Donald Trump, who became the GOP’s presidential nominee Monday, entered the Republican National Convention just hours later while sporting a bandage on his right ear, a reminder of the failed assassination attempt Saturday at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania.
He walked out to his favored pump-up song, Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the USA.”
Chants of “Fight! Fight! Fight!” from some of those in attendance could be heard as Trump made his way from backstage to his seating area.
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He did not speak, but sat after a moment and listened to the lineup of speakers, which included model and rapper Amber Rose, Teamsters President Sean O’Brien, and a slew of “everyday people” who spoke about their struggles making ends meet. The theme of the day was “Make America Wealthy Again.”
Trump sat alongside running mate Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH), House Majority Leader Mike Johnson, Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL), and some family members.
Vance, speaking to Fox News earlier, described a phone call in which Trump asked him to be his running mate.
“I hope I’m not betraying too many confidences here, but when the president called me today to actually formally offer me to become the vice-presidential nominee—which just sounds crazy—my son, my 7-year-old son, was sort of making noise in the background. I was getting so embarrassed,” Vance recalled.
“But then he actually has me put my 7-year-old son on the phone. You think about this. Everything that’s happened, the guy just got shot at a couple of days ago, and he takes the time to talk to my 7-year-old. It’s a moment I’ll never forget.”
Trump is scheduled to formally accept the GOP nomination Thursday night in Milwaukee. The former president has claimed he will be toning down his prepared remarks in light of the assassination attempt, ostensibly in the name of “unity.”
“It is a chance to bring the country together,” Trump said Sunday before leaving for Wisconsin. “I was given that chance.”
