Florida Ron DeSantis and South Carolina, Nikki Haley, were commended as ‘bending the knee’ to the Republican nominee.
On the third day of the convention (Wednesday), JD Vance will give his first speech as the running mate, and Trump’s acceptance speech is planned for Thursday evening, the event's last day.
Following the assassination attempt last Saturday, Trump and the GOP appear to have completely dominated the political landscape in the United States, almost completely pushing aside questions arising from Trump’s conviction in New York and ongoing legal battles.
Although the Democrats have had breathing space after weeks filled with questions about Joe Biden’s age and mental fitness, they now seem to be on the back foot, less than four months before the election. On Wednesday, President Joe Biden had to call off a planned campaign speech in Las Vegas, Nevada, as he tested positive for COVID-19.
