Trump named Republican candidate, picks right-wing Vance as VP

UK deputy PM dismisses 'Islamist' nuclear state jibe by Trump VP pick Vance

FE Team | Published: July 16, 2024 21:19:14

MILWAUKEE, July 16 (Agencies): Donald Trump won the formal nomination Monday as the Republican presidential candidate and picked a right-wing loyalist for his running mate, kicking off a triumphalist party convention in the wake of the weekend's failed assassination attempt.
The Milwaukee gathering erupted into cheers as Trump announced 39-year-old Ohio Senator J.D. Vance as his vice presidential pick, rewarding a one-time harsh critic who has become one of his most uncompromising supporters.
"As Vice President, J.D. will continue to fight for our Constitution, stand with our Troops, and will do everything he can to help me MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN," Trump posted on Truth Social.
The applause was even louder as the 78-year-old ex-president showed up to the convention in person hours later, his ear bandaged after the attempt on his life left him wounded.
He waved at the massed delegates and took his seat without speaking, just two days after surviving the shooting at a rally in Pennsylvania.
Meanwhile, Britain's deputy prime minister on Tuesday played down comments by US vice presidential contender J.D. Vance that Britain was an Islamist nuclear-armed country, saying he had a history of making "fruity" remarks.
Britain would work with whoever won November's US presidential election, Angela Rayner added.
At a conference earlier this month, Vance, who Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump named as his running mate on Monday, said that Britain was the "first truly Islamist country" to have nuclear weapons following the Labour Party's victory in a July 4 election, to laughs in the audience.