Donald Trump cements his hold on his Republican Party at its 2024 convention this week, having survived an assassination attempt and navigated numerous legal tangles on the road to the party’s presidential nomination.
During the four-day event beginning on Monday, the former president will announce his choice for a running mate, having cited as frontrunners Ohio US Senator J D Vance, Florida US Senator Marco Rubio and North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum.
The event in Milwaukee, Wisconsin to formally nominate Trump, occurs at a tense moment in US history on the road to the November 5 election rematch between President Joe Biden, 81, and Trump, 78.
Will party leaders try to cool tempers among Republicans? Or will they use the occasion to accuse Democrats of demonising Trump as a threat to democracy?
“This is a chance to bring the whole country, even the whole world, together. The speech will be a lot different, a lot different than it would’ve been two days ago,” Trump said.
Biden, too, in a televised address from the White House on Sunday, said: “There is no place in America for this kind of violence, for any violence ever.
Period. No exceptions. We can’t allow this violence to be normalised.”
Trump and Biden are locked in a close election rematch, according to most opinion polls including by Reuters/Ipsos. The shooting on Saturday whipsawed discussion around the presidential campaign, which had been focused on whether Biden should drop out following a halting June 27 debate performance.
House Speaker Mike Johnson said all Americans needed to tone down their rhetoric. He accused Biden’s campaign of making hyperbolic attacks on Trump.
Biden ordered an investigation into Saturday’s shooting at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, in which Trump’s right ear was grazed by a bullet, one supporter was killed and two others wounded before Secret Service agents shot dead the 20-year-old suspected gunman whose motive has yet to be clarified.
The Biden campaign declined to comment on allegations from some Republicans that his previous comments helped created the conditions for the shooting.
“I’m not supposed to be here, I’m supposed to be dead,” Trump said on board his plane en route to Milwaukee.
“By luck or by God ... I’m still here.”
Trump has frequently turned to violent rhetoric in his campaign speeches, using the word “bloodbath”, labelling his perceived enemies as “vermin” and “fascists”, and accusing Biden of a conspiracy to overthrow the US by encouraging illegal immigration.
For Trump, the convention represents a test. Having consolidated party control, Trump could seize on the prime time opportunity to deliver a unifying message or paint a dark portrait of a nation under siege by a corrupt leftist elite.
In an internal memo to campaign staff, co-campaign managers Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles said the campaign would adopt additional security measures in the wake of the assassination attempt. They also called on staff to refrain from using “dangerous rhetoric”.
Trump began the year facing multiple legal worries, including four separate criminal prosecutions. He was found guilty in May of trying to cover up hush money payments to a porn star. But the other three prosecutions, including two for his attempts to overturn his defeat, have been ground to a halt by various factors, including a Supreme Court ruling finding him to be partly immune to prosecution.
Trump contends that all four prosecutions have been orchestrated by Biden to try to prevent him from returning to power. On Monday, a US judge dismissed a criminal case accusing Trump of illegally holding on to classified documents. US District Judge Aileen Cannon, who was appointed to the Bench by Trump, ruled that Special Counsel Jack Smith, who is leading the prosecution, was unlawfully appointed to his role and did not have the authority to bring the case.
A who’s who of prominent Republicans, including media personalities and members of Congress, are slotted to speak at this week’s convention.
They range from relative moderates to apologists for the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol by Trump supporters and hard-right firebrands who have expressed support for conspiracy theories and are divisive even within the party.
The first three days of the event are organised around economic issues, public safety and national security.
Republicans are expected to portray America as more prosperous, less crime-ridden and less vulnerable to threats abroad during Trump’s 2017-2021 term than it is under Biden.
Milwaukee will play a key role in the November 5 election given that it is the biggest city in Wisconsin, one of the most politically competitive states in the country.
Security barricades were erected around Fiserv Forum, where the convention will take place. Thousands of armed law enforcement agents roamed the streets as delegates streamed in.
Cape Times