RNC day 1: Trump's surprise appearance, Vance as VP pick highlight 2024 convention opener
Just two days after surviving an assassination attempt, former President Donald Trump makes a surprise appearance and selects Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio as his running mate while Republicans take turns touting his economic policies. This is Yahoo News' succinct wrap up of day one of the RNC in Milwaukee. Here’s what you need to know:
🖼 Big picture
Day one of the RNC was the first major political event since Trump survived an assassination attempt Saturday in Butler, Pa. — and when the bandaged former president surprised the convention near the end of the night, it marked his first public appearance since being rushed offstage two days earlier with blood on his face and his fist in the air. On Monday night, Trump looked emotional, and a little drained, as the crowd chanted his name. He did not speak.
Heading in, it was unclear how Saturday’s trauma would affect the convention. The answer so far? Not all that much. The evening’s official theme was “Make America Wealthy Once Again” — a prompt to criticize the economy under President Biden and promise lower prices under Trump. That’s what the campaign reportedly wanted — no overheated rhetoric about the shooting, just “business as usual” — and that’s largely what the speakers delivered.
📌 Key takeaways
The Trump rally shooting: It’s not that Saturday’s shooting never came up. It did. But the context was usually religious rather than political. “I thank God that His hand was on President Trump,” Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene said. “If you didn’t believe in miracles before Saturday, you better be believing now,” added South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott. Prior to the convention, some Republicans were quick to blame Democrats — and even President Biden — for the attack. But it seems that the Trump campaign, which reviewed every speech in advance, successfully kept that kind of language out of Monday’s program.
‘Time to unite’: South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem came closest to politicizing the assassination attempt. “Nobody has endured more than what [Trump] has gone through,” she said. “They’ve attacked his reputation. They impeached him. They tried to bankrupt him. And they unjustly prosecuted him. But even in the most perilous moment this week, his instinct was to stand and fight.” Noem quickly pivoted, however, to a message of reconciliation. “I know that many of you are angry, but now is the time to unite,” she continued. “We have to win the hearts and minds of every single American. … We need to listen to them. You can’t win people over by arguing with them.”
It’s the economy, stupid: Team Trump seemed to recognize that pinning Saturday’s attack on the other half of the electorate probably wouldn’t help their candidate maximize his vote in November. Instead, speaker after speaker recited the same list of kitchen table talking points: inflation, gas prices, groceries, mortgage rates, “Bidenomics.” As a formidable Democratic strategist once explained, “It’s the economy, stupid.” Trump is already ahead in the polls; no need to make it more complicated.
Deviations from the script: There were some slight deviations from the “Make America Wealthy Again” script. Several speakers slipped gender issues into their remarks. Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson railed against “biological males competing against girls” and the “sexualization and indoctrination of our children”; Greene mocked Transgender Visibility Day. And Alabama Sen. Katie Britt was the first speaker to target Biden’s age. "We know the current president is not capable of turning things around," she said. "Our prosperity, our security, our safety — each diminished, all in decline, just like the man in the Oval Office." A few minutes later, a video segment showed Biden tripping as he climbed the jetway to Air Force One. "He can't even walk up steps, or put on his own coat,” the narrator said.
Diversity on display: Even if Monday night’s message wasn’t particularly diverse, the people who delivered it were. The organizers went out of their way to counter the GOP’s image as the party of old white men. The majority of elected officials who appeared on stage were women (Greene, Noem, Britt, Tennessee Sen. Marsha Blackburn) or Black Americans (Scott, North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, Texas Rep. Wesley Hunt, Michigan Rep. John James, Florida Rep. Byron Donalds). Goya Foods CEO Bob Unanue, Moms for America Executive Director Vanessa Faura and Nicaraguan immigrant Linda Fornos spoke to Latin Americans; Turning Point USA CEO Charlie Kirk spoke to younger voters. Trump strategists have claimed that they are making inroads with millennials and voters of color; the actual data is less conclusive. But despite dismissing the power of representation in the past, Republicans signaled Monday that they may see some political upside in showing swing voters a lineup that looks like they do.
Searching for converts: Day one also put a heavy emphasis on “converts.” “In 2020, I made a mistake — a mistake that is hard to admit, especially in this room,” Fornos said. “In 2020 I voted for Joe Biden.” Model Amber Rose once thought “Trump was a racist,” she admitted Monday. But she changed her mind after doing her “research.” And the same went for union worker Bobby Bartels, the business manager of Steamfitters Local 638 UA and a self-proclaimed lifelong Democrat. The night’s final speaker, International Brotherhood of Teamsters president Sean O'Brien, delivered fiercely pro-union, anti-corporate remarks that sounded like something from a Bernie Sanders rally — yet here he was at the RNC. The subtext, of course, was that if these people can switch sides, then all the Trump-curious voters watching at home can too.
VP Vance? The biggest news Monday broke before the convention officially kicked off: the long-awaited unveiling of Trump’s running mate. The nod went to Vance — the Yale Law grad turned “Hillbilly Elegy” author turned venture capitalist turned U.S. senator from Ohio.
Another critic turned supporter: Despite previously calling Trump "reprehensible," “unfit for our nation’s highest office" and "cultural heroin” — in addition to describing him as “America’s Hitler” in leaked Facebook messages — Vance has diligently aligned himself with the former president on both politics and policy since launching his Senate bid in 2021. Now just 39, he would be the youngest veep since Richard Nixon.
Making it official: Trump officially secured the 2024 Republican presidential nomination Monday afternoon when GOP delegates from each U.S. state and territory kicked off the convention the same way they always do — with a good old-fashioned roll-call vote. Trump won 2,268 delegates during this year’s primaries and caucuses; his closest competitor, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, won 97. Trump hit the necessary threshold Monday after his son Eric announced the votes from Trump’s adopted home state of Florida.
🗣️ Monday's notable speakers
Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson
Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene
North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson
Texas Rep. Wesley Hunt
Michigan Rep. John James
Alabama Sen. Katie Britt
South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott
Goya Foods CEO Bob Unanue
South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem
Union worker Bobby Bartels
Florida Rep. Byron Donalds
Moms for America executive director Vanessa Faura
Turning Point USA CEO Charlie Kirk
Tennessee Sen. Marsha Blackburn
Reality TV star (and Kanye West ex) Amber Rose
Nicaraguan immigrant Linda Fornos
International Brotherhood of Teamsters president Sean O'Brien
🗓 What’s happening Tuesday
The day’s theme will be "Make America Safe Once Again." Speakers will address how Trump plans to “stand up for our law enforcement” and combat crime and drugs. Haley, who released her delegates to Trump last week and previously said she planned to vote for him in November, will speak Tuesday night to emphasize party unity. A forceful Trump critic during the nominating contest, she initially wasn’t invited to the convention.
📖 Political glossary
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Republicans hail Donald Trump and embrace his running mate J.D. Vance in convention's opening night. “Delegates cheered wildly as Trump appeared onscreen backstage and then emerged, visibly emotional, as Lee Greenwood sang ‘God Bless the USA.’” [Associated Press]
Ohio could have open Senate seat in 2025 if J.D. Vance becomes VP. Who might DeWine appoint? “The nomination of JD Vance as Donald Trump's running mate raised immediate questions about the future of his Senate seat.” [The Columbus Dispatch]
Elon Musk reportedly plans to give $45M a month to pro-Trump super-PAC. “Tech billionaire to donate extraordinary monthly sum to group focused on helping Trump win election, report says.” [The Guardian]
Secret Service agrees to independent probe over Trump shooting. “Newly surfaced video backs up reports from witnesses that they had called out to police and physically pointed at the shooter as he lay on the roof preparing to open fire.” [AFP]
