Donald Trump gets a hero’s welcome as Joe Biden claims he and JD Vance threaten democracy

Donald Trump’s first decision after his near assassination has been to choose a contentious and inexperienced running mate, JD Vance, as an embattled Joe Biden escalates his claims that the Republican ticket is a threat to US democracy.

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump is cheered on by his sons Donald Jr, left, and Eric, right, at the party’s convention in Milwaukee. Picture: AFP

Donald Trump’s first decision after his near assassination has been to choose a contentious and inexperienced running mate, JD Vance, as an embattled Joe Biden escalates his claims that the Republican ticket is a threat to US democracy.

Amid a deafening roar, Mr Trump walked onto the floor of the Republican National Convention on Monday (Tuesday AEST) to a hero’s welcome and his signature tune of God Bless the USA, with his right ear wrapped in a bandage after being grazed by an assassin’s bullet at the weekend.

Just hours after his children led party delegates in crowning him as the GOP’s nominee for a historic third time in a row, Mr Trump pumped his fist, smiled and clapped the crowd before sitting down in the audience alongside Senator Vance.

A strong supporter of the former president’s “Make America Great Again” movement, the ­senator stood with Mr Trump after the Republican nominee chose him over more conventional options ­including North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum, Florida senator Marco Rubio and former UN ­ambassador Nikki Haley.

Democrats seized on Senator Vance’s elevation within the ­Republican Party, casting him as an extremist on abortion, health and foreign policy and an “election denier” following earlier comments that cast into question the integrity of the 2020 presidential election.

Mr Trump’s appearance marked the first opportunity his supporters had had to see him after his near assassination and the now famous defiant fist pump he gave after being shot at a Pennsylvania rally. The convention centre broke into chants of “we love Trump” and “fight, fight, fight” – the latter mirroring what the GOP nominee told the crowd in Butler on Saturday (Sunday AEST) as he was rushed off stage by ­Secret Service agents.

Mr Trump and Senator Vance will use the convention over the next few days to define Mr Biden and his Vice-President, ­Kamala Harris, as incompetent on national security and migration, before the Republican nominee lays out what he says will be a pitch to unite the US on Thursday (Friday AEST).

On the first day of the convention, Mr Trump, 78, hailed Senator Vance, 39, – a former marine and world-famous author – and set him up as an heir to his MAGA movement.

“As vice-president, JD will continue to fight for our Constitution, stand with our troops, and will do everything he can to help me make America great again,” he wrote on Truth Social.

Mr Trump with Ohio senator. JD Vance. Picture: Getty Images

Mr Biden criticised Mr Trump’s choice of Senator Vance, saying he was “a clone of Trump on the ­issues” and he did not “see any ­difference” between them as he ­departed the White House for a campaign appearance in Las Vegas. In a defiant interview with NBC, in which the President sought to quell speculation about his own leadership and candidacy, which have for weeks been plagued by questions about his declining mental faculties, Mr Biden said: “He’s going to surround himself with people who agree completely with him.”

The 81-year-old President said he remained determined to be his party’s candidate in the November election despite widespread concern that he is too old. But he suffered another gaffe in the interview blitz when he said his former boss Barack Obama chose him to be vice-president in 2020, instead of 2008.

Mr Biden is planning to give more television interviews this week than in any seven-day period in his entire presidency and will get back to campaigning in key swing states, in order to distract from both the Trump convention and his own internal party woes.

Democrats face a tough political balancing act following the ­assassination attempt, needing to maintain their sharp political ­attacks on the Republican presidential nominee without being ­accused of incendiary rhetoric.

“How do you talk about the threat to democracy, which is real, when a president says things like he says?” Mr Biden told NBC.

Seeking to throw some of the blame for the nation’s polarisation back on Mr Trump, he said: “Do you just not say anything ’cause it may incite somebody? Look, I … I … I … I have not engaged in that rhetoric.”

US President Joe Biden in Washington on Tuesday (AEST). Picture: AFP

Senator Vance, author of best-­selling memoir Hillbilly Elegy, about his hard-scrabble upbringing in a poor Ohio family, has been a senator since 2023 and is a strong supporter of Trump’s MAGA agenda. He is seen as a risky choice given his youth and inexperience, but he defended his record and ­revealed what Mr Trump had told him on the phone in an interview with Fox’s Sean Hannity a few hours after his nomination emerged.

“I think we’ve got to go save this country,” Senator Vance said Mr Trump told him. “I think you’re the guy who can help me in the best way, you can help me govern, you can help me win, you can help me in some of these midwestern states like Pennsylvania and Michigan and so forth.”

When challenged about his earlier critical views of Mr Trump, Senator Vance said: “I was certainly sceptical of Donald Trump in 2016. But president Trump was a great president and he changed my mind, I think he changed the minds of a lot of Americans, ­because again, he delivered that peace and prosperity.”

In a further setback for Democrats, the Florida judge overseeing the federal mishandling of classified documents case against Mr Trump threw out the case, arguing the appointment of special prosecutor Jack Smith wasn’t constitutional. The decision in effect means none of the federal charges against Mr Trump, the other related to election interference, will be heard before the election.

The reverence for Mr Trump at the convention was reflected by South Carolina senator Tim Scott who said: “On Saturday, the devil came to Pennsylvania holding a rifle. But an American lion got back up on his feet and he roared.”

Mr Trump’s son Eric, accompanied on the convention floor by his eldest son Donald Jr and his daughter Tiffany, delivered Florida’s 125 votes for Mr Trump, taking him past the 1215 delegates needed to become the Republican presidential nominee.

The centre of Milwaukee was locked down amid massive security as the convention got underway, days after the assassination attempt on Mr Trump. More than 50,000 people have come to the Wisconsin city to crown the former president as their party’s nominee, in what will be a key state in the ­November election.

Republicans used the first day of the four-day convention to pitch themselves as the party of economic opportunity and sought to court black voters with a line-up of African-American speakers.