SACHA PFEIFFER, HOST:
The Republican National Convention kicked off yesterday. And Republican National Committee Chair Michael Whatley welcomed an enthusiastic crowd.
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MICHAEL WHATLEY: We are kicking off the biggest and best convention in the history of the Republican Party, and we are united.
(CHEERING)
PFEIFFER: All eyes were on Donald Trump's newly announced running mate, U.S. Senator J.D. Vance of Ohio.
STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
That is, until Trump himself appeared for the first time since Saturday's assassination attempt.
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UNIDENTIFIED CROWD: (Chanting) We love Trump. We love Trump. We love Trump. We love Trump. We love Trump. We love Trump.
INSKEEP: He wore a bandage over his ear. The two nominees give their speeches later in the week.
PFEIFFER: NPR's Danielle Kurtzleben is at the convention in Milwaukee. Good morning, Danielle.
DANIELLE KURTZLEBEN, BYLINE: Hey, good morning.
PFEIFFER: So J.D. Vance, this was not exactly a safe and noncontroversial choice. What are you hearing about how people feel about this choice?
KURTZLEBEN: Right. Well, first of all, in that arena, the crowd was overjoyed. There were very loud cheers for Vance. They were very enthusiastic. Now, throughout this cycle, I've talked to plenty of Trump supporters about who they wanted Trump to pick. And on the one hand, Vance didn't come up much, but on the other, many told me whoever Trump picked they would love. And you definitely heard that in the arena.
Now, on the Democratic side, Democrats were ready with plenty of criticism, especially in the form of Vance's many past critical statements of Trump way back before Vance was a Senator. Now, I think there are two ways to look at that. One is that Vance has said, yes, some very critical things - for example, comparing Donald Trump to Hitler. But also, Vance is a convert and converts can be really powerful messengers. And now that Vance supports Trump, he's a former Never Trumper and a relatively young Never Trumper, it's possible that J.D. Vance can reach a new voter or two.
PFEIFFER: And the convention, of course, comes under the fresh shadow of this attempted assassination on Saturday of Trump. How is that shooting factoring into the convention?
KURTZLEBEN: Quite a bit, as you might expect. Now, first off, several times, even before Trump showed up, the crowd was pumping their fists and chanting fight, fight, fight, referencing what Trump did as Secret Service whisked him offstage on Saturday. But also what struck me was a lot of religious and specifically Christian language surrounding the assassination attempt. Here's South Carolina Senator Tim Scott. He called the near miss a miracle, and he then added this.
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TIM SCOTT: Thank God almighty that we live in a country that still believes in the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords, the Alpha and the Omega.
KURTZLEBEN: Now, he was one of several speakers who said God in some way saved Trump. Now, that plays well in a room full of evangelicals. But also, there was the idea there that God chose Trump, which is something that some evangelicals believe. And it also just plays into this grand - or you could maybe say grandiose - narrative that there are just larger forces at work.
PFEIFFER: And, Danielle, tell us what you're going to be looking for today and tonight at the convention.
KURTZLEBEN: Sure. So tonight's theme is safety, last night's was the economy. In a convention night about safety, you can bet there will be a lot about immigration because Trump and his followers often cast undocumented immigrants as threatening. Now, in addition, given that Trump just survived an assassination attempt, it wouldn't be surprising for that to fold into talk about safety. Now, as for speakers, we don't know much yet, but we do know former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley will be speaking. So really trying to continue the Republican message of unity, at least intraparty unity.
PFEIFFER: That's NPR's Danielle Kurtzleben. Thank you.
KURTZLEBEN: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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