RNC 2024 Day 2 updates: Vance walks RNC floor with Don Jr.

The second day of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee gets underway Tuesday afternoon after a dramatic appearance Monday night by the party’s new nominee — former President Donald Trump — wearing a bandage on his ear where he was wounded in an assassination attempt two days before.

Among the featured speakers — a late add — will be Trump’s former primary rival — former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley — who once called Trump a “catastrophe.” She now is expected to stress Trump’s new theme of “unity.”

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Asa Hutchinson walks back comments about not voting for convicted felon
Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson was one of the major Republicans who voiced his disapproval of Trump after he was convicted in a Manhattan criminal court, stating he wouldn’t vote for a convicted felon.

However, when ABC News’ Jay O’Brien broached the subject Tuesday the the convention, the former governor seemed to have different sentiments.

“Well, you know that I’ve made some commitments about not voting for a convicted felon, but that seems like a long time ago,” Hutchinson said.

O’Brien continued to press Hutchinson.

“So you could move away from that commitment?” he asked the former governor.

“Let’s see how it develops in the future,” Hutchinson responded.

Vance walks RNC floor with Don Jr.
JD Vance returned to the RNC convention Tuesday afternoon and walked the floor.

He was accompanied by Donald Trump Jr., but did not answer shouted questions from the press.

-ABC News’ Hannah Demissie

Trump meets with Boris Johnson
Trump posted an image on his social media platform on Tuesday posing with former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

“Nice meeting with Former Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, a very fine guy!” Trump posted.

It’s not clear if Johnson will be attending RNC events on Tuesday.

Trump senior advisor doubles down on Trump’s support for Second Amendment
Former President Donald Trump campaign’s senior adviser Chris LaCivita spoke at a panel hosted by pro-Second Amendment group USCCA on Tuesday morning updating the crowd about Trump’s recovery and message of unity.

LaCivita said both Trump and himself are supporters of the Second Amendment and reiterated the former president’s messaging has always been to allow law-abiding citizens the ability to carry firearms to protect themselves and their families.

“It’s also really important in this election, because Biden has made it clear he wants to ban them,” LaCivita said. “There are so many things that you can do to curb the problem of individuals as opposed to trying to ban what is clearly… a right.”

-ABC News’ Kelsey Walsh, Lalee Ibssa and Soorin Kim

Trump, Vance to hold campaign rally in Michigan
Trump’s campaign announced that he and JD Vance will be holding a rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on Saturday.

This will mark their first rally together and the first one after Trump’s assassination attempt. The rally will take place in an indoor venue.

-ABC News’ Lalee Ibssa and Soorin Kim

There’s Trump merchandise galore at RNC
Merchandise abounds outside of the convention center, with official RNC-branded souvenirs sold inside the Fiserv Forum. The signature red “MAGA” hat is sold at all of them, but all of the vendors have slightly different stock.

A vendor outside of the main security line was selling shirts with the now-iconic photo after the assassination attempt of former President Donald Trump, while another inside of the security perimeter sold T-shirts that declared “I’m voting for the felon.”

The official RNC store features T-shirts with Trump’s mugshot along with more niche merchandise such as Christmas ornaments.

-ABC News’ Diana Paulsen

Ramaswamy says ‘national unity is important,’ will be focus of his speech tonight
Vivek Ramaswamy, a high-profile businessman and former 2024 Republican presidential primary candidate, told reporters in a brief gaggle on Tuesday morning that he plans on striking themes of unity during his remarks he’s set to give on Tuesday night at the convention’s main session.

Ramaswamy said his focus on national unity might come as a surprise to some viewers and listeners.

“It may not be the message that everyone expects to hear from me, but I do think that this message of national unity is important,” he said.

He added that he strives for an “authentic” version of unity.

“I don’t want to fake national unity — not some astroturf, artificial kind — but the real thing. Authentic national unity, not one that pretends that we agree on everything, because we don’t. But that we are the country where we can still disagree like hell and still have dinner at the end of it.”

-ABC News’ Steven Portnoy

2024 issues Wisconsin voters said they care about the most

Wisconsin voters spoke with ABC News about what issues matter most to them this election as the RNC happens in their backyard. They include inflation, border, health care and democracy.

Republican voter Valori Schmidt, 68 and a retired teacher, said the border mattered most to her.

“We cannot sustain America on this massive influx of immigrants,” she said. “And then they’re everywhere that we don’t know. I want — I love the American dream. I love immigration coming in the correct door, the correct way.”

-ABC News’ Alexandra Hutzler

Trump elevates an ally in JD Vance and sets the course of the GOP’s future: ANALYSIS

Former President Donald Trump pick of Sen. J.D. Vance as his vice president is helping set the course of the Republican Party’s future.

With the selection of Vance as his running mate, it give the first-term senator a massive platform to help steer the party at the end of a hypothetical Trump term in 2029 — and even a leg up if he were to then seek the top job himself.

“Trump wants to make sure MAGA outlives him,” said Dan Eberhart, a Trump donor, referencing the “Make America Great Again” mantra that the former president popularized. “I think that was a big part of the choice.”

-ABC News’ Tal Axelrod

Liz Cheney blasts Trump’s pick of JD Vance as VP

Former Wyoming GOP Rep. Liz Cheney, one of Donald Trump’s most vocal critics, is blasting his selection of J.D. Vance as his pick for vice president in a post on X — slamming his stance on the 2020 election and contrasting it with that of Trump’s former running mate Mike Pence.

She said with Vance on the ticket, the Republican Party is no longer one of “Lincoln, Reagan or the Constitution.”

“JD Vance has pledged he would do what Mike Pence wouldn’t – overturn an election and illegally seize power. He says the president can ignore the rulings of our courts. He would capitulate to Russia and sacrifice the freedom of our allies in Ukraine. The Trump GOP is no longer the party of Lincoln, Reagan or the Constitution,” Cheney wrote.

Her post quoted a earlier post she wrote in February in which she claimed “Neither Trump nor Vance is fit to serve.”

“Yesterday, @JDVance1 claimed that Trump could defy rulings of the Supreme Court as President. Vance also admitted he would have done what VP Pence refused to do on January 6th—help Trump illegally seize power. That’s tyranny. Neither Trump nor Vance is fit to serve.,” Cheney wrote then.

-ABC’s Isabella Murray

Nikki Haley among tonight’s featured speakers as GOP stresses ‘unity’

Following a memorable day with former President Donald Trump selecting Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance as his running mate, the convention is off to a rolling start.
Tuesday’s theme is “Make America Safe Again” and speakers will focus on crime, fentanyl, and illegal immigration.

As the Trump campaign tries to capitalize on Trump’s new message of “unity,” Nikki Haley, Trump’s former bitter primary rival, will speak. Originally, Haley was not offered a slot, but was added the day after the attempted assassination> of Trump Saturday at his rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.

–ABC’s Kelsey Walsh

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