Trump makes his first public appearance after the assassination attempt. He is now the official Republican candidate for the presidential election – and has chosen his running mate.
Republican Donald Trump has chosen his loyalist JD Vance as his running mate for the presidential election, bringing a hardliner to his side. Despite fears of a spiral of violence following the assassination attempt on Trump, the duo are unlikely to adopt a more moderate tone in the election campaign. Vance, a former Trump critic, is now considered a close ally of the former US president and, at 39, is an up-and-coming star in the Republican Party.
Shortly after the announcement of the eagerly awaited nomination, the party convention in Milwaukee officially confirmed the nomination. At the beginning of the major event in the US state of Wisconsin, the delegates also elected Trump as their candidate for the presidential election. The step was considered a formality after his victory in the party’s primary elections.
Trump’s sensational appearance at party convention
Late in the evening (local time), Trump made his first public appearance since the assassination attempt. The 78-year-old wore a kind of white bandage on his ear, raised his fist again and was cheered by the delegates in the event hall. He appeared together with his so-called running mate Vance – he refrained from giving a speech on stage. This is expected in Germany on Friday night.
Democratic incumbent Joe Biden, who had called for the country to stand together and for political discussions to be less heated after the assassination attempt on Trump, made it clear in a television interview that he does not intend to be gentler on his opponent. He accused Trump of regularly stirring up trouble and announced that he would not remain silent about it.
Trump brings best-selling authors to his side
Vance has only been in the Senate for the state of Ohio since 2023 and is considered a right-wing hardliner. If Trump wins the presidential election in November, Vance would be one of the youngest vice presidents in US history. He once celebrated success with his memoir “Hillbilly Elegy”. The bestseller provides an insight into a social class that helped make Trump’s election victory possible in 2016.
Vance is scheduled to give his inaugural speech in Germany on Thursday night, Trump a day later. On Monday, Vance first bathed in the crowd at the party conference and was euphorically cheered.
Vance had been under discussion for some time
Vance doesn’t mince his words and likes to dish it out. After the assassination attempt on Trump, he immediately began to rant and blame US President Joe Biden personally for the attack. In the Senate in the spring, he voted against billions of dollars in aid for Ukraine, which was attacked by Russia.
The senator came to the party convention in Milwaukee with his wife Usha Chilukuri Vance. The lawyer met Vance at the elite Yale University; she is the daughter of Indian immigrants. The couple shook many hands and were celebrated. The crowd chanted “USA, USA, USA.” Vance had long been considered the favorite for the position of “running mate” – but his name was not the only one that was mentioned.
Assassination attempt on Trump overshadows party convention
In recent days, events in the already heated US election campaign have escalated. While last week the whole country was discussing Biden’s mental fitness and suitability as a presidential candidate, the focus has shifted since the shooting at a Trump campaign event in the state of Pennsylvania.
A few hours before the start of the party convention, Trump was also able to score a huge legal victory. In the affair surrounding the taking of secret government documents, the judge in charge, Aileen Cannon, dropped the criminal proceedings against Trump. The legal success gives the ex-president further momentum in the election campaign.
After the assassination attempt on Trump during a campaign rally at the weekend, Biden warned of further violence and called on Americans to come together. “We resolve our differences at the ballot box. That’s how we do it – at the ballot box, not with bullets,” Biden said in a rare address to the nation from the Oval Office in the White House.
Biden accuses Trump of inflammatory rhetoric in TV interview
Despite his recent calls for unity in the country and moderation in the election campaign, Biden accused his political opponent Trump of inflammatory rhetoric in a television interview broadcast on Monday evening (local time). “He talks about a bloodbath if he loses,” Biden said in an interview with the US television channel NBC.
He argued that Trump’s rhetoric was fueling the debate in the election campaign, not his. “I am not the man who said I want to be a dictator on day one. I am not the man who refused to accept the result of the election. I am not the man who said he will not automatically accept the result of this election,” the Democrat said, referring to Trump’s statements.
When asked what he himself would do to cool down the political debate in the country, Biden said he would continue to talk about the things that matter. Referring to Trump, he said that this included whether someone accepted the result of an election or called migrants “vermin.” This was inflammatory language.
After the assassination attempt on their party colleague, Trump’s staunch supporters accused the incumbent president of being partly responsible for the attack due to his rhetoric against the Republican. Biden regularly describes his rival as a threat to US democracy.
State of emergency in Milwaukee
The Republican Party Convention in Milwaukee began under high security precautions. In the city on the western shore of Lake Michigan, numerous streets were cordoned off. Even near the venue in the center of the city, which has around half a million inhabitants, one could only get there after a special security check. Even before the assassination attempt on Trump, the organizers had planned many security measures.
In addition to the delegates, thousands of other people traveled to Milwaukee – including politicians, party members and members of the press. At the start of the major event, the delegates shouted “Fight, fight, fight!”.
Source: Stern
I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
