How Vance went from Trump critic to vice president
Vance, 39, first rose to prominence in 2016 with the publication of “Hillbilly Elegy,” a memoir about growing up poor in Ohio. A Yale Law School graduate and Marine Corps veteran, he worked in venture capital before returning to his home state to start his own firm and eventually run for office in 2022.
Vance openly lamented Trump’s rise in the party, calling himself a “Never Trumper” in a 2016 interview with Charlie Rose, but eventually changed course and tried to secure Trump’s key Senate endorsements in the midterm elections that might not have allowed him to win the primary without them. He was a reliable Trump supporter in Congress and on the campaign trail.
RFK Jr. given Secret Service protection
Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will receive Secret Service protection, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said at a White House news conference today.
“In light of the events of this weekend, the president has directed me to work with the Secret Service to provide security for Robert Kennedy Jr.,” Mayorkas told reporters. “Both before and after the events of last weekend, the Secret Service increased security for former President Trump in light of the evolving threats against him and his impending transition from presumptive nominee to nominee.”
Kennedy has repeatedly requested Secret Service protection, which is available to “principal candidates for president and vice president” nominated by the Secretary of Homeland Security.
In his post, Kennedy thanked Biden “for providing me with Secret Service protection.” To X.
RFK Jr. met with Trump today
Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. met with President Trump in Milwaukee today, according to Stephanie Speer, a spokeswoman for the Kennedy campaign.
Kimberly Guilfoyle says VP pick especially important after assassination attempt
Kimberly Guilfoyle, who is engaged to Donald Trump Jr., praised Trump’s decision to choose Vance as his running mate.
“I personally really like him,” she told NBC News’ Jacob Soboroff on the convention floor. “I think he’s a good person. He’s a great father, a great husband, a great American who has served his country. He’s an intelligent, eloquent, thoughtful man.”
She stressed that the choice of running mate is especially important in light of Saturday’s assassination attempt on President Trump.
“He had a ton of great candidates and he really thought carefully about the whole process of evaluating all of them and what’s best for the country and who is best suited to serve the country if he’s not available to serve as commander in chief,” she said. “I think this is an important decision, especially given the horrific violence that took the life of the 45th president of the United States and an attempt to assassinate him.”
She added: “It’s a lesson in American political history that the choice of vice president matters.”
Senator Marco Rubio congratulates Trump on picking J.D. Vance
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) praised President Trump’s selection of J.D. Vance for X.
Rubio was considered high on Trump’s list of potential vice presidential candidates.
Booing at the venue for McConnell
When Kentucky was listed on the presidential nomination ballot, Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell spoke, and many convention delegates responded with loud booing.
McConnell did not respond to a question from NBC News’ Vaughn Hilliard about his decision to attend the caucus.
Republican National Convention protests end after 2.5-hour march
After more than two hours of marching and chanting through downtown Milwaukee, the left’s leading protest of the Republican National Convention, the Coalition to March on the Republican National Convention, has ended.
The protest ended back at its starting point at Red Arrow Park, across the Milwaukee River from the official convention proceedings, to hear speakers talk about reproductive and immigrant rights.
In all, the group marched for two hours and 20 minutes, culminating in a tense but peaceful confrontation with anti-abortion protesters just outside Fiserv Forum.
The march began with about 2,000 people, but organizers estimated that another 1,000 joined along the way.
With the end of an effort that took nearly two years of preparation, participants and leaders expressed feelings of pride, but also fatigue given Monday’s sweltering heat.
“I’m very proud of what we were able to accomplish,” said organizer Omar Flores. “It went very well, it was peaceful, and we arrived in front of Fiserv,” he said.
Trump officially wins Republican nomination
Trump officially secured the Republican presidential nomination after his son Eric Trump announced the nomination on behalf of Florida.
Attendance at the Republican National Convention was far smaller than expected
Chris Donnellan was having beers with friends at Moe’s Irish Pub when protesters walked down the street. He poked his head out a side entrance to start filming, and said he was surprised to see the street was empty.
“I suspect what happened on Saturday thinned out the crowds,” he said of the attempted assassination of the former president.
Donnellan, who lives in Washington and plans to attend the Democratic National Convention, said he is used to seeing large protests and political events, but so far the Republican Convention and the planned demonstrations have felt small in comparison.
“I’m worried about the impact of burnout,” he said. “October 7 is a long time ago,” he added, referring to the ongoing war in Gaza.
This is a historically late announcement from the Vice President.
Trump waited until almost the last moment to announce his running mate, posting on social media as delegates at the Republican Convention were voting to formally nominate him.
No candidate this century has waited until the party convention to announce their nominee — as my colleague Steve Kornacki reports, the last time a vice presidential nominee was announced on the floor for the first time was in 1980.
