Transcript for:
Republican Convention Review: Donald Trump's Public Appearance and Vice Presidential Pick

Analise neelson is there in the in the audience there in Milwaukee Analise this is an opportunity for the Republican convention to hear from everyday Americans everyday Trump supporters but that was an extraordinary reception that the former president received there with his his bandaged ear as he sits and listens now to these everyday Republicans look this is the first public appearance for Donald Trump since the assassination attempt and we won't necessarily expecting him to be here they've been teasing all day maybe he's coming maybe he's not and I can tell you being in the room you felt him coming in before you saw him because the crowd just went absolutely wild I'll give you a little Glimpse if I step out of the way of where Donald Trump is now so this stadium is full of the real party faithful these are the ones who prosecute the case for the Republican party at a state level every day and Donald Trump is in that box with all his VIPs and that's a very strong statement who's sitting there with him who gets to shake his hand when he walks in and of course the most important among those is his new vice presidential pick JD vents as a senator he's been quite uh impressive among Republican circles a young upand Comer who's made his Mark especially negotiating on trade related issues things to do with the economy and he's won over some of the union movement which is what a lot of blue color workers in fact from speaker who we just heard from before those are the kind of workers that they want to bring over to support the Republican party through an endorsement like JD Vance and now through a place on the ballot so this is why they've picked JD Vance but we spoke to um people before who said it was a lot of the chemistry too and the fact that he's a very good debater Donald Trump was confident that once he sent JD Vance in to debate Cara Harris that JD Vance would come out ahead we're told he only found out 20 minutes before the announcement went public and so JD vents talked to Fox News about what that was like getting the phone from Donald Trump asking him to be on the ticket he he just said look uh I think we got to go save this country uh I think you're the guy who could help me in the in 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 Michigan and so forth and he said rightfully that we have been very very close for a long time but especially since I endorsed you in 2022 and I would not have won that race without Donald Trump's endorsement and the president's trust then and his partnership since then has been something I value a great deal one of the criticisms that came out immediately from the other side is that they said JD Vance used to be a never Trumper that he's a never Trumper at heart this is something that we can expect to be in all the ad campaigns from the Democrats up until election day so I asked a few senior Republicans how they feel about that characterization whether that's a fair characterization of JD v i I think the exact opposite I don't think there's anybody that's embraced my father's platform War over the last couple years than than JD um he's come on Thicket hard and he's uh he's he's been fantastic I those guys are going to work together great and I see behind the scenes how much respect they each have for one another and it's probably something that the media traditionally doesn't see but they're going to make a hell of a team people who are critics of JD Vance say he's a never Trumper that he said some critical things about Donald Trump what would you say to them I would say that actually that could be a unique attribute for him if you think about it and making the case to voters who did not vote for Trump in 2016 he could say something similar you know what I didn't vote for Trump in 16 either but here's why I came around so I think that's actually could be what people frame as a negative could actually be a very positive attribute to me I think he's one of the best fighters we have in the Senate so the Senate is going to miss him that may be the only negative and I mean that as a compliment to him and Karen I wanting to show our viewers this quote from the head of the Teamsters Union because it illustrates so much about how the fun mental shaping of the Republican party and the Democrat Party have moved the fact that you've got a senior Teamster not immediately endorsing a Democrat president like Joe Biden who joined a picket line in Michigan there's still a real sense that among Rank and file members of of the union movement most of them lean more towards the Republican side they want more protectionist trade policies they want to keep manufacturing at home and they want to support blue color workers my message is clear we want to make certain that people understand uh whether you're a Democrat Republican or independent uh how important it is to respect uh workingclass America and also you know to encourage bipartisan participation on issues that face working people hello Ken we've got a sense of just how much of the political theater happens at these conventions and how much of this is just so performative and so about um not performative it's all about the performance for was different it's about um putting forward that message that's going to continue for this campaign right through the next few months and so I wanted to just show you what it looks like the moment that all these delegates voted without a single one voting against Donald Trump and a show of unity for his presidency the state of New Jersey is extremely proud to cast all of its delegate votes for the 45th and soon to be 47th president of these United States President Donald J Trump as chairman of the United States Virgin Islands the land of welcoming people beautiful beaches tremendous culture and the best rum in the world proudly cast its four delegates for president Donald J Trump the state to cast 62 votes for America's Braveheart and the next president of the United States of America Donald J Trump for President we cast our 40 votes to continue to fight and save America with Donald J trump our votes for Donald J Trump let's make it official accordingly the chair announces that President Donald J Trump having received a majority of the votes entitled to be cast at the convention has been selected as the Republican Party nominee for president of the United States affirming what we knew would happen the endorsement of his party we saw it there in terms of the numbers but we saw it with the overwhelming welcome to Donald Trump the first appearance the first public appearance since that assassination attempt at the weekend let's re playay that for our viewers who might have just tuned in ladies gent president Trump welcome the next president of the United States Donald J Trump [Applause] [Music] [Applause] W analisia you gave us the sense of what it was like in the room you knew that he was coming from the reaction in the buildup and then the sound the noise of the party faithful and the Republicans from right around the nation must have been quite extraordinary it was a real moment this is the first time we've seen Donald Trump since this assassination attempt in a fact he's walked out with barely a Grace I'm going to step out again so you can take another look the fact he's sitting here is just seems like a small miracle at all and there is just this really strong sense of unity and I don't say this is uh just a kind of endorsement or fangirling I'm saying this because I've been covering the Republican party for the last few years and it's been a disaster they've been just really unable get together in any show of unity after the 2020 election they got pummeled in the 2022 midterms and they were just watching their preferred candidate be riddled with uh lawsuit so the fact that this has all come together this way now that all of those never trumpers have stepped aside and this convention is entirely unified I I know we keep saying yes it's all delegates voting for Donald Trump that's not a given by any stretch that you have every single person here behind the one candidate that's not the norm necessarily for these conventions and we'll see that in uh Chicago for the Democratic National Convention so the fact he's here he survived a literal bullet he's lost uh the worst legal case against him is now uh he's shaken that the classified documents case really he's just waiting to see what sentence he gets in New York and a custodial sentence in September is just going to be so difficult for them to try to enforce even if they wanted to and he's sitting here he's got his young vibrant VP and he's ready to fight fight fight which is what all his supporters have been saying uh and cheering and it's just a really STK contrast to the kind of depression we're seeing from the Democrat side of things even those who were saying we're going to stick with Joe Biden it's not because they're enthusiastic about it it's because they feel stuck with that option yeah indeed the contrast could not be greater the energy and the support the momentum around Donald Trump even in the wake of being shot over the incumbent