MILWAUKEE — Former President Donald Trump appeared for the first time in public since the attempt on his life two days ago, showing up on stage unannounced at the Republican National Convention with a white bandage over his right ear.
Trump took the stage to raucous applause from the 2,500 delegates and other attendees who made him their presidential nominee for a third time Monday, as country singer Lee Greenwood performed a live rendition of “Good Bless the USA,” a staple of Trump’s rallies and the Make America Great Again movement.
Trump did not address the crowd. He clapped and appeared stoic as they cheered. He mouthed, “Thank you.” When Greenwood was done, the audience chanted, “Fight! Fight! Fight!” — a nod to Trump’s raised fist after a gunman tried to kill him at a campaign rally Saturday in Butler, Pennsylvania.
Trump sat for the rest of the program alongside close allies, including his new running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, ex-Fox News host Tucker Carlson, and Trump’s sons, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump.
Before Trump’s appearance, the attempt on his life was more of a footnote than a focus of the RNC convention, which opened Monday in Milwaukee with an explosion of sequins, cowboy boots, pointy stilettos and MAGA everything. There were scattered sartorial nods to the instantly historic photo of Secret Service agents ushering Trump off stage with his fist pumped and an American flag in the background.
“Impeached. Arrested. Convicted. Shot. Still standing,” read one T-shirt with the image — worn by a guy also sporting a gold bust of Trump in a tiny red MAGA hat on a chain around his neck. Another woman had the photo pressed onto an enormous red satin hoop skirt.
Night one’s speakers praised Trump for surviving what the former president said was a bullet that grazed the upper tip of his right ear. The bullet was captured in a New York Times photo whizzing past Trump, moments before law enforcement killed the shooter.
Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), in his prime-time remarks, called Trump an “American lion.”
Teamsters President Sean O’Brien called him “one tough SOB.”
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) thanked God “that his hand was on President Trump” after “evil came for the man we admire and love so much.”
The former president will officially accept the party’s nomination with a speech Thursday after he and the RNC declined to push back the convention following the attack that left one rally attendee dead.
A delegate described the overall mood at the convention as upbeat, despite the circumstances.
“It’s positive, unifying, energizing, inspiring, uplifting,” said Suzanne Reynolds, an Oklahoma delegate. “I think it’s brought more people in the delegation together to realize we have a country to save.”
