They said Trump was unfit to lead the country, his rivals for the Republican nomination become his most fervent supporters

Nikki Haley, très critique il y a peu, soutient désormais Trump. EPA – SHAWN THEW

À Milwaukee, Nikki Haley et Ron DeSantis ont apporté un franc soutien à l’ancien président. Explications.

Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis, once considered Donald Trump's main rivals for the Republican Party nomination for the US presidential election in November, gave their full support to the former president on Tuesday evening as part of the party's national convention.

Meeting since Monday, for four days, in Milwaukee in the state of Wisconsin, the figures of the Republican Party wanted to display an image of unity alongside Donald Trump, sixty-year-old twelve hours after the assassination attempt against the former tenant of the White House.

Nikki Haley heckled

Nikki Haley, who during the Republican primaries described Donald Trump as unelectable and unfit to lead, on Tuesday called on her supporters to vote for the latter against Democratic President Joe Biden in the November 5 election, citing « the good of the nation ».

"You don’need to agree with Trump all the time to vote for ui,” said the former ambassador to the United Nations and former governor of South Carolina. "Believe me", she added, after being welcomed on the stage by a mixture of ;applause and boos.

Ron DeSantis by his side

Ron DeSantis, the conservative governor of Florida considered last year as Donald Trump's main Republican rival before his campaign suffered a series of hiccups, with abandonment in January, was greeted fervently when he declared that Joe Biden was too old to lead the country.

Sitting among the spectators, two days before his speech on Thursday during which he must formally accept the nomination of the Republican Party, Donald Trump smiled and applauded his former rivals.

A former critic turned running mate

The symbolism was all the stronger as there was at his side Senator J.D. Vance, made official on Monday as his running mate, who was a fervent detractor of Donald Trump before making a turnaround to get closer to the latter, repeating his conservative positions and his baseless accusations that he was the victim of electoral fraud in 2020.

This image of harmony was intended to be a contrast with the Democratic Party, undermined by differences over the retention of Joe Biden as candidate following his performance considered disastrous during the debate against Donald Trump on June 27.

National Convention: the tone rises in Milwaukee

Mainly focused on the theme of security, the speeches delivered Tuesday during the second day of the Republican Party's national convention were more aggressive than the day before, with speakers ardently denouncing Joe Biden's policies to the southern border of the United States which they believe puts the country in danger.

A deep polarization of the country which worries

The assassination attempt on Donald Trump, in which one person was shot and killed before the assailant was shot, has reignited fears among Americans about the country's deep polarization ahead of the crisis. rsquo;presidential election, the memory of the bloody insurrection of January 6, 2021 at the Capitol in Washington being still present.

A Reuters/Ipsos poll released Tuesday shows that 80% of American voters – including equal shares of Republican and Democratic voters – agree with the idea that "the country is tipping out of control » since the assassination attempt against Donald Trump. President Biden said Tuesday he was happy that Donald Trump was not seriously injured, while attacking the record of his Republican predecessor in the White House. He had called on Sunday « lower the temperature".

The tone adopted Tuesday evening in Milwaukee contradicts the message of appeasement and national unity promised by Donald Trump following the assassination attempt against him.

Before these speeches, and like the day before for his first public appearance since the incident, Donald Trump, bandage around his right ear, was greeted with an ovation when’ he entered the convention hall. Where he appeared more exuberant than on Monday, when he seemed moved and calmer than usual.