Former Trump rivals to pay tribute on second night of Republican convention

MILWAUKEE – Donald Trump’s former rivals for the Republican presidential nomination will voice their support for his candidacy at the party’s convention on July 16, a display of unity that contrasts with the divisions plaguing President Joe Biden’s Democrats.

The second night of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee will feature speeches from former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. They were roundly defeated by Trump earlier this year in the state-by-state battle for the nomination.

Ms Haley’s address in particular will be closely watched after she cast Trump as unelectable and unfit for office during the primary campaign before saying in May she would vote for him.

Republican officials said her speech would help Trump deliver a message of unity to the country following a gunman’s assassination attempt on the former president on July 13.

Trump was scheduled to walk into the arena again in prime time on July 16, a day after he entered to raucous applause in his first public appearance since the shooting at a Pennsylvania campaign rally. A heavily bandaged ear served as a reminder of how narrowly he survived the attempt.

The attack and the convention that began on July 15 have upstaged weeks of speculation that Mr Biden, 81, might exit the race after a halting performance in his June 27 debate with Trump raised fresh questions about his age and mental acuity.

The shooting also intensified fears among Americans about the deeply divided state of the nation ahead of the Nov 5 election.

A Reuters/Ipsos poll released on July 16 found that 80 per cent of voters – including similar shares of Republicans and Democrats – agreed “the country is spiralling out of control” in the wake of the shooting.

Authorities were still trying to identify a motive for the shooting. The 20-year-old gunman was killed at the scene by the US Secret Service.

Vance is Veep pick

Trump, 78, announced on July 15 that his running mate would be US Senator J.D. Vance, 39, a former Trump critic who has become one of his staunchest supporters in Congress.

Mr Vance, author of bestselling memoir Hillbilly Elegy, is likely to energise core Republican voters, but it is less clear whether he can appeal to more moderate voters, including independents.

The Reuters/Ipsos poll found 29 per cent of US voters, including 52 per cent of Republicans, had a favourable opinion of Mr Vance. By comparison, 42 per cent of registered voters and 81 per cent of Democrats had a favourable view of Mr Biden's running mate, Vice-President Kamala Harris.

The survey of 992 registered voters, conducted on July 15 and July 16, found Trump leading Mr Biden by 43 per cent to 41 per cent, within the margin of error.

In his first campaign speech since the assassination attempt, Mr Biden told black voters in Las Vegas that he was “all in” for his re-election campaign, again dismissing calls from some Democrats to step aside.

He said he was glad that Trump had not been seriously injured but assailed his record in office. Biden has denounced the attack and called for less heated rhetoric.

The four-day convention will culminate with Trump’s prime-time address on Thursday, when he formally accepts the party’s nomination to face Mr Biden in a rematch of their 2020 race. REUTERS