Former President Donald Trump appeared alongside his vice-presidential pick JD Vance at the Republican National Convention Monday night, the first time Trump has been seen in public since Saturday’s attempted assassination.
The crowd cheered Trump, whose ear was bandaged Monday from being grazed by the bullet on Saturday. Trump posted on social media over the weekend that he had considered postponing traveling to Milwaukee but he wrote that he “just decided that I cannot allow a ‘shooter,’ or potential assassin, to force change to scheduling, or anything else.”
Trump’s appearance capped off a dramatic few days for the former president after a gunman opened fire Saturday at a his rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, killing a bystander and critically wounding two people in addition to Trump. Secret Service snipers shot and killed the gunman, who has since been identified as a 20-year-old Pennsylvania man. The FBI and Secret Service are still searching for a motive.
Trump announced earlier Monday during the roll call that he picked Vance to be his running mate. Trump’s decision to name Vance to the ticket came down to the wire, Vance learning he had been tapped roughly 20 minutes before Trump made his choice public, one source told CBS News.
Trump and Vance were officially nominated by the RNC. Vance, the 39-year-old junior senator from Ohio, took the floor earlier Monday to greet delegates with his wife, Usha. He is set to accept the vice presidential nomination and address the convention on Wednesday evening.
Here’s the latest from the 2024 RNC:
