PUNCH
Donald Trump received a hero’s welcome Monday as he entered the Republican National Convention arena with a bandaged right ear in his first public appearance since being wounded in a weekend assassination attempt.
Hours after winning the formal nomination to be the Republican presidential candidate and announcing right-wing Senator J.D. Vance as his running mate, Trump marched into Milwaukee’s Fiserv Forum flanked by aides and waved at supporters on the opening day of what is expected to be a triumphalist gathering.
Trump, who is due to give a formal acceptance speech on Thursday, took his seat to the sound of country singer Lee Greenwood’s patriotic hit “God Bless the USA” without delivering any remarks but appeared markedly moved by the rapt ovation he received from a packed venue.
“It was absolutely amazing. I mean, just thinking what he’s been through, and to come here today because he cares,” Illinois delegate Susan Sweeney told AFP on the convention floor.
It was the second huge moment of the day for the Republican crowd, which erupted into cheers earlier as Trump announced Vance, just 39, as his vice presidential pick, rewarding a one-time harsh critic who has become one of his most uncompromising supporters.
While Trump, 78, is increasingly confident of a shock return to the White House — despite multiple legal problems and two impeachments clouding his first term — President Joe Biden is reeling from weak polls and Democratic concerns over his health.
The standard-bearer for a new kind of populism that has come to the fore under Trump, Vance is also one of the least experienced VP picks in modern history.