By Reena Bhardwaj |
Washington, DC [US], July 16 (ANI): Republican National Convention began on Monday at Milwaukee, where former President Donald Trump appeared alongside his vice president pick JD Vance.
Monday night witnessed for the first time Trump in public since Saturday’s attempted assassination. The former President appeared with a bandage over his right ear, receiving a warm greeting from his family and allies, while RNC delegates cheered and chanted, “We love Trump, We love Trump.”
Trump posted on social media over the weekend that he had considered postponing traveling to Milwaukee, but he wrote, “I am just decided that I cannot allow a shooter or potential assassin to force change scheduling or anything else.”
Trump and Vance were officially nominated by the RNC delegates , the 39-year-old junior senator from Ohio, took the floor to greet delegates with his wife Usha Vance, an attorney born to immigrant parents.
He is set to accept the vice presidential nomination and address the Convention on Wednesday evening. The Republican Party is set to adopt a new platform (manifesto) that softens its language on abortion and says the issue should be determined by individual states. The platform also proposes building a missile defence shield over the US and promises tax cut and mass deportations of people who are in the US illegally.
Some 50,000 people are expected to attend the four day convention as the party makes its case to voters ahead of November’s general election. Monday’s theme was “make America wealthy again”, Tuesday’s will be “make America safe again”. Wednesday is “make America strong again”, and Thursday is “Make America Great once again”
The four-day long conference included high profile speakers, as well as primetime speech from the presidential candidate. Trump is not expected to speak until Thursday night. Donald Trump Jr the former president’s son is expected to speak on Wednesday. South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, one of Trump’s fiercest rivals during the Republican primary, was originally expected to skip the RNC.
However, after the assassination attempt, it was reported that she will now not only attend but speak at the conference. RNC co chair Laura Trump, the daughter-in-law of the former US president said celebrities will also be among the speakers. Former stalwarts of the Republican Party establishment, such as George Bush, Mike Pence, and Mitt Romney are not on the guest list.
Once every four years, each of the two main US parties host a convention to formally select the respective White House standard bearer. During the convention, the delegates from each state pledged their support to the candidate of their choice and approve a platform or manifesto. It is merely a formality for Trump as the party’s presumptive nominee because he wants 2265 delegates in the primaries, which is enough for the nomination. (ANI)
