Trump heads to Republican convention for coronation as presidential candidate

RNC begins in Milwaukee days after former president was shot in the ear in assassination attempt

A supporter of former US president Donald Trump waits by Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport in Wisconsin on Sunday. AFP

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Tens of thousands of Republicans will arrive in Milwaukee in the US state of Wisconsin on Monday for a four-day convention expected to culminate in the official nomination of Donald Trump as the party’s presidential candidate for the November 5 election.

The convention begins days after Trump was shot in the ear while speaking at a rally in Pennsylvania in an assassination attempt that left one dead and two injured.

A recent poll by the Pew Research Centre has Trump up four points on President Joe Biden, who was quick to condemn the attempt on his rival's life.

In an interview with the Washington Examiner, his first since the shooting, Trump claimed he had scrapped his original speech attacking Mr Biden and would focus on a message of "unity".

It’s going to be a whole different speech now. It is a chance to bring the country together. I was given that chance

Donald Trump,
speaking to the Washington Examiner

“Honestly, it’s going to be a whole different speech now. It is a chance to bring the country together. I was given that chance," he told the newspaper.

Trump said the "reality" of what happened at the rally "is just setting in".

“The energy coming from the people there in that moment, they just stood there; it’s hard to describe what that felt like, but I knew the world was looking," he said.

"I knew that history would judge this, and I knew I had to let them know we are okay."

Questions are swirling over the future of Mr Biden’s candidacy and whether he is the best person to take on Trump, who has been plugging away on the campaign trail.

Mr Biden was struggling even before the shooting. During a disastrous debate last month, the 81-year-old President struggled to articulate his thoughts and sometimes appeared lost.

“I think he's a pretty sharp guy and I think that everything he does is calculated, and the calculation here is pretty smart, which is the Democrats are killing themselves. So why bother getting involved,” said John Feehery, a Republican political strategist.

Perhaps the most anticipated moment of the convention will be when Trump unveils his choice for vice president.

Florida Senator Marco Rubio, Ohio Senator JD Vance and North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum are all believed to be in the running.

“I’ll make it close to the convention,” Trump told Fox News Radio when asked about the timing of his announcement.

Donald Trump arrives at Milwaukee airport a day after he survived an assassination attempt. Trump Campaign / Reuters

Mr Feehery believes Trump will be looking for someone “loyal” who won’t upstage him.

The actual nomination process – the whole point of the convention – is likely to be drama-free. Trump has held an iron grip on the Republican Party for the past eight years.

However, it is unknown how the assassination attempt will affect the event. Despite his injury, Trump said on his Truth Social platform that he would attend the convention.

His 2020 defeat to Mr Biden and his subsequent criminal conviction on 34 counts of falsifying business records in connection to a hush-money plot involving an adult film actress appears to have done little to lose him favour among Republican voters and delegates.

“Among a very big bulk of Republicans, I think they felt he deserved another chance to be president,” Mr Feehery told The National.

Trump crushed all challengers during the primary process, dispatching Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley, who held on until March when it was clear she had no path to victory.

He won 2,265 delegates during the primaries. Ms Haley was a distant second with 97.

“He was able to kind of dominate the field by his sheer force of personality and also by his narrative,” Mr Feehery added.

In Milwaukee, that trend is likely to continue as Republicans gather to once again crown Trump as their official nominee.

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