Jeff Earl, deputy U.S. political editor at Dailymail.Com in Milwaukee, Wisconsin
July 18, 2024 02:04, updated July 18, 2024 02:43
- The third day of the convention will feature speeches from JD Vance and Don Jr.
- President Trump bandages injured ear again
Former President Donald Trump made another dramatic appearance on the third day of the convention, this time walking into the packed auditorium to the tune of James Brown’s “It’s a Man’s World.”
Trump, who is known for curating playlists for his campaign rallies, performed a version of the funkster’s recording accompanied by Luciano Pavoratti, another Trump favorite.
On a night where speakers made the case for a strong U.S. foreign policy that would intimidate foes and avoid “forever wars,” Trump again pumped his fist as he entered the room with a bandage over his ear.
That night, his supporters finally launched a full-scale attack, with his running mate, J.D. Vance, ready to give the speech of his life.
“It’s a man’s world, a man’s world,” Brown sings, “but without the women and the girls, it’s nothing.”
After arriving, Trump returned to his seat in the front row, next to Senator Marco Rubio, who was not on Trump’s running mate list but was a vocal supporter of his 2016 rival.
Trump had rushed to the venue to check out the stage, podium and teleprompter that would broadcast Thursday night’s speech, which he said he rewrote in the wake of the assassination attempt that left him wounded.
He still had his right ear bandaged four days after being wounded by an assassin’s bullet.
After Tuesday night’s rally, which featured family defenses of Trump’s character, including a keynote address from his daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, Trump was scheduled to return to the venue to hear a series of speeches defending his candidacy.
Trump was mostly at the convention watching, smiling and listening, but earlier, at a private event, he was recorded talking about the assassination attempt.
“I’ve been shot. How did this happen?” he said, amid cries of “Fight, fight!”
“God was with me. It was a close call. It was a really scary thing. It was an amazing thing. It changes your attitude and your outlook on life in a lot of ways. And I think it makes you even more grateful to God, honestly. Something happened. It wasn’t a happy thing. It wasn’t a total failure. But it’s really scary that something like that would happen.”
Vance plans to bring the economic populism that catapulted him to the Senate and endeared him to the convention audience. On Tuesday, he sat next to Trump and chatted with the candidate as the prime-time speakers continued.
Trump’s third night came hours after the White House announced that rival President-elect Joe Biden had tested positive for COVID-19, following another week of poor polling and on a day when a prominent Democrat, Rep. Adam Schiff of California, called on the president to step aside from the campaign trail.
Trump had plenty to watch on television, as convention speakers again offered both praise and fierce attacks on him.
“President Biden is weak in many ways,” said Ric Grenell, Trump’s former ambassador to Germany, contrasting that with Trump’s “remarkable courage and tenacity.”
“You are voting for the strength and kindness that will restore peace and prosperity to yourself, your families, America and the world,” he promised.
Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), a Trump ally, offered several scathing one-liners at Biden.
“I’ve seen more people in witness protection than I’ve seen Biden unscripted,” he said. He tried to make a connection between inflation and convicted Democratic Sen. Robert Menendez. “The only way to preserve the value of a bribe is with gold bars,” he joked.
And just hours after he was released from federal prison after serving four months for failing to comply with a congressional subpoena in the House of Representatives’ January 6 investigation, former economic adviser Peter Navarro slammed Judge Juan Marchand, who presided over the Stormy Daniels trial.