By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Donald Trump has received enough votes at the Republican National Convention (RNC) to become the party’s official presidential nominee – days after surviving an assassination attempt.
At the gathering in Milwaukee, Trump was confirmed as the Republican candidate ahead of the 5 November election.
The 78-year-old also named Ohio senator JD Vance as his election running mate on his social media platform Truth Social.
The selection represents a remarkable moment for the former president, who over the last three years has faced denunciation for the Jan. 6 riot, multiple criminal indictments, political setbacks — and just this weekend, an assassination attempt.
Trump is the first convicted felon to become a major-party presidential nominee.
His nomination Monday came as no surprise, as an overwhelming majority of convention delegates were already pledged to support Trump after he dominated the primaries.
“We must unite as a party, and we must unite as a nation,” said Republican Party Chairman Michael Whatley, Trump’s handpicked party leader, as he opened Monday’s prime-time national convention session. “We must show the same strength and resilience asTrump and lead this nation to a greater future.”
But Whatley and other Republican leaders made clear that their calls for harmony did not extend to Joe Biden and Democrats, who find themselves still riven by worries that the 81-year-old question is not up to the job of defeating Trump.
“Their policies are a clear and present danger to America, to our institutions, our values and our people,” said Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson, welcoming the party to his battleground state, which Trump won in 2016 but lost to Biden four years ago.
Saturday’s shooting at Pennyslvania rally, where Trump was injured and one man died, were clearly in mind, but the proceedings were celebratory — a stark contrast to the anger and anxiety that had marked the previous few days. Some delegates chanted “fight, fight, fight”— the same words that Trump was seen shouting to the crowd Saturday as the Secret Service ushered him off the stage, his fist raised and face bloodied.
“We should all be thankful right now that we are able to cast our votes for President Donald J. Trump after what took place on Saturday,” said New Jersey state Sen. Michael Testa as he announced all of his state’s 12 delegates for Trump.
Trump is due to be sentenced in New York in September for trying to cover up a hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels in the weeks before his 2016 election victory.
But his other two indictments on federal charges in Washington and state charges in Georgia – both related to his efforts to overturn his 2020 election defeat – are mired in delays and could be significantly limited after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in July that he had immunity for many of his official acts as president.
He scored another victory Monday as a judge dismissed one of the criminal cases against him, concerning accusations he endangered national security by holding on to top secret documents after leaving the White House.