Former President Donald Trump decried the Biden administration’s green energy and electric vehicle initiatives.
“I'm all for electric. They have their application, but if somebody wants to buy a gas-powered car, gasoline-powered car, or hybrid, they're going to be able to do it,” he said.
FREEPORT, Pa.—A steady stream of mourners from around the country gathered in Freeport on July 18 to honor the life of Corey Comperatore, the 50-year-old retired fire chief who was killed last Saturday when a gunman attempted to assassinate former President Donald Trump.
A husband and father of two daughters, Mr. Comperatore took his family to former President Trump’s rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, about a half-hour from his home in rural western Pennsylvania.
From bleacher seats behind the podium, he watched former President Trump speak. When gunfire erupted, Mr. Comperatore threw himself on top of his family to shield them.
MILWAUKEE—Former President Donald Trump’s acceptance speech this evening will put the capstone on the series of emotional, historic events that preceded it, delegates and a political scientist say.
His campaign staff confirmed to The Epoch Times that the former president is writing his own remarks, a departure from the norm.
The speech, which will formalize his nomination as the Republicans’ presidential candidate, promises to be one of the most important he has made since entering political life in 2015. It is set for just after 9 p.m. CT. His running mate, Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), accepted the party’s nomination for vice president on July 17.
Just days ago, the 78-year-old former president survived an assassination attempt, then jumped headlong into one of the most extraordinary political gatherings that political scientist Susan MacManus has ever seen.
“I’ve been covering conventions since 1992, and I’ve never seen the energy among Republicans that I’ve seen at this conference—never,” Ms. MacManus told The Epoch Times on July 18, the final day of the Republican National Convention.
She said a combination of factors had coalesced support for former President Trump, turning the ideal of “unity” into an apparent reality for the party faithful. She believes he will reinforce that notion during his speech, emphasize his policies, and compare his record to that of the incumbent, President Joe Biden.
Robin Medeiros, 63, an alternate delegate from Pennsylvania, told The Epoch Times that she has frequently volunteered for political campaigns over the years but has never seen “everyone really unifying and just coming together as one.”
“I feel it. It’s so incredible. You walk into that convention, and you just feel it,” she said.
Ms. Medeiros and others said support for former President Trump, his policies, and his performance as president during 2017-21 had already been strong. But the criminal prosecutions he has faced and the attempt to take his life multiplied that effect.
Immediately after being shot at a Pennsylvania rally on July 13, former President Trump rose to his feet. As blood trickled down his face, he pumped his fist in the air and shouted, “Fight!”—a chant repeated dozens of times since the GOP convention began on July 15.
That moment reflected his grit—and amplified respect for him, Ms. Medeiros said.
“He wanted to let everybody know that he’s still there and still fighting for them,” she said.
“It’s just a positive thing, and he’s showing his strength, and he’s showing that he’s there for us still, even though he had just been shot.”
As the nation watches his acceptance speech, Ms. MacManus said people are expecting the former president to appear presidential and strong and to again emphasize the party’s unification.
The former president has also benefited from the current uncertainty inside the Democratic Party, according to Ms. MacManus. President Biden has rebuffed calls for him to step aside that started after a poor debate performance at the end of June.Asked what she expects from the 45th president’s speech, Ms. Medeiros said, “I think he’s going to wrap it all up and say, you know, we just need to stick together, and we’re going to win this thing.”
“The air is so electrified here, and everyone is so positive—and we’re all going to walk away still feeling that.”
Lou Dobbs, a longtime television host, has died at age 78.
“It is with a heavy heart that we announce the passing of ’the great Lou Dobbs,'” his representatives said in a statement on July 18.
“Lou was a fighter till the very end—fighting for what mattered to him the most, God, his family, and the country.”
“The President is still experiencing mild upper respiratory symptoms associated with his recent COVID-19 infection. He continues to receive Paxlovid,” Dr. O'Connor said.
“He does not have a fever and his vital signs remain normal. He will continue to conduct the business of the American people. With the President’s permission, I will continue to provide regular updates, as we have done before.”
The manager of the Pennsylvania township that hosted a campaign rally where a gunman fired shots at former President Donald Trump on July 13 said that local officers radioed a call on a tactical channel about a “suspicious male” near the warehouse where he ultimately perched.
In a statement released on July 17, Butler Township Manager Tom Knights said that after the former president arrived, “a call went out for a suspicious male near the AGR building,” referring to the warehouse that was used by Thomas Matthew Crooks.
Multiple officers who were on traffic duty for the rally “broke free from their traffic intersections ... to aid in the search” for the suspicious person, the statement said.
MILWAUKEE—Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) formally accepted the Republican Party’s vice presidential nomination on July 17, pitching himself as a fighter for the forgotten corners of America.
“I will be a vice president who never forgets where he came from,” the lawyer and venture capitalist, originally from Middletown, Ohio, told the crowd at the Republican National Convention, one day before former President Donald Trump is scheduled to speak.
Mr. Vance commended his running mate for his resilience days after an attempt on his life in Pennsylvania.
With temperatures in the 90s, an ambulance was making round trips between the July 13 Pennsylvania Trump rally and the Butler Memorial Hospital. That is according to Karen Foerster, 53, who was among those overcome by the heat.
She and her husband Rick Foerster, 56, attend most Trump rallies within a 100-mile radius from their Beaver County, Pennsylvania, home. This time they had front row seats.
They arrived at 9 a.m. and gates opened at 1 p.m., but just as the first speakers started, Ms. Foerster was feeling sick from the heat. Her husband had gone to get some drinks in the car. She recalled seeing a shade tree when she entered through the event gate, so she decided to seek shade there. On her way, she ran into her husband with the drinks. He immediately recognized she was sick. He called for help and soon, a golf cart came along and whisked her to the medical tent. Before long, she was in an ambulance on her way to the hospital.
MILWAUKEE—Vice Presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance headlined Day 3 of the Republican National Convention, presenting former President Donald Trump as the man who will champion the American worker and restore the nation to a position of strength in the world.
In an acceptance speech that highlighted his humble beginnings in an economically depressed industrial town in Ohio, Mr. Vance touted the former president’s record in building the economy, championing working Americans, and securing the country.
For most of the night, political speeches took a backseat to personal stories and the party hammered the themes of border security, military strength, and strength on the international stage against Lady Liberty’s adversaries.