Pinned
The RNC has adjourned until the afternoon of Wednesday, July 17.
The end of the proceedings included a prayer from Pastor Corey Brooks, a man of the cloth from the South Side of Chicago.
Mr. Brooks gave a shout out to his city and state as well as “O Block”—a section of the city made famous in part by rapper Chief Keef.
Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida paid tribute to the Pennsylvania man who was killed during the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump on June 13.
“As a man of God, he loved Jesus fiercely and looked after members of his church,” Mr. Rubio said of Corey Comperatore Corey, 50, of Butler County, Pennsylvania. “[He] was one of the millions of everyday Americans who make our country great.”
Mr. Comperatore was a former fire chief who died while shielding his wife and daughter from bullets fired at the former president during a campaign rally.
Madeline Brame pounded her fist as she decried the New York violence that claimed the life of her Army veteran son, inspiring the Republican National Convention crowd to cheer loudly and chant in support of police: “Back the Blue!”
Ms. Brame’s son, Hason Correa, 35, died after being stabbed in a Harlem apartment building—ironically after escaping enemy fire from the Taliban while serving his country in Afghanistan.
She decried the lack of sufficient punishment meted out to “the homicidal maniacs” who took his life—a symptom she blames on criminal charges often being dismissed or reduced.
The brother of Rachel Morin, who was killed by an illegal immigrant in Maryland, addressed the RNC, blasting President Biden’s immigration policies.
Ms. Morin was a mother of five children who was allegedly raped and murdered by an illegal immigrant in 2023.
Ms. Morin’s brother, Michael Morin, said former President Donald Trump called his family to pay his respects, whereas no one from the current administration has reached out.
Anne Fundner, a wife and mother of four from California, brought many convention delegates to tears with an account of the death of her 15-year-old son from fentanyl poisoning in 2022.
“Weston wanted to fit in and in a moment of peer pressure he tried something that someone gave to him and it took my baby's life,” Ms. Fundner said. “This was not an overdose. It was a poisoning. His whole future, everything we ever wanted for him, was ripped away in an instant.”
Ms. Fundner blamed open border policies for allowing increased fentanyl smuggling
Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations and South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley toed the line addressing the RNC.
This was evident when Ms. Haley, who ran against former President Donald Trump in the 2024 GOP primary, talked about Ukraine. Ms. Haley has supported U.S. assistance to Kyiv in its fight against Russia, but she didn't reiterate that stance in her speech.
Rather, she drew a contrast between Democrat presidents and former President Trump.
Vice presidential candidate Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) entered the auditorium at approximately 7:55 p.m. Flanked by Secret Service agents, Mr. Vance greeted well-wishers as he made his way to the Trump family box, joining Tiffany Trump and Eric Trump as well as guests including Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.), Republican House Conference chair Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.), and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.).
Moments later, former President Trump entered the convention, his right ear still bandaged after being wounded in an assassination attempt on July 13. The former president made his way to the family booth and stood to acknowledge the ovation before greeting family members and guests.
Former President Trump appeared to be in good spirits, smiling and laughing with well-wishers.
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) mentioned both his own brush with political violence and the July 13 assassination attempt on former President Trump.
“Many of you know I was the survivor of a politically motivated shooting in 2017,” Mr. Scalise said. He was wounded in a shooting during a practice session for the annual congressional baseball game.
“Not many know that while I was fighting for my life, Donald Trump was one of the first to come console my family at the hospital,” Mr. Scalise said, adding that the incident showed the former president's courage and compassion.
Entrepreneur and former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy said in a speech at the Republican National Convention that former President Donald Trump can unite the country.
“Donald Trump is the president who will actually unite this country, not through empty words, but through action, because you know, success is unified,” Mr. Ramaswamy said. “Excellence is unifying.”
Addressing the Republican National Convention (RNC), House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) made a short but powerful personal remark about the June 14 assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump at a rally in Pennsylvania.
Mr. Scalise recalled President Trump being one of the first people visiting him in the hospital in 2017 as he was fighting for his life after being shot at a baseball practice the day before the annual Congressional Baseball Game for Charity, a bipartisan occasion.
Former President Trump said he was shot in the ear. He was medically treated and made it to the RNC on June 15, where he got a thunderous applause. The shooter was killed by Secret Service snipers. One rally attendee was killed while two others were injured and are currently in stable condition.
Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-Wis.) said he was assaulted on July 16 by a member of the pro-Palestine and anti-war group CODEPINK while he was in line to enter an event at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.
A Milwaukee police officer arrested the member, Nour Jaghama, according to the group.
"This appears to be an incident of political violence and I will never tolerate this. Regardless of the severity of the violence, political violence is political violence,” Mr. Van Orden posted on X.
Bob Kunst, 82, held a sign outside the convention’s entrance that read “America Advances with Trump + Vance.”
“He made a good choice,” Mr. Kunst said of former President Donald Trump’s selection of Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) as his vice presidential nominee. “I think going for somebody that’s young and aggressive, somebody that also has a history of being dirt poor and dealing with drug issues ... he represents a different kind of energy that the Republican Party needs to wake up to.”
Mr. Vance attained national fame in 2016 for his book, "Hillbilly Elegy," which described his upbringing in Ohio and rural Kentucky in a working class family.
Night Two of the Republican National Convention consists of the following GOP Senate candidates:
- Kari Lake, who unsuccessfully ran for Arizona governor in 2022 and is the favorite to take on Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) to succeed retiring Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.).
“As a longtime Badger, let me say, welcome to Wisconsin,” Reince Priebus told the convention crowd.
The former head of the RNC, former Trump administration official, and well-known Wisconsin Republican talked up his state as a battleground—one of the factors influencing the party’s choice to hold its convention there.
He vowed that Wisconsin could flip back this cycle, saying the GOP could “make Wisconsin red again.”
Near the RNC’s outdoor Convention Fest Stage, there’s a highly visible (albeit miniaturized) reminder of the Republican Party’s origins in 19th century Wisconsin.
It’s a replica of the Little White School House in Ripon, Wisconsin, where the party was first founded—though Michiganders are known to claim it originated in their state.
A day after Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) was announced as the president's running mate, fellow VP shortlister, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum took a few questions from reporters at the Fiserv Forum.
He said he will be speaking on stage on Wednesday, the same day Mr. Vance is slated to speak. He said he will be talking about “how to make America strong again.”
The state executive emphasized that he is still governor of North Dakota until his term ends and that delivering the former president a victory in November is “the most important thing we have to do.”
Former President Donald Trump is hitting the campaign trail again, this time with his newly minted running mate, Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio).
The former president and his VP choice are set to appear at 5 p.m. July 20 in Grand Rapids, Michigan, a week after he survived an attempted assassination at his rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
“This will be President Trump and Senator Vance’s first rally after officially accepting the Republican Nomination for President and Vice President of The United States of America,” The Trump campaign said in an announcement released July 16, a day after the former president revealed that Mr. Vance was his VP choice.
Hours before the evening program was scheduled to begin, the stands of the Fiserv Forum were almost empty.
On the convention floor, Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) briefly appeared before an assembled audience of reporters, cameramen, and assorted partisans.
The newly minted Republican vice presidential candidate was accompanied by Donald Trump, Jr., Kimberly Guilfoyle, and Andy Surabian, a longtime Vance adviser.
President Joe Biden is expected to secure the 2024 presidential nomination through a virtual vote held in the coming weeks, ahead of the Democratic National Convention in August.
Quentin Fulks, President Biden’s principal deputy campaign manager, confirmed on July 16 that the Democratic National Committee (DNC) will move forward with the plan as previously scheduled and organize a virtual roll call before the convention.
“I think the answer here is very simple,” Mr. Fulks said during a news conference in Milwaukee addressing the decision. “There have been virtual roll calls in previous presidential elections.”
After a flurry of activity on Day 1—including that Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) is former President Donald Trump’s running mate—Day 2 of the RNC started slowly.
Republicans on the ground have a chance for a breather until speeches kick off at 5 p.m. CT. A source familiar outlined the schedule to The Epoch Times.
Attendees will hear early remarks from Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee, along with Wisconsinite Reince Priebus, chairman of the RNC Host Committee, who previously led the RNC and served in the Trump administration. All times below are Central.
On July 15, former President Donald Trump announced that Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) was his vice presidential pick, ending months of speculation.
“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 J.D. Vance,” former President Trump said in a Truth Social post.
1. He’s 39 Years Old
Mr. Vance was born on Aug. 2, 1984. Turning 40 in August, he’s the first millennial on a major party ticket and one of the youngest vice presidential candidates in history.2. He’s a Catholic
Mr. Vance was raised Protestant, but later converted to Catholicism, officially becoming Catholic in August 2019.3. He’s Married to Usha Chilukuri Vance
Mr. Vance is married to Usha Chilukuri Vance, whom he met at Yale Law School. They married in 2014.
U.S. Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle said Tuesday that local police officers were inside a building as a shooter on the roof opened fire on former President Donald Trump in Pennsylvania on Saturday.
The director, who confirmed in the interview that she doesn’t plan to resign from her position, said that her agency “did share support for that particular site” and confirmed the Secret Service “was responsible for the inner perimeter” of the rally where former President Trump spoke.