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Donald Trump made a surprise appearance at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on Monday, a bandaged ear the only reminder that, just two days earlier, he was shot by a would-be assassin at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
The former president received a hero’s welcome at the Fiserv Forum, with a deafening roar erupting from the crowd and chants of “USA” breaking out when he arrived.
He did not speak, as he is due to give the event’s keynote address on Thursday, but appeared moved by the reception.
Trump formally clinched his party’s nomination for the presidency on Monday, just minutes after he had announced he would had chosen Ohio Senator JD Vance, 39, as his 2024 running mate.
“After lengthy deliberation and thought, and considering the tremendous talents of many others, I have decided that the person best suited to assume the position of Vice President of the United States is Senator JD Vance of the Great State of Ohio,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Vance, a military veteran, venture capitalist and author, beat Florida Senator Marco Rubio and North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum to the honour.
Premium: I’m from the same place as JD Vance and there’s nothing to celebrate now that he’s Trump’s VP
Skylar Baker-Jordan is a regular contributor to The Independent.
DNC issues response to today’s ‘Make America Safe Once Again’ theme at the RNC
DNC Rapid Response Director Alex Floyd released the following statement regarding today’s Republican National Convention theme — “Make America Safe Once Again”.
Convicted felon Donald Trump represents nothing more than empty words and broken promises when it comes to creating safer communities and securing our border.
The facts speak for themselves: Donald Trump doesn’t care about making America safer – he cares about what helps him politically. He oversaw a murder rate that skyrocketed by nearly 30 percent in a single year, repeatedly proposed defunding law enforcement, and he shamelessly ordered congressional Republicans to tank the toughest, fairest bill to secure the border in decades for his own political gain. Every single congressional Republican voted against President Biden’s funding for more police officers in the ARP. Trump is even promising to pardon violent insurrectionists who stormed our Capitol and attacked law enforcement. Put simply, Trump’s extreme and out-of-touch Project 2025 agenda will leave the American people less safe.
Under President Biden, violent crime has plummeted, as his administration has boosted law enforcement, taken action to improve border security, and delivered the most significant federal bipartisan gun safety legislation in decades. That’s the type of decisive action and leadership the American people demand from their president.
‘Serial killer vibes’: Katie Britt mercilessly mocked for RNC speech after viral SOTU rebuttal
Rather than the content of her speech, it was Britt’s delivery that got social media users talking once again, with many likening it to her “breathy,” intense rebuttal at the State of the Union.
Rachel Sharp has the story.
Who said it — Trump or Biden? We ask attendees at the RNC
"Make America Great Again": a quote so famous that everybody knows who coined it... Ronald Reagan, of course. But, some others might not be so obvious. So, at the 2024 Republican National Convention, The Independent headed out to ask the country's most loyal party members and Trump supporters: Who said it — Donald Trump or Joe Biden? Both men have been speaking on the record for decades, so this game should be fairly easy, right? Watch to find out how our contestants did.
DNC announces more than $15m in direct investments to battleground state parties
With the Republican National Convention underway in Milwaukee this week, the Democratic National Committee has announced $15m in direct expenditures to battleground state parties – helping fund campaign ground game and infrastructure.
These investments will help allow the Democratic campaign to open more field offices and hire more staffers.
So far, the campaign has 217 field offices across battleground states and employs more than 1,100 staffers with four months still to go before the election.
“As the RNC showcases the extreme Project 2025 agenda of the Trump-Vance ticket, the DNC is focused on reaching voters in battleground states ... Trump’s extreme agenda makes this the most consequential election of our lifetime. That’s why Democrats are leaving nothing to chance, investing heavily on the ground to ensure Joe Biden and Kamala Harris win this election,“ said Democratic National Committee Chair Jaime Harrison.
“This election is going to come down to operation and turnout in the battleground states, and that's why we've made the largest-ever investment into battleground state parties at this point in the cycle. We’re going to win this election by engaging voters community-by-community, block-by-block, door-by-door. These investments show that commitment in action.”
Coming up on Day Two of the Republican National Convention
Here is the full schedule of speakers for day two of the convention.
6:08PM – 6:55PM – SENATE CANDIDATE HOUR
- Kari Lake (AZ)
- Eric Hovde (WI)
- Bernie Moreno (OH)
- Mike Rogers (MI)
- Dave McCormick (PA)
- Jim Banks (IN)
- Governor Jim Justice (WV)
- Sam Brown (NV)
- Tim Sheehy (MT)
- Hung Cao (VA)
- Senator Rick Scott (FL)
7:07PM – 7:27PM – HOUSE LEADERSHIP
- Rep. Elise Stefanik (NY-21), House Republican Conference Chair
- Rep. Tom Emmer (MN-6), House Majority Whip
- Rep. Steve Scalise (LA-1), House Majority Leader
- Speaker Mike Johnson
7:33PM – Vivek Ramaswamy
7:48PM – Savannah Chrisley, Reality TV Star
8:03PM – VIDEO
8:09 PM – Randy Sutton - Founder & Chairman, Board of Wounded Blue & Retired Law Enforcement Officer
8:18 PM – Nikki Haley, Former Ambassador to the United Nations
8:24 PM – Governor Ron DeSantis (FL)
8:43 PM – Michael Coyle
8:46 PM – VIDEO
8:50 PM – Erin Koper
9:04 PM – Anne Fundner
9:07 PM – The Morin Family
9:11 PM – Madaline Brame
9:14 PM – Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders (AR)
9:20 PM – Dr. Ben Carson, 17th U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
9:33 PM – Senator Marco Rubio (FL)
9:39 PM – Lara Trump
Schiff warns of overwhelming losses for Democrats with Biden on top of ticket, report says
California Democrat Rep Adam Schiff — who is running for the state’s vacant Senate seat — warned donors in the Hamptons on Saturday of a wipeout for the party if President Joe Biden remains in the race as the nominee at the top of the ticket, The New York Times reports.
Citing two sources with direct knowledge of Schiff’s remarks, the outlet reports the congressman as saying not only would the party lose the White House, but most likely the Senate and any opportunity to take back the House of Representatives.
“I think if he is our nominee, I think we lose,” Schiff at the fundraiser, a person with access to a transcription of a recording of the event told the Times. “And we may very, very well lose the Senate and lose our chance to take back the House.”
There are private concerns within the Democratic Party about the prospects for down-ballot candidates if Biden remains in the race, but few are voicing their fears in public. There had been a small but growing number of people calling for him to step aside but that has dropped off in the days since the attempt on the life of Republican nominee Donald Trump.
Biden insists he will remain the party’s nominee.
Comment: Trump’s running mate JD Vance has insulted the UK with his racist ignorance
Baroness Sayeeda Warsi writes:
Let’s start with the basics. The UK and the US have a special relationship. They are our most important ally in the world, and they should be our most trusted ally. And that means that when we agree, we do so very publicly, and when we disagree, we do so behind closed doors. Every aspect of our relationship – from our intelligence sharing to our military cooperation, from our political ties to our diplomatic work – should be done in an environment of mutual respect.
What Donald Trump’s appointment of JD Vance as his running mate for vice-president has done is put that special relationship at risk.
Continue reading...
Nikki Haley expected to speak later today
Nikki Haley, Trump’s former primary rival, was a last-minute addition to the schedule.
The former United Nations ambassador and South Carolina governor waited two months after dropping out in March to say she would vote for him. Then last week, she announced she would instruct her convention delegates to vote for Trump but wasn’t planning to attend the convention.
It wasn’t until Sunday — hours after the shooting — that her office reversed itself and said she would speak.
In focus: What Hillbilly Elegy can tell us about JD Vance and his right-wing beliefs
Nick Hilton looks back on what the politician argued in the book, from his criticisms of welfare to his belief that the working classes ‘spend our way into the poorhouse’.
What Hillbilly Elegy can tell us about JD Vance and his right-wing beliefs
America’s potential future vice president topped bestseller lists with his 2016 memoir, a tale of multi-generational, cyclical poverty in Appalachia. Nick Hilton looks back on what the politician argued in the book, from his criticisms of welfare to his belief that the working classes ‘spend our way into the poorhouse’
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2024-07-16 17:25:53Z
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