MILWAUKEE — Donald Trump was feted Tuesday at the Republican National Convention by former rivals who once sharply criticized him, a remarkable display of unity that reflects how he has shaped the GOP in his image over the past decade.
Eight years ago, one of his main rivals in the Republican primary was booed and thrown off stage at the Republican convention in Cleveland when he refused to endorse Trump. On Tuesday night, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz began his speech to Trump and thousands of Republican delegates by shouting, “God bless Donald J. Trump!”
The Democratic Party, which was already united behind the former president, became even more vocal in his support after Trump survived an assassination attempt at his rally on Saturday. Democrats, meanwhile, are divided over whether President Joe Biden should continue his re-election campaign after his disastrous debate performance.
Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley was announced as a speaker Sunday, the day after the shooting, after her office initially said she would not appear at the convention. Haley, who was Trump’s last major challenger in this year’s Republican primaries, addressed her supporters directly after taking the stage Tuesday to a mix of cheers and boos.
“My message is simple: You don’t have to agree with Trump 100 percent to vote for him,” Haley said.
She was followed by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a former Trump ally turned primary rival who has worked to rebuild his relationship with the former president since dropping out of the primary.
“Donald Trump has been demonized. He’s been prosecuted. He almost lost his life,” DeSantis told the crowd. “We can’t let him down. And we can’t let America down.”
Immigration was at the heart of the debates on Tuesday
Several speakers highlighted a key element of the former Trump’s political brand that helped endear him to the Republican base when he launched his first campaign in 2015.
Immigration has long been a key issue for Trump, who has criticized the unprecedented number of migrants entering the United States illegally through the border with Mexico. The number of illegal crossings dropped sharply after President Joe Biden issued a rule suspending many asylum claims at the border.
At rallies and other campaign events, Trump has cited examples of migrants committing heinous crimes and blamed migrants for trafficking drugs like fentanyl, even though federal data suggests that many of the people smuggling fentanyl across the border are U.S. citizens. He has promised to carry out the largest deportation operation in U.S. history.
Trump’s anti-immigrant rhetoric has also shifted to arguments unsupported by evidence, including baseless claims that migrants are entering the country to vote in the 2024 election.
Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana, the House Majority Leader, made the statement in his speech, saying, “Biden and Harris want illegal immigrants to vote now that they’ve opened the border.”
Senate candidates speaking at the convention Tuesday not only blamed Biden for the number of migrants crossing the border, but just as often criticized Vice President Kamala Harris, who Republicans are increasingly focusing on amid speculation she could replace Biden as the Democratic nominee after the president’s poor debate performance.
Republican candidates, concerned about their own race, have also sought to shift the blame to their Democratic opponents. Pennsylvania candidate David McCormick, for example, echoed his opponent, Sen. Bob Casey, in talking about “Biden-Harris-Casey, wide-open borders.”
Kari Lake, the party’s Senate candidate in Arizona, stuck to a message that appealed largely to the Republican base and her reputation as a former news anchor turned conservative activist. She lambasted “fake news” for spending “the last eight years lying about President Donald Trump and his incredible patriotic supporters.” She also blamed Biden and Democrats for the situation at the U.S.-Mexico border, saying they were “full of bad ideas.”
Security incidents occurred outside the convention
Trump’s survival after an assassination attempt Saturday at a rally in Pennsylvania was on the minds of many attendees. One delegate in the crowd was visible with a folded piece of white paper over his ear, an apparent homage to the bandage Trump wore when he entered the hall Monday to a cheering crowd.
He was still wearing it when he arrived Tuesday night, appearing even earlier than the day before. Trump entered a few minutes after his new running mate, Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance.
Scalise, who was injured in a politically motivated shooting in 2017 while practicing for a charity baseball game, spoke from his own experience when discussing Trump’s attack.
“While I was fighting for my life, Donald Trump was one of the first to come to comfort my family in the hospital. That’s the kind of leader he is. Courageous under fire, compassionate toward others,” Scalise said.
In the wake of the attempted assassination of Trump on Saturday, there has been a heightened focus on security at the convention, which drew thousands of people to downtown Milwaukee, including a number of high-ranking elected officials.
A man armed with an AK-47 pistol and wearing a ski mask was arrested Monday, the first day of the convention, near the Fiserv Forum where the convention is taking place, a federal law enforcement official said Tuesday.
The 21-year-old was arrested after being encountered by U.S. Capitol Police and Homeland Security Investigations officers who said he was acting suspiciously, according to the official, who was not authorized to publicly discuss details of the ongoing investigation and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
Police found the weapon in his backpack, the official said.
On Tuesday, five Ohio police officers who were in Wisconsin for the convention shot and killed a man who was in a knife fight near the convention, Milwaukee’s police chief said.
The man shot by police had a knife in each hand and refused to comply with police commands, Milwaukee Police Chief Jeffrey Norman said at a news conference. Two knives were recovered at the scene, the chief said.
Anticipation for Trump’s speech grows
Trump and Vance were scheduled to speak in the lobby each night of the convention, with Vance scheduled to speak on Wednesday and Trump on Thursday.
Pennsylvania Republican Party Chairman Lawrence Tabas said he hopes the assassination attempt on Trump will change the tone nationally, starting with Trump’s planned remarks Thursday.
“After having a brush with death, I believe – going through that – his message will be better and it will appeal to our best emotions,” Tabas said in an interview after the Pennsylvania Republican delegation’s breakfast in suburban Milwaukee.
Donald Trump, who has long criticized his rivals with harsh language and raised the possibility of suing his opponents if he wins a second term, appeared ready to deliver a more moderate speech. His eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., said in an interview with Axios outside the RNC that he spent three or four hours reviewing his father’s convention speech with him, “trying to defuse some of that rhetoric.”
“I think it’s lasting,” the younger Trump said of his father’s change of speech. “There are events that change you for a few minutes, and there are events that change you permanently.”
Ali Swenson reported from Minneapolis. Fernando reported from Chicago. Associated Press writers Steve Peoples, Jill Colvin, Meg Kinnard and Thomas Beaumont in Milwaukee and Michael Balsamo in Chicago contributed to this report.
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