The Republican National Convention kicked off Monday in the battle-ground state of Milwaukee with the unaimous formal nomination of Donald Trump as the party’s nominee, just two days after his near-assassination at a campaign event.
Attendees were in high spirits in Wisconsin’s Brew City as nearly 2,500 GOP delegates crowded into the Fiserv Forum to participate in a roll-call vote for their presidential and vice presidential picks, as well as to bicker over the Republican Party platform.
The room wildly cheered as a video screen announced when Trump went “OVER THE TOP” and clinched the nomination with votes from Florida.
At least 1,215 of the 2,325 delegates needed to back Trump to solidify his 2024 candidacy. He got the support of all 2,325.
Trump, 78, considered delaying his trip to Wisconsin after he was nearly killed by a shooter at his campaign rally in Butler, Pa. — another swing state — on Saturday.
But he flew to Milwaukee the next day, saying he was determined to not let a “potential assassin … force [a] change to scheduling or anything else.”
It’s not the first time that death has stalked a former Republican president in Wisconsin’s largest city.
In 1912, Teddy Roosevelt was shot by a crazed gunman — and finished delivering his speech before receiving any medical attention.
After Trump was shot and before he was whisked from the stage by the Secret Service, he raised his fist to the sky in defiance of the bullet that nearly finished him and called on his supporters to “Fight! Fight! Fight!”
The throng of Republicans on the convention floor during Monday’s first session repeated Trump’s rallying cry and pumped their fists as House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and others took to the stage to support their party’s leader.
Hours before Trump formally accepted the Republican nomination, he announced on Truth Social — in typical dramatic fashion — that Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance would be his running mate.
When talking about Trump’s pick, insiders noted the native Ohioan’s fierce “loyalty” to the former president.
Trump’s vice presidential decision was meet with cheers inside the convention center — and later crashed Vance’s official Senate Web page.
Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, who had topped the former president’s shortlist during the final weeks of the veepstakes, were informed earlier in the day that they would not be his final pick.
Delegates disagreed about little over the course of the first day’s sessions, though there was a loud shot of “no” when voting on the adoption of the Republican platform, which included no mention of the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war and had softened some of its language around abortion from previous years.
Outside the security bubble that covers several city blocks, including the convention center, crowds of left-wing demonstrators protested against the GOP, waving flags that declared support for the anti-Israel movement, pro-abortion rights, ending the blockade on Cuba, and more.
Day One of the RNC also featured musical performances by Chris Janson and speeches from high-profile party figures such as Rep. Marjorie Taylor Green (R-Ga.), North Carolina Lt. Governor Mark Robinson, Rep. Wesley Hunt (R-Texas), Rep. John James (R-Mich.), Sen. Katie Britt (R-Ala.), Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC), Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, CEO of Goya Foods Bob Unanue, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem and Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.).
Other notable speakers included former CEO of Yammer David Sacks, CEO of Turning Point USA Charlie Kirk, entrepreneur and model Amber Rose and President of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Sean O’Brien — a historic first for the union leader.