Donald Trump’s campaign chiefs designed the Republican convention opening this week to feature a softer and more optimistic message, focusing on themes that would help a divisive leader expand his appeal among moderate voters and people of color.
MILWAUKEE (AP) — Jubilant and emboldened after Donald Trump survived an assassination attempt, Republicans on Monday nominated the former president to lead their ticket for a third time and welcomed his selection of Ohio Sen. JD Vance as his running mate.
“We must unite as a party, and we must unite as a nation,” said Republican Party Chairman Michael Whatley, Trump’s handpicked party leader, as Monday’s primetime session opened. “We must show the same strength and resilience as President Trump and lead this nation to a greater future.”
But Whatley and other Republican leaders Monday made clear that their calls for harmony didn’t extend to President Joe Biden and Democrats.
“Their policies are a clear and present danger to America, to our institutions, our values and our people,” said Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson, welcoming the party to his battleground state, which Trump won in 2016 but lost to Biden four years ago.
Saturday’s shooting at a Pennsylvania rally, where Trump was injured and one man died, was not far from delegates’ minds as they celebrated — a stark contrast to the anger and anxiety that had marked the previous few days. Some delegates chanted “fight, fight, fight” — the same words that Trump was seen shouting to the crowd as the Secret Service ushered him off the stage, his fist raised and face bloodied.
“We should all be thankful right now that we are able to cast our votes for President Donald J. Trump after what took place on Saturday,” said New Jersey state Sen. Michael Testa as he announced all of his state’s 12 delegates for Trump.
The scene upon Trump’s formal nomination reflected the depths of his popularity among Republican activists. When he cleared the necessary number of delegates, video screens in the arena read “OVER THE TOP” while the song “Celebration” played and delegates danced and waved Trump signs. Throughout the voting, delegates flanked by “Make America Great Again” signs applauded as state after state voted their support for a second Trump term.
Wyoming delegate Sheryl Foland was among those who adopted the “fight” chant after seeing Trump survive Saturday in what she called “monumental photos and video.”
“We knew then we were going to adopt that as our chant,” added Foland, a child trauma mental health counselor. “Not just because we wanted him to fight, and that God was fighting for him. We thought, isn’t it our job to accept that challenge and fight for our country?”
“It’s bigger than Trump,” Foland said. “It’s a mantra for our country.”
Another well-timed development boosted the mood on the convention floor Monday: The federal judge presiding over Trump’s classified documents case dismissed the prosecution because of concerns over the appointment of the prosecutor who brought the case, handing the former president a major court victory.
The convention is designed to reach people outside the GOP base
Trump’s campaign chiefs designed the convention to feature a softer and more optimistic message, focusing on themes that would help a divisive leader expand his appeal among moderate voters and people of color.
Monday’s primetime session featured several Black Republicans who have been at the forefront of the Trump campaign’s effort to win more votes from a core Democratic constituency.
On a night devoted to the economy, U.S. Rep. Wesley Hunt of Texas said rising grocery and energy prices were hurting Americans’ wallets and quoted Ronald Reagan in calling inflation “the cruelest tax on the poor.” He argued Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris didn’t seem to understand the problem.
“We can fix this disaster,” Hunt said, by electing Trump and “send him right back to where he belongs, the White House.”
Republicans hailed Vance’s selection as a key step.
Trump announced his choice of his running mate as delegates were voting on the former president’s nomination Monday. The young Ohio senator first rose to national attention with his best-selling memoir, “Hillbilly Elegy,” which told of his Appalachian upbringing and was hailed as a window into the parts of working-class America that helped propel Trump.
North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, who had been considered a potential vice presidential pick, said in a post on X that Vance’s “small town roots and service to country make him a powerful voice for the America First Agenda.”
But calls for harmony notwithstanding, two of the opening speakers at Monday’s evening session — Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and North Carolina gubernatorial nominee Mark Robinson — were among the GOP’s most incendiary figures.
Robinson, speaking recently during a church service in North Carolina, discussed “evil” people who he said threatened American Christianity. “Some folks need killing,” he said then.
Protesters marched outside
Hundreds of demonstrators converged on downtown Milwaukee to protest around the RNC, saying the assassination attempt won’t affect their long-standing plans to demonstrate outside the site.
The activists called attention to issues such as abortion rights, economic justice and the war in Gaza. As they marched, the atmosphere was festive, with music playing over loud speakers, a man strumming a guitar and vendors selling T-shirts and buttons supporting both Republicans and Democrats.
Activists carried signs that read, “Stand with Palestine,” “We Can No Longer Afford the Rich,” and “Defend and Expand Immigrant Rights.”
The protesters’ movements were restricted as part of enhanced security precautions established by the Secret Service.
Security officials previously announced that people just outside the Secret Service perimeter would be allowed to carry guns openly or concealed as permitted by state law. Wisconsin statutes outlaw only machine guns, short-barreled shotguns and silencers.
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Associated Press writers Christine Fernando in Chicago, Ali Swenson in Minneapolis, Jonathan J. Cooper in Phoenix, and Farnoush Amiri, Thomas Beaumont, Michelle L. Price and Sophia Tareen in Milwaukee contributed.
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