Former President Donald Trump slowly walked through the crowd and into a box at the Republican National Convention on Monday, his first public appearance since a bullet sliced through his ear during an assassination attempt.
It was a dramatic televisual spectacle: His ear was covered by a neatly folded white bandage. He pumped his fist and waved, as Lee Greenwood sang “God Bless the USA.” The crowd in Milwaukee chanted “we love Trump” and “fight, fight, fight,” echoing Trump’s shout to his supporters when Secret Service agents hustled him off the stage on Saturday.
[time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”]
Trump walked in with his newly-announced running mate, Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio. The two sat together in the hall as several speakers described their economic struggles and why they are supporting Trump’s campaign.
The image from Saturday of Trump standing and raising his fist moments after the shooting has energized the GOP convention and given Trump’s candidacy a fresh wave of momentum heading toward the November elections.
Trump’s appearance came just hours after GOP convention delegates officially voted to name him the party’s nominee for President, and on the same day he scored a major legal victory when U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon dismissed the federal classified documents case against him.
“Even in the most perilous moment, his instinct was to stand and to fight,” South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem told the convention hall before Trump came out. “Donald J. Trump is our man in the arena.”
The attempt on Trump’s life alarmed a nation already riven by political discord. It prompted calls from President Biden and others for the divisive political rhetoric to be cooled down, a plea that has largely been ignored by speakers during the first day of the convention.