Trump to rally unified Republicans in convention finale

MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN – JULY 18: A man wears a jacket with the likeness of former U.S. President Donald Trump on the fourth day of the Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum on July 18, 2024 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Delegates, politicians, and the Republican faithful are in Milwaukee for the annual convention, concluding with former President Donald Trump accepting his party’s presidential nomination. The RNC takes place from July 15-18.  (Getty Images via AFP)

MILWAUKEE – Donald Trump will get a hero’s welcome Thursday as he accepts the Republican Party’s presidential nomination in a speech capping a convention dominated by the recent attempt on his life.

The 78-year-old will address the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee hoping to build momentum toward a November victory over US President Joe Biden and a second term in the White House.

As a resurgent Trump — who was found guilty on 34 felony counts in New York just seven weeks ago — readies for a triumphant prime-time appearance, team Biden is in full crisis mode as pressure from within the incumbent’s Democratic Party builds for him to end his re-election bid.

Barack Obama has reportedly told allies that he believes Biden, his vice president for eight years, should “seriously consider the viability of his candidacy,” the Washington Post reported.

Several leading Democratic lawmakers have called on the 81-year-old president to drop out in the wake of his disastrous debate performance against Trump last month in which he appeared tired and confused.

‘Grateful’

Supporters have been lining up all week to applaud the former president for his bravery since Saturday’s assassination bid by a gunman at a Pennsylvania rally.

As some of his loyalists blamed Democrats’ rhetoric for the attack, Trump said he had torn up a more aggressive version of his keynote address in favor of one to “unite our country.”

Some of the delegates at the convention said they were keen to hear from Trump about last weekend’s shock attack that very nearly ended in disaster.

“I’m just grateful we’re going to hear from him,” Teena Horlacher, a 50-year-old convention delegate from Utah, told AFP. “It’s a miracle that his life was spared, and I really believe it was God’s hand.”

Trump has a 90-minute speaking slot, from 9:00 to 10:30 pm (0100 to 0230 GMT Friday), according to a source familiar with the schedule.

Also set to address the convention are shirt-ripping 80s wrestling icon Hulk Hogan, and Trump’s longtime friend Dana White who is chief executive of the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

Trump has attended multiple UFC bouts as he seeks to lock in younger male votes.

The schedule notably shows no speaking slot for former first lady Melania Trump, a break from tradition at modern-era US nominating conventions, where spouses routinely take the stage seeking to personalize the candidates.

Trump has seen his polling lead expand since Biden’s dismal debate performance threw his party into chaos.

The Republican campaign has even been talking up Trump’s chances in Democratic strongholds like Minnesota and Virginia, potentially forcing Biden funds and manpower away from defending his “blue wall” in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

Trump’s keynote address will be watched by millions, closing the convention by promising what his team calls “a new golden age for America.”

Total control

The four-day gathering opened Monday with a vote to confirm Trump as the party’s nominee after he won almost every state’s primary contest.

It has been the first convention over which Trump has had total control, after a 2016 edition hampered by party divisions and a second appearance in 2020 reined in by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The schedule was designed around his image, with themes for each day playing on his “Make America Great Again” rallying cry.

Trump set the tone when he walked slowly into the Fiserv Forum arena on the opening day — looking emotional and with a bandaged ear, just two days after the shooting.

The week also saw Trump name right-wing Senator J.D. Vance of Ohio as his running mate.

The 39-year-old author of “Hillbilly Elegy,” a best-selling memoir about growing up poor in working-class America, is a former Trump critic who became one of his staunchest backers.

Trump himself was a diminished figure after his 2020 election loss and a subsequent riot at the US Capitol by his supporters, but he has spent much of the last four years reshaping Republican politics.

Installing close allies, including his daughter-in-law Lara Trump on the Republican National Committee, the mercurial tycoon has effectively crushed dissent within the party.