Milwaukee: Donald Trump will receive a hero’s welcome on Thursday when he accepts the Republican presidential nomination in a speech that caps a convention dominated by the recent attempt on his life.
The 78-year-old will speak at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, hoping to build momentum towards a victory over US President Joe Biden in November and a second term in the White House.
As a resurgent Trump — who was found guilty of 34 felonies seven weeks ago in New York — prepares for a prime-time triumphant appearance, Team Biden is in full crisis mode as pressure mounts from within the incumbent’s Democratic Party. end his re-election.
Barack Obama is said to have 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 step down in the wake of his disastrous performance in a debate against Trump last month, in which he appeared tired and confused.
Supporters have lined up all week to applaud the former president for his bravery since Saturday’s assassination attempt by a gunman at a rally in Pennsylvania.
While some of his loyalists blamed the attack on Democrats’ rhetoric, Trump said he scrapped a more aggressive version of his keynote address in favor of one meant to “unite our country.”
Some of the convention delegates said they would like to hear from Trump about last weekend’s shock attack that almost ended in disaster.
Trump has a 90-minute speaking slot from 21:00 to 22:30 (02:00 to 03:30 GMT Friday), according to a source familiar with the schedule.
1980s wrestling icon Hulk Hogan and Trump’s longtime girlfriend Dana White, who is the CEO of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, are also slated to appear at the convention with their shirts ripped.
Trump has attended several UFC fights as he tries to win the younger male vote.
Notably, the schedule shows no space for former first lady Melania Trump to speak, a break from tradition at modern US nominating conventions where spouses routinely take the stage in an attempt to personalize the candidates.
Trump has seen his lead in the polls widen since Biden’s dismal debate performance threw his party into disarray.
The Republican campaign has even talked up Trump’s chances in Democratic strongholds like Minnesota and Virginia, potentially pushing Biden’s funds and manpower to defend his “blue wall” in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
Trump’s keynote address will be watched by millions, closing the convention with the promise of what his team calls “a new golden age for America.”
The four-day convention opened Monday with a vote to confirm Trump as the party’s nominee after he won nearly all of the state’s primaries.
It was the first convention over which Trump was in full control, following a 2016 edition that was hampered by partisan divisions and a second appearance in 2020 that was dominated by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The schedule was designed in his image, with themes for each day playing into his “Make America Great Again” rally.
Trump set the tone as he slowly walked into the Fiserv Forum arena on opening day — looking emotional and wearing a bandaged ear, just two days after the shooting.
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 turned one of his staunchest supporters.
Trump himself has been a diminished figure following his 2020 election loss and subsequent unrest in the US Capitol by his supporters, but he has spent much of the past four years reshaping Republican politics.
By installing close allies, including his daughter-in-law Lara Trump, in the Republican National Committee, the mercurial tycoon has effectively crushed dissent in the party.
