Trump appears with bandaged ear at Republican convention
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Former US president Donald Trump arriving at the Republican National Convention with a bandage over his ear on July 15, 2024.
PHOTO: AFP
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MILWAUKEE – Former US president Donald Trump made a triumphant entrance during the first night of the Republican National Convention on July 15, receiving a raucous ovation from the party faithful two days after a would-be assassin’s bullet
Trump walked into the Fiserv Forum in downtown Milwaukee with a thick bandage over the ear as the crowd chanted, “Fight! Fight! Fight” and pumped their fists, a reference to his reaction in the moments after he was wounded.
Trump appeared moved by the response as he stood in a box with some of his children and US Senator J.D. Vance, his choice for running mate, announced earlier in the day.
The four-day convention opened hours after Trump secured a major legal victory when a US federal judge dismissed one of his criminal prosecutions.
Trump is due to formally accept the party’s nomination in a prime-time speech on July 18 and will face Democratic US President Joe Biden in the Nov 5 election.
During the evening session, one speaker after another blamed Mr Biden’s economic policies for inflation that has kept prices higher, even as it has eased sharply since peaking in June 2022 in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
Senator Tim Scott, who briefly ran against Trump for the nomination, said divine intervention spared Trump’s life.
“Our God still saves,” Mr Scott said. “He still delivers and he still sets free. Because on Saturday, the devil came to Pennsylvania holding a rifle, but an American lion got back up on his feet and he roared!”“
Mr Vance, 39, was a fierce Trump critic in 2016 but has since become one of the former US president’s staunchest defenders, embracing his false claims that the 2020 election was marred by widespread fraud.
Mr Vance is deeply popular with Trump’s core supporters, but it remains to be seen whether he can broaden the ticket’s appeal. He shares Trump’s aggressive approach to politics, and his conservative statements on issues such as abortion could turn off moderate voters.
Soon after Trump’s afternoon announcement, Mr Vance emerged on the convention floor with his wife Usha,
Mr Biden told reporters at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland that Mr Vance is “a clone of Trump on the issues”, while Democrats assailed Mr Vance’s record on reproductive rights.
In an interview on Fox News on the night of July 15, Mr Vance said he backed Trump’s position that each state should decide for itself whether to permit abortion.
Opinion polls show a close race between Trump, 78, and Mr Biden, 81, though Trump leads in several swing states that are likely to decide the election. Trump has not committed to accepting the results of the election if he loses.
The head of the main fund-raising super political action committee (PAC) supporting Trump’s campaign, Mr Taylor Budowich, said on X that Maga Inc had raised more than US$50 million (S$67 million) on July 15.
Billionaire Elon Musk is planning to donate around US$45 million a month to a new pro-Trump super PAC,
After the assassination attempt, Trump said he was revising his acceptance speech to emphasise national unity, rather than highlight his differences with Mr Biden.
“The speech will be a lot different, a lot different than it would’ve been two days ago,” Trump told the Washington Examiner.
US District Judge Aileen Cannon’s decision on July 15 to throw out federal charges against Trump for retaining classified documents after leaving the White House was the latest in a string of legal wins for the former US president. He is due to be sentenced in New York in September for trying to cover up a hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels in the weeks before his 2016 election victory.
His other two indictments on federal charges in Washington and state charges in Georgia – both related to his efforts to overturn his 2020 election defeat – are mired in delays and could be significantly limited after the US Supreme Court ruled in July that he had immunity for many of his official acts as the US president.
“This dismissal of the Lawless Indictment in Florida should be just the first step, followed quickly by the dismissal of ALL the Witch Hunts,” Trump said on Truth Social on July 15, also referencing the prosecutions of hundreds of his supporters who stormed the US Capitol on Jan 6, 2021.
No place for violence
The shooting attempt on Trump’s life immediately altered the dynamics of the US presidential campaign, which had been focused on whether Mr Biden should drop out due to concerns about his age and acuity following a halting June 27 debate performance.
Nearly two dozen of Mr Biden’s fellow Democrats in Congress have called on him to end his re-election bid and allow the party to pick another standard bearer.
The focus this week will be squarely on Trump.
Having consolidated party control, Trump could seize on the opportunity to deliver a unifying message or paint a dark portrait of a nation under siege by a corrupt leftist elite, as he has done at times on the campaign trail.
Trump has frequently turned to violent rhetoric in campaign speeches, labelling his perceived enemies as “vermin” and “fascists”.
Mr Biden has cast Trump as a threat to US democracy, comments that some Republicans say helped foster an atmosphere that prompted the shooting even though the authorities have yet to determine the motive for the assassination attempt. The gunman himself was shot dead.
Following July 13’s shooting, Mr Biden sought to lower the temperature after months of heated political rhetoric.
“There is no place in America for this kind of violence,” Mr Biden said in an address from the White House on July 14.
In an interview with NBC News on July 15, Mr Biden said it was a “mistake” to tell donors last week it was “time to put Trump in the bullseye” but noted that Trump has often used incendiary words.
Mr Biden ordered an independent review of how the gunman, who killed a spectator, could have come so close to killing Trump. Congressional investigators also sought to question the head of the US Secret Service, which is responsible for protecting the former US president. REUTERS
