‘Love fest’: Trump appears at first day of Republican convention

MILWAUKEE — Former President Donald Trump, wearing a bandage on his ear, energized supporters during the first day of the Republican National Convention on Monday, marking his first public appearance since his attempted assassination just two days before.

Nevada Republicans joined with delegates from across the nation to nominate Trump and Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance as the party’s presidential and vice presidential nominees for 2024, ushering a unified start to the national convention at Wisconsin’s Fiserv Forum.

Trump walked onto the convention floor to “God Bless America,” and shook hands with Republican officials before standing beside Vance, whom he announced as his vice presidential pick earlier that day. Trump listened as speakers announced their support.

“He has proven to be one tough S.O.B.,” said Sean O’Brien, general president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, receiving loud applause from the audience.

Former President Donald Trump has arrived, receiving uproarious applause. He appears wearing a bandage on his ear. pic.twitter.com/82jAqbrbgq

— Jessica Hill (@jess_hillyeah) July 16, 2024

Earlier in the day, Nevada Republican Party Chairman Michael McDonald spoke at the convention, seconding a nomination for Trump as the Republican nominee and talking about Trump’s plan to bar federal taxes on tips, a proposal he announced during his last visit to Las Vegas.

‘It galvanized us’

While Republicans were expected to show full support and unity behind Trump, the coalition behind him was amplified after a 20-year-old gunman killed one man and critically wounded two in an assassination attempt at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Trump’s ear was struck in the attack.

“When he got up and raised his fist, I never felt more energized in my life,” McDonald told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “I think that same sentiment, if you look around and talk to everybody here, it galvanized us. It also galvanized the country.”

Nevada delegate Eileen Rice said the Republican Party was unified before Saturday, but the attempt on Trump’s life cemented that unity.

“I don’t think it changes anything except for giving Donald Trump more support than he had even before,” Rice said. “The way he conducted himself afterwards was very resolute and very brave. I think people are even more supportive than they were before.”

Delegates danced along to a video montage of Trump dancing his signature moves, held signs in support of the former president and were decked out in “Make America Great Again” gear. In between speeches, country singer Chris Janson, who performed at the convention eight years before, entertained the audience.

Videos also highlighted the big Republican talking points of high gas and grocery prices, saying Trump will “make America affordable again.”

The crowd chanted “four more years,” as GOP leaders including Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina and Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene rallied supporters for Trump and Vance, who arrived at the RNC with his wife but did not give any statements. He is expected to give a speech Wednesday.

The 2024 convention marked delegate Joe Burdzinksi’s fourth time attending a convention. The Pahrump resident attended his first in 1976 for Ronald Reagan, he said. Since then, the political climate has changed, the retired auto mechanics professor said.

“I think the nature of politics has gotten too mean to each other, and we need to tone the rhetoric down,” he said. “We’re all Americans, we can have different opinions but we shouldn’t hate each other.”

‘Lovefest’

National Committeeman Jim DeGraffenreid said the general theme of the convention is “moving America forward,” and Nevada delegate Wesley Rice called the convention a “lovefest,” a nod to the jovial mood of the attendees.

“We want to bring America back and move everyone forward to where everyone has got an opportunity to succeed in America,” said DeGraffenreid, who announced Nevada’s 26 delegate votes for Trump in the first session Monday.

There’s a stronger message of unity this time around compared to 2016, when there was talk of a brokered convention, DeGraffenreid said.

“We came into this one knowing who our nominee was, knowing where we needed to go,” he said. “We were already a little more unified as a party coming into this even before Saturday’s events.”

But just because Trump is ahead in polls and seems to have gained support, Republicans still need to work, DeGraffenreid said.

“Nevadans should know that this is not a done deal,” he said. “We should understand that we’re in a strong position now, but that can all change quickly if we don’t go out and do the work.”

What will be different this time around?

DeGraffenreid, along with a few other delegates at the convention, were among the six Republicans who signed a fake electoral certificate to give Nevada to Trump in 2020, despite his losing to Biden by more than 30,000 votes.

The Nevada attorney general pursued forgery-related charges against them, but the case was dismissed due to jurisdictional issues.

The Nevada Republican Party, as well as national Republicans, pursued lawsuits to challenge the 2020 election results, although those bids failed. When asked if Republicans are prepared to take similar action in November 2024 if Trump loses, DeGraffenreid said he does not anticipate Trump losing and that there is no way to speculate.

DeGraffenreid said action needs to happen before the election, rather than after.

“What we learned in 2020 is that there’s not going to be an ability to go back and really take a hard look at what happened after the election,” he said. “We need to do what we’re doing this year where we’re being very proactive and making sure the laws are fair, the systems are fair, and that we’re getting every vote we can get and then protecting every vote when it’s cast.”

The RNC, the Nevada Republican Party and the Trump campaign have filed legal challenges relating to election processes across the country, including Nevada. RNC Chairman Michael Whatley previously said a major pillar of the party is to “protect the vote” through lawsuits if necessary. The RNC has filed more than 90 lawsuits in over 20 states.

Nevada State Democratic Party Chair Daniele Monroe-Moreno said in a statement that it’s no wonder McDonald was chosen to speak at the convention, as “he is so determined to enact the MAGA-Project 2025 agenda that he was willing to subvert the will of Nevada voters in 2020.”

Sigal Chattah, RNC national committeewoman, said in 2020 Republicans did not grasp the ground game in Nevada and did not understand the rules of engagement. She thinks following the midterm elections, the Republican Party upped its game a bit.

Contact Jessica Hill at jehill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @jess_hillyeah on X.