RNC 2024 Day 1 updates: Bandaged and emotional, Trump makes 1st appearance since assassination attempt
Chants of "we love Trump" could be heard as he entered the RNC.
The first day of the Republican National Convention has wrapped up in Milwaukee -- marked with an appearance by former President Donald Trump just two days he was wounded in an assassination attempt at a Pennsylvania rally on Saturday evening.
Despite the shooting, the gathering of more than 50,000 attendees, including an expected 2,400 Republican delegates, is slated to maintain its original programming as a time to bring the party together -- but now newly energized by Trump's amazing survival and raised-fist show of defiance.
One of the most anticipated moments of Trump's campaign happened Monday when Trump named 39-year-old Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance as his running mate.
Latest headlines:
McConnell booed as he awarded Kentucky’s delegates to Trump
When Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell announced Kentucky would award its delegates to the former president, the tone in the convention center changed from its celebratory mood.
McConnell was joined by his wife, Elaine Chao, Trump’s former transportation secretary who resigned in the wake of Jan. 6, 2021.
The reception to McConnell’s delegate announcement was in marked contrast to the cheers of Trump allies as the party introduced a new-look platform and nominated a man McConnell said had morally failed the nation and invited the attack on the U.S. Capitol.
McConnell, the longest-serving party leader in Senate history, is stepping down from his position this fall.
'Fight, fight, fight!,' delegates chant
Chants of "fight" popped up during the roll call -- a nod to Trump, who could be seen mouthing "fight" and pumping his fist as he was taken off the stage following Saturday's assassination attempt.
Following Delaware's pledging of their votes to Trump, members of its delegation raised their fists in the air and chanted "fight, fight, fight!"
Wyoming delegates have done the same.
Idaho Republican Party chairwoman Dorothy Moon, while announcing delegates for Trump, led delegates in chanting "fight, fight, fight!"
-ABC News' Jacob Steinberg and Tommy Barone
Trump clears threshold to lock in nomination
Trump has officially cleared the numerical threshold at which he has locked in the nomination, with a pause in the roll call for celebration.
Florida, his adoptive home state, put him over the edge as his son, Eric Trump, announced the delegates.
-ABC News' Tommy Barone
Donald Trump Jr. encouraged Vance choice, calls him the 'American dream'
Donald Trump Jr. played a key role in his father picking Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance as his running mate.
Sources tell ABC News the former president's son "led a strong push" for him behind the scenes and that Trump made his decision in the last few hours.
Trump Jr. told ABC's Rachel Scott on the RNC convention floor he was "incredibly excited."
"J.D's become a really good friend … his story is an incredible one, the American dream."
"I know the man, I know the character," Trump Jr. said of his friend, J.D. Vance.
-ABC's John Santucci and Rachel Scott