MILWAUKEE — Donald Trump announced that he picked U.S. Sen. JD Vance as his running mate on Monday, and he formally captured his party’s nomination for the third time as the Republican National Convention kicked off Monday with a flurry of activity.
The four-day nominating party began amid heavy security days after a would-be assassin opened fire on the former president, bringing urgent calls for unity at an extraordinary moment in the White House race.
President Joe Biden called for Americans to “cool it down” and expressed regret in an NBC News interview for urging voters to put Trump “in a bull’s-eye” days before the attack at his Saturday rally, which left a spectator dead and two others injured.
Trump ended months of speculation by tapping Vance as his running mate, saying the Ohio Republican is the “best person suited” for the job. With a bandage affixed to his ear, Trump appeared briefly with Vance to vigorous cheers from the crowd.
The selection of the 39-year-old author and former venture capitalist invigorated some hard-line conservatives who pined for a younger contender to promote MAGA values and provide a more youthful contrast with the 78-year-old Trump.
But his support for federal abortion limits and his long record of critical statements about Trump, along with his dearth of political experience, has quickly become fodder for Democrats and others who oppose the GOP ticket.
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
The former president also received an extra dose of good news after a federal judge threw out a classified documents case against him.
U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon’s ruling that the appointment of special counsel Jack Smith was unconstitutional has at least temporarily thwarted one of the most serious legal threats Trump faced.
A third nomination
Shortly after the convention kicked off Monday, the roll call vote marked the official end of the GOP primary. Georgia’s vote helped put Trump over the top, giving him his third nomination in three election cycles.
State GOP Chair Josh McKoon used the spotlight to promise Georgia would flip back to Trump in November.
The state’s GOP contingent, which includes 59 delegates and 56 alternates, is to play a key role during the convention. Among the RNC speakers are two Trump allies with Georgia roots: U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Rome and former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich.
Greene delivered a roughly five-minute speech before prime-time audiences tuned in, getting the loudest applause when she panned Democrats for supporting transgender rights measures.
“Let me state this clearly: There are only two genders,” Greene said. “And we are made in God’s image, amen. And we won’t shy away from speaking that simple truth, ever.”
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
Many of the other addresses focused on the economy, with speeches promoting GOP calls to hike tariffs on foreign goods to spur more domestic manufacturing, lower income taxes and initiate a mass deportation of people in the U.S. illegally.
Authorities say their security plans for the RNC will remain in place after the shooting at Trump’s campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, shocked the nation.
Authorities named 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks as the suspect in the assassination attempt. Shortly after the shooting, Biden’s campaign temporarily suspended its political attacks against Trump, canceled a trip to Texas and worked to pull down TV ads. His campaign also postponed an event in Gwinnett County slated for Monday.
Republicans have pressed to project unity as Democrats wrestle with questions about Biden’s health and mental fitness. Shortly after the shooting, former Trump rival Nikki Haley accepted a last-minute invitation to urge her supporters to back his comeback bid.
The violence was an ominous prologue for a convention typically dominated by political speeches, policy statements, party galas and the presidential nominee’s prime-time address. Biden ordered an independent review of how the attack at Trump’s event happened.
“There is no place in America for this kind of violence — for any violence. Ever. Period. No exception,” Biden said. “We can’t allow this violence to be normalized.”
