Milwaukee, Wisconsin – The Republican National Committee will be inaugurated on Monday, just two days after former President Donald Trump, the GOP’s standard-bearer, survived an assassination attempt.
The former president also told Fox News’ Bret Baier in an interview just hours before the convention began that an announcement about his running mate would be made on Monday.
Republican convention kicks off two days after assassination attempt on Trump
Former President Trump, with a bloody face, gestures after shots ring out during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13, 2024. (Reuters/Brendan McDiarmid)
A shooting at a President Trump rally in western Pennsylvania on Saturday left one spectator dead, two seriously injured and the former president visibly bleeding after a bullet grazed his ear, upending the atmosphere at the convention and raising tensions.
Trump will officially become the Republican presidential nominee during the four-day conference in the battleground state of Wisconsin’s largest city, with a formal roll call taking place during the opening session on Monday afternoon.
Trump campaign and RNC stress ‘carry on’ after assassination attempt
The Fiserv Forum will be held in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on July 14, 2024, the eve of the opening night of the Republican National Convention. (Fox News – Paul Steinhauser)
But as the convention gets underway, with Trump expected to announce his running mate, bringing to an end weeks of vetting and intense media speculation, all eyes are on the former president.
A Republican official suggested to Beyer, the Fox News anchor for “Special Report,” that the vice presidential announcement could come shortly after the convention is gaveled to open at 1 p.m. Eastern time. “That will be part of the opening ruckus today,” the official said.
In the afternoon session, a roll call of President Trump’s formal nomination will be followed by a roll call of his vice presidential nominees.
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The leading candidates for the Republican vice presidential nomination are Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio, Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, and Governor Doug Burgum of North Dakota, along with Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, Governor Glenn Youngkin of Virginia, Representatives Elise Stefanik of New York, and Representatives Byron Donald of Florida.
The Trump camp says the former president, who has had a close encounter with death and will face President Biden in a rematch in the 2024 presidential election, will not use the convention to criticize his political opponents, but will instead call for unity in the face of tragedy.
Jason Miller, a senior adviser to the Trump campaign, said in an interview Sunday night on Fox News’ “Jesse Waters Primetime” that Trump was “looking ahead to Thursday and giving some further indication of what he wants in the speech, a tone that will really impress people. He knows this is a critical moment. He’s the only person who can lead at this time, and this country is desperate for leadership.”
And in an interview with the Washington Examiner on Sunday, Trump said, “It’s going to be a very different speech, honestly.”
“This is an opportunity to bring the country together, and I’ve been given that opportunity,” he said.
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