Trump Appears for First Time Wearing an Earband

FFormer President Donald Trump walked slowly through the crowd and into a box at the Republican National Convention on Monday, his first public appearance since he was shot in the ear during an assassination attempt.

It was a dramatic television spectacle: His ear was covered with a neatly folded white bandage. He clenched his fist and waved as Lee Greenwood sang “God Bless the USA.” The Milwaukee crowd chanted “we love Trump” and “fight, fight, fight,” echoing Trump’s cries to his supporters as Secret Service agents pushed him off the stage Saturday.

Trump walked in with his newly announced running mate, Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio. The two sat together in the lobby as various speakers described their economic struggles and why they support Trump’s campaign.

Saturday’s photo of Trump standing and raising his fist in the air moments after the shooting has breathed new life into the Republican Party convention and given Trump’s candidacy new momentum ahead of the November election.

Trump’s appearance came just hours after Republican Party officials officially confirmed him as the presidential candidate. On the same day, he won a major legal victory when U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon dismissed a lawsuit against him over federal classified documents.

“Even at the most dangerous moment, his instinct was to stand and fight,” South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem told the convention floor before Trump emerged. “Donald J. Trump is our man in the arena.”

The attempt on Trump’s life alarmed a nation already riven by political discord. It prompted calls from President Biden and others to tone down the divisive political rhetoric, a request largely ignored by speakers on the convention’s first day.

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