Trump watches Hulk Hogan address Republican convention; Tucker Carlson says shooting ‘changed’ former president – ​​live | Republican National Convention 2024

Donald Trump is currently seated with his running mate JD Vance in a VIP box with three rows of seats.

To make room for Trump and Vance, some of the former president’s other allies in the gallery had to move.

Currently in the front row are Trump and his wife, Melania, Vance and his wife, Usha, and the former president’s son. Donald Trump Jr.

In the second row is his daughter. Ivanka Trump and son-in-law Jared Kushner and daughter Tiffany Trumpamong others.

To obtain these seats, a number of legislators and senators had to mobilize.

Among those ejected from seats reserved for prime-time speeches: senators Ted Cruz And John Barrasso.

Speakers at the convention have so far avoided anything related to abortion.

It’s another sign that Republicans are nervous about tackling an issue on which they haven’t had many victories of late, after failing to support a national abortion ban from their platform for the first time in decades.

Evangelist Franklin Graham He came closest to it so far, in his just-concluded remarks at the convention – and it wasn’t that close.

“For as long as I’ve known President Trump, I’ve considered him a man of his word. What he said he would do, he did. When he told me and our country in 2016 that he was going to appoint conservative judges, guess what he did?” asked Graham, the son of an evangelical Christian icon. Billy Graham.

Trump appointed three conservative justices during his term, all of whom signed the 2022 Dobbs opinion, which struck down constitutional protections on abortion established 49 years earlier in Roe v Wade.

We mentioned earlier that Hulk Hogan is a retired professional wrestler.

Although he has now left the sport, seemingly for good, in 2015 he was fired by World Wrestling Entertainment for a few years after he was heard using racial slurs.

This does not seem to have been a problem for the Republican Party. Here is a snapshot of what Hogan said:

Hogan just did a little striptease.

He wore a navy blazer when he first took the stage, then took it off to reveal a sleeveless black shirt with the words “real American” emblazoned on it.

And as the crowd roared, he ripped it off to reveal a sleeveless red “Trump Vance” shirt.

You won’t be surprised to learn that Hulk Hogan’s speech so far has was full of wrestling metaphors.

“You know, I’ve seen some great tag teams in my life. Hulk Hogan and oh yeah, the Macho Man Randy Savage. But you know something, I see the greatest tag team of my life standing before us, ready to right this country for all real Americans,” Hogan said.

Quite interesting, JD Vancethe senator from Ohio who Donald Trump named as his running mate earlier this week, has not been spotted.

In what is perhaps an ominous sign for a soon-to-be-released speaker, the house band launched into another cover, this one by Isaac Hayes and David Porter. Man of the soul.

But who are these guys who have done a professional job of rocking the convention over the past four nights? NPR has the answer:

Anyone who’s followed the RNC so far will likely recognize Sixwire, the five-piece house band that brought a rousing set of classic rock covers to the convention floor — including a surprise extended performance after a brutal teleprompter malfunction on Night 1.

The group entertained viewers with renditions of hits such as “Life is a Highway,” “All Star,” “What I Like About You,” “Don’t Stop Believin'” and “Reelin’ in the Years,” among other “dad songs.”

And even though they’ve only recorded one album (for Warner Brothers, in 2002), they’re not just some random country covers band.

The convention is on hold and it is unclear whether it is being planned.

The house band has been playing for about 15 minutes. Retired professional wrestler Hulk Hogan is the next scheduled speaker, but he has not yet been spotted.

Earlier in the evening, Mike Pompeo, one of Donald Trump’s former secretaries of state, spoke about Joe Biden’s competenceand his attitude towards military aspects.

“The entire administration has failed to tell us the truth, the truth that we all know and that is so dangerous to our nation, the truth that Joe Biden cannot handle ‘that 3 a.m. phone call,’ because he doesn’t take a phone call after about 4 p.m.,” Pompeo said, referring to the president saying he needs more sleep and fewer late-night engagements, following his terrible debate performance against Trump last month.

Pompeo also made another interesting comment, noting that he was speaking as a veteran, saying that everyone who served in the military and their families “deserve a president who doesn’t look at his watch when he honors our fallen brothers and sisters. It was outrageous.”

The subject of Joe Biden looking at his watch during a ceremony where the bodies of veterans killed in Afghanistan were being repatriated has been the subject of controversy over information and misinformation, which has sparked further controversy.

But during his time in office, Trump sparked outrage by calling fallen military veterans “suckers and losers” in 2020 and, in 2018, refusing to visit a U.S. military cemetery in France during commemoration events.

Pompeo ended his brief speech by declaring that if Trump is elected to the White House next November, “we will make America special, exceptional and of course great again.”

Tucker Carlson concluded his speech by mentioning something we’ve heard a lot about at this convention.

“I’m not always convinced I’m on the right side. I’ve been on the wrong side many times,” Carlson said.

“You will never hear me say that I am on God’s side, or that God is with me, or even that I am with God. I want to be, I am not sure, but I say it unequivocally and conclusively: God is among us right now, and I think that is enough.”

And with that, he left the stage.

Carlson, who once gloated about being able to ignore Trump after the 2020 election, has reportedly grown much closer to the former president recently.

Unlike many speakers, Carlson is not delivering his speech on screens set up around the arena. He appears to be delivering his speech without a teleprompter, saying at one point, “I don’t have a script.”