This news will not surprise anyone. But that does not mean that there was still one last step: the official designation of Donald Trump as the Republican Party’s candidate for the White House. It finally came on Monday, after months of being taken for granted. And his supporters cheered him in Milwaukee in a unanimous vote.
It happened at the conservative party’s national convention. He did not bring all the delegates to the meeting (in the primaries, Haley got 97; Ron DeSantis, nine; and Vivek Ramaswamy, three), but in the end each and every one of them supported him.
In the early hours of a unique four-day celebration, delegates from all 50 states, along with those from associated and overseas territories, found their places on the court where the city’s Milwaukee Bucks team usually plays basketball. The playing field was filled with folding chairs and organized by poles with the names of each group’s places of origin.
In an event reminiscent of another era, the party secretary gave voice to each of the representatives of the delegations. They gave brief speeches in which they praised the qualities of the “forty-fifth and soon to be forty-seventh president of the United States, Donald J. Trump,” sang the praises of each of the states, cheered Senator JD Vance, who had just learned that he had been chosen to complete the electoral ballot as vice president, and conspired to make America great again. Because yes, for the Milwaukee event, the motto of Trumpism has changed from Make America Great Again to Make America Great Once Again (despite the fact that the acronym MAGOA sounds frankly worse than MAGA).
Among the speakers were familiar faces, such as New York Congresswoman Elise Stefanik, a member of the party’s hardline wing on Capitol Hill, and Alabama Senator Tommy Tuberbille, who gained national prominence when he last year refused to vote for the renewal of the Pentagon leadership to protest the military’s abortion-friendly policies. Eric Trump, the new candidate’s son, was the one who gave his father the 125 votes corresponding to Florida, with which he reached the threshold necessary to be mathematically elected. After that, a live band played a version of Celebration, by Kool & the Gang.
The most embarrassing moment came when the Republican leader of the Senate, Mitch McConnell, took the microphone on behalf of the State of Kentucky. His words were not heard, due to an amplification failure, but also because of the loud boos he received. McConnell has been an intimate enemy of Trump since, after January 6, 2021, he held him responsible for the assault on the Capitol.
Knowing what’s happening outside means understanding what’s going to happen inside, so don’t miss anything.
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And at the 2024 Republican Convention, there is no place for anyone who dares to contradict the new candidate.
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