Based on his initial shortlist, he could have picked New York politician Elise Stefanik, who may have helped tackle one of his key demographic vulnerabilities: suburban women.
He could have also picked a person of colour, such as South Carolina senator Tim Scott, whose backstory about coming from a poor family that went from “cotton to Congress” could have boosteed Trump’s appeal among the black community.
Senator Tim Scott warms up the crowd in Milwaukee.Credit: AP
Instead, Trump picked Vance – a former “never Trump guy” who became a full-blown convert, including on issues such as abortion access, election denialism and isolationism.
Vance is a rising star in the Republican Party – a Yale graduate, former marine and one-time venture capitalist whose story of rust-belt America was immortalised in his memoir, Hillbilly Elegy.
But as Biden put it, “he’s a clone of Trump”, and the incumbent president did not “see any difference” between them.
Loading
“Here’s the deal about J.D. Vance,” Biden posted on X. “He talks a big game about working people. But now, he and Trump want to raise taxes on middle-class families while pushing more tax cuts for the rich.”
Opinion polls show a close race between Trump, 78, and Biden, 81, though Trump leads in several swing states that are likely to decide the election.
However, Trump appeared to get a much-needed boost with billionaire Elon Musk, the owner and chair of X, planning to donate about $US45 million ($67 million) a month to a new pro-Trump campaign organisation, according to The Wall Street Journal.
The twice impeached, four times indicted former president is scheduled to speak at the convention on Thursday (Friday AEST), and says he has rewritten his address to meet the moment.
“The speech I was going to give on Thursday was going to be a humdinger,” he told the Washington Examiner after Michael Thomas Crooks tried to assassinate him in Butler.
Inside the Republican National Convention.Credit: Bloomberg
“Had this not happened, this would’ve been one of the most incredible speeches … Honestly, it’s going to be a whole different speech now.”
Just how different is yet to be seen. But as the campaign heats up, downtown Milwaukee has been turned into a Trump love fest for the week, with more than 50,000 people expected to descend on the city over the next four days.
The area around the convention centre has been highly fortified, with steel fencing and concrete barriers lining the streets, scores of law enforcement officers in bullet-proof vests and security checkpoints with magnetometers at every entrance.
Loading
Inside the arena, the convention floor is a carnival of stars and stripes, MAGA merchandise and jubilant delegates and speakers.
“Our God still saves,” said Tim Scott, who was one of the first-night speakers, alongside Trump allies such as Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem and popular Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin.
Scott continued: “He still delivers and he still sets free. Because on Saturday, the devil came to Pennsylvania holding a rifle, but an American lion got back up on his feet and he roared!”
Discussion about this post