The Press in Milwaukee | Unity reigns… even among Trump’s former rivals

(Milwaukee) Donald Trump had resumed his seat at the podium reserved for his family and his favorites in the Fiserv Forum, the Milwaukee amphitheater where the second evening of the Republican Party convention was taking place.

Nikki Haley was on stage at the convention, addressing the thousands of Republican delegates before whom her former rival and conqueror will accept his party’s nomination as its presidential candidate on Thursday night.

And the former presidential candidate kissed Donald Trump’s ring, figuratively speaking, even though she had said last February that she didn’t feel the need to do so. Unlike “a lot of politicians who kiss it today” while knowing “what a disaster it was,” she said at the time.

Which shows that five months of politics can bring about great changes.

“Let me start by making one thing clear: Donald Trump has my unconditional support, period,” Haley said after being greeted with applause that included a few boos.

But no further boos were heard during the rest of his speech.

And so Nikki Haley took part in the Republican unity rally in Milwaukee on Tuesday night. Speaking at the express invitation of Donald Trump, she made a special appeal to Americans who might still be hesitant to vote for the man she herself called “unfit” for president last winter.

“We have to recognize that there are Americans who don’t always agree with Donald Trump,” she said. “I happen to know a few of them. And I want to talk to them tonight. My message is simple. You don’t have to agree 100 percent with Trump to vote for him.”

“More united than in 2016 and even in 2020”

Nikki Haley wasn’t the only one contributing to the unity. Also among the speakers at an evening focused on the theme of security were Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, another former Trump rival, and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, who has also had past disagreements with the former president.

“For decades in my home state, elections were decided by the thinnest of margins,” said Governor DeSantis. “Today, thanks to bold leadership, the Democratic Party is in ruins.”

“Now the election of Donald Trump gives us the opportunity to do that across America, and we have a responsibility to step up and make that happen,” he added.

But Nikki Haley’s support for Donald Trump outweighs that of others, according to former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.

“I think we’re more united than we were in 2016 and even in 2020,” the former California representative said during a meeting with foreign press representatives on the sidelines of the convention. “But Nikki Haley is probably the most important person to address the convention other than President Trump,” he added, recalling the support garnered by the former South Carolina governor during the Republican primaries.

Support that hovered near 20% in some states even after he withdrew from the Republican nomination race.

Nikki Haley’s presence in Milwaukee also pleased John Paulser, a Texan who is attending the Republican convention as a guest.

“It shows that Republicans are able to come together, unlike Democrats who are tearing each other apart over their nominee,” he said as he waited for his wife, Sarah, a convention delegate, outside a restaurant across the street from Fiserv Forum.

“That said, I would have preferred Trump to choose Haley for vice president.

– For what ?

– Because she’s a tough bitch.

But Trump’s other rival Chris Christie refused to see Haley’s endorsement as a “gift.” “No, it’s really not,” he told ABC. “It was a complete and incredible about-face from what she’s done. I don’t think Haley’s voters will care.”

Trump, testimonies and tears

Donald Trump returned to the Fiserv Forum shortly after 8 p.m. local time. His arrival, which preceded that of J.D. Vance, his presumptive running mate, once again stirred the crowd.

After listening to speeches from his former rivals, the former president also listened to speeches from Marco Rubio and Lara Trump, his daughter-in-law and co-chair of the Republican National Committee. He also heard from the brother of Rachel Morin, a mother of five who was killed in 2023 while walking on a trail near her home in Bel Air, Maryland. An undocumented immigrant, also suspected of other assaults, has been charged in the rape and death of the 37-year-old woman.

Her brother blamed his sister’s tragic fate on the Biden administration’s policies on irregular immigration.

“To this day, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have never called us to apologize. But President Trump called us. He cared. That’s leadership,” he said.

Two more such testimonies were heard in the final hour of the evening. Some delegates could not hold back tears as they heard the story of Anne Fundner, a mother whose teenage son died after being poisoned with pills laced with fentanyl.

“Joe must go! Joe must go!” the crowd began chanting, assuming that the Democratic president was responsible for the drug trafficking on the southern border.

Lara Trump added to the emotion during a speech in which she spoke about the attempted assassination of her father-in-law.

“Nothing prepares you for a moment like this,” she said. “Our family has had its share of death threats, mysterious powders sent to our homes, and violent and tasteless comments on social media, but none of that prepares you, as a daughter-in-law, to watch in real time as someone tries to kill someone you love. None of that prepares you, as a mother, to quickly grab the remote and shoo your young children away from the screen so they don’t witness something that will scar their grandfather for the rest of their lives.”

Speaking of Donald Trump’s reaction to the scene where he narrowly escaped death, she added: “He knew how defining this moment would be for our country and he raised his fist in the air.”

Towards the end of his speech, the crowd took up one of his slogans from the day before: “We love Trump! We love Trump!”