Trump, with a bandage on his ear, made an appearance again Tuesday evening
MILWAUKEE -- The second day of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee ended Tuesday with appearances from some of former President Donald Trump's former rivals: former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy -- all calling for Republican Party unity.
They were joined by some of Trump's longest allies including Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders and Ben Carson in bashing the Democrats over what they claimed were harmful and failed policies.
The program focused on law and order with a theme of making the country "safe again."
Trump, with a bandage on his ear, made an appearance again Tuesday evening -- just days after he was wounded in an assassination attempt at one of his rallies in Pennsylvania over the weekend. Several speakers said God spared Trump in the shooting, saving him for a divine plan for the presidency.
Nikki Haley, Trump's former GOP primary rival, officially endorsed the former president for the first time after walking out to applause and some boos.
"President Trump asked me to speak to this convention in the name of unity," Haley said. "I'll start by making one thing perfectly clear: Donald Trump has my strong endorsement, period."
Trump stood up to applaud.
Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie called on former President Donald Trump to redirect the Republican Party in "a new direction" and to encourage party members to treat others with respect, in the wake of the assassination attempt targeting Trump, in a New York Times op-ed published Tuesday.
"Mr. Trump has the opportunity to rein in some of the worst rhetorical impulses of the Republican Party at its convention this week," Christie wrote.
Christie wrote that Trump's selection of Sen. J.D. Vance as a running mate was not in that spirit.
"Mr. Vance's first reaction to the assassination attempt against Mr. Trump was to turn directly to the current, flawed playbook: demonize the other side and lay the blame at the feet of the Democrats, as if they had pulled the trigger themselves. Clearly, this is not a message of unity in the face of what could have been a national tragedy," he wrote.
Christie, who in January suspended his campaign for president, has not endorsed Trump.
He praised Trump's remarks to the New York Post about changing his own speech and looking to foster unity.
Trump has arrived on the convention floor, wearing a bandage again on his right ear that was struck in the assassination attempt, walking out to the song "What I Like About You."
The crowd got on to their feet, many recording his entrance, as he raised his fist several times.
J.D. Vance arrived at the convention, walking out to the song "America First" by Merle Haggard -- just as he did when he made his first appearance on Monday.
He could be seen greeting Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene and Eric Trump in VIP box and shaking Tiffany Trump's hand.
