ВИБОРЧА ГАЗЕТА

Trump’s VP pick Vance is pro-Israel, anti-China and creating anxiety in Europe

washington — Senator J.D. Vance, former President Donald Trump’s newly announced running mate, will take center stage Wednesday evening at the Republican National Convention, focusing on the day’s theme, “Make America Strong Again.”

Vance, 39, a former venture capitalist, has less than two years in public office and little foreign policy background. His recent comments mostly align with Trump’s “America First” doctrine and have revealed a worldview that can be summed up as pro-Israel, anti-China and causing anxiety in Europe.

A former U.S. Marine who was deployed in Iraq, Vance is skeptical of American military intervention overseas and, with the exception of Israel, largely opposes foreign aid. He has argued that the United States can’t simultaneously support Ukraine and the Middle East and be ready for contingencies in East Asia.

“It just doesn’t make any sense,” he said in February at the Munich Security Conference. “The math doesn’t work out in terms of weapons manufacturing.”

However, Vance is not an isolationist, as some have described him, said Emma Ashford, senior fellow with the Reimagining U.S. Grand Strategy program at the Stimson Center.

In a recent speech at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, Vance defined his foreign policy goals.

“We want the Israelis and the Sunnis to police their own region of the world. We want the Europeans to police their own region of the world, and we want to be able to focus more on East Asia,” he said.

“You could call him either a realist or perhaps a prioritizer,” Ashford told VOA.

That’s a strong contrast from Biden administration policymakers “who argue that every region is interconnected, and the U.S. has to lead in all of them,” she added. “And it’s definitely a break from the post-Cold War foreign policy in the U.S.”

Yet, Vance’s aim for the United States to pull away from Europe and the Middle East to focus on China is neither new nor uniquely Republican. In fact, former President Barack Obama pursued a Pivot to Asia doctrine from 2009 to 2017.

That pivot has yet to happen, as the U.S. has become bogged down by conflicts in both Europe and the Middle East.

Less support for Ukraine

In terms of priorities, Vance is aligned with Trump’s insistence that Washington reduce support for Ukraine and force Europeans to play a bigger role in the continent’s own security.

“I do not think that Vladimir Putin is an existential threat to Europe,” Vance said in Munich, sending shock waves through European diplomatic circles. He added that Kyiv should pursue a “negotiated peace” with Moscow even if that means ceding territory.

That prompted criticism from John Herbst, a former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine who is now senior director of the Atlantic Council’s Eurasia Center. Vance is “completely naive on Putin’s Russia,” Herbst told VOA.

With Trump suggesting he would not protect countries that failed to meet NATO’s defense spending targets, even appearing to encourage Putin to attack them, and Vance’s criticisms of Ukraine, the prospect of a Trump-Vance administration has sparked alarm across Europe.

However, Herbst remains optimistic.

While Ukraine may not be Trump’s first priority, he “perceives himself as a strongman and does not want to be associated with foreign policy failure,” he said. “And a Russian victory in Ukraine if Trump is president would look very much like a foreign policy failure.”

More support for Israel

While Vance has established himself as a key surrogate for America First, Israel may be the exception. Citing his Christian beliefs, Vance is an even more staunch supporter of Israel than President Joe Biden, pushing for continued military aid and opposing limits on Israel’s war conduct.

“Vance’s strong support for Israel is a reflection of the importance of some conservative evangelical views in today’s Republican Party, as well as the stands of white Christian nationalist thinking that has grown under Trump’s grip on the party,” said Brian Katulis, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute.

Vance has criticized the U.S. neoconservative approach that began with the Bush administration as “strategically and morally stupid.” However, while he is against American interventionism elsewhere, in the Middle East he has advocated for a similar strategy of spending U.S. military resources to shore up an alliance of Israel and Sunni Muslim states to deter Iran and maintain peace and stability in the region.

Katulis critiqued the Republican vice presidential nominee’s worldview as “a reflection of the confused hyperpartisan debate” from isolationist camps that emerged in the U.S. following the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, rather than an “actual coherent worldview about what it would take to protect America’s interest and values in the real world.”

Meanwhile, Katulis said that Middle East actors are “anticipating more unpredictability, incoherence and confusion” should a Trump-Vance ticket win in November.

Hawkish on China

Author of the best-selling memoir-turned-movie Hillbilly Elegy, Vance has lived experience with the social and economic harm that deindustrialization has inflicted upon some American communities.

He has echoed Trump’s accusation that China is stealing manufacturing jobs from the U.S., especially those jobs in the Midwestern part of the country from where he hails.

“Vance has supported more economic restrictions and tariffs on Chinese imports and investments,” said Dean Chen, a professor of political science at the Ramapo College of New Jersey. “I expect his position on China to be in line with Trump nationalists in their potential new administration,” he told VOA.

In the U.S. Senate, Vance introduced legislation to restrict Chinese access to U.S. financial markets and to protect American higher education from Beijing’s influence.

On Taiwan, “the thing that we need to prevent more than anything is a Chinese invasion,” Vance said last year during an event at the Heritage Foundation.

“It would be catastrophic for this country. It would decimate our entire economy. It would throw this country into a Great Depression,” he added.

That’s a much more clear-cut stance than Trump, who has suggested at various times that he may not come to Taipei’s defense should Beijing invade. Washington does not have a formal treaty with Taiwan but supplies the democratically self-governing island with arms to maintain a “sufficient self-defense capability.”

In a June interview with Bloomberg Businessweek, Trump indicated he wants Taipei to pay the U.S. for its defense.

“You know, we’re no different than an insurance company,” he said. “Taiwan doesn’t give us anything.”

Taiwan policy aside, Ashford said the biggest shock in a Trump-Vance administration could be on trade policy, with “new tariffs on China or even Europe.”

“It could be quite extreme,” she warned.

Tatiana Vorozhko, Lin Yang and Steve Herman contributed to this report.
…

Biden tests positive for COVID, cancels Nevada campaign event

Washington — President Joe Biden on Wednesday tested positive for COVID-19, the White House said in a statement, shortly after he abruptly canceled a Las Vegas speech where he planned to appeal to Latino voters.

The 81-year-old president tested positive before his first event in Las Vegas Wednesday and is experiencing “mild symptoms,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in the statement. She added that he is vaccinated and boosted against the virus and will return to his home in Rehoboth, Delaware, where he will self-isolate.

“The White House will provide regular updates on the President’s status as he continues to carry out the full duties of the office while in isolation,” she said.

The news was first announced by the president of UnidosUS, the nation’s largest Latino nonprofit advocacy organization.

“Regrettably I was just on the phone with President Biden,” UnidosUS President Janet Murguia told the crowd gathered in a Las Vegas ballroom to hear the president. “And he shared his deep disappointment at not being able to join us this afternoon. The president has been at many events as we all know, and he just tested positive for COVID. So, of course, we understand that he needs to take the precautions that have been recommended, and he did not obviously want to put anybody at risk.”

A message from Biden’s doctor followed Jean-Pierre’s statement, adding that Biden’s respiratory rate, temperature and blood oxygen levels are all normal, and that he has received a dose of treatment. The doctor, whose name was not given in the statement, said Biden had shown symptoms including a runny nose, a cough and general malaise.

“His symptoms remain mild, his respiratory rate is normal at 16, his temperature is normal at 97.8 and his pulse oximetry is normal at 97%,” the note said. “The president has received his first dose of Paxlovid. He will be self-isolating at his home in Rehoboth.”

As Biden prepared to board Air Force One to fly to Delaware, reporters asked him how he felt. He gave the press a thumbs-up and replied: “Good. I feel good.”
…

Democrats aim to nominate Biden in early August, as some push him to exit race

washington — U.S. Representative Adam Schiff of California on Wednesday became the highest-profile Democrat to call for President Joe Biden to drop his reelection bid, as the party pushed ahead with plans to formally nominate Biden via a virtual vote in early August before the party’s convention two weeks later.

The move to schedule the vote comes after nearly 20 Democrats in Congress have called on Biden to exit the presidential race in the wake of his halting debate performance against Republican former President Donald Trump last month.

Among Democrats nationwide, nearly two-thirds say Biden should let his party nominate a different candidate, according to an AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll released Wednesday, sharply undercutting his post-debate claim that “average Democrats” are still with him even if some “big names” are turning on him.

“While the choice to withdraw from the campaign is President Biden’s alone, I believe it is time for him to pass the torch,” Schiff  said in a statement, “and in doing so, secure his legacy of leadership by allowing us to defeat Donald Trump in the upcoming election.”

Delay encouraged

The announcement from Schiff, who is running for the U.S. Senate this fall, came after Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries encouraged the Democratic National Convention to delay for a week plans to hold the virtual vote to renominate Biden, which could have taken place as soon as Sunday, according to two people familiar with the situation who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations.

Now, the Democratic National Convention’s rules committee will meet Friday to discuss the virtual vote plans and will finalize them next week, according to a letter sent to members obtained Wednesday by The Associated Press. The letter from co-chairs Bishop Leah D. Daughtry and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz states that the virtual roll call vote won’t take place before August 1, but that the party is still committed to holding a vote before August 7, which had been the filing deadline to get on Ohio’s presidential ballot.

“We will not be implementing a rushed virtual voting process,” Daughtry and Walz wrote, “though we will begin our important consideration of how a virtual voting process would work.”

The Democratic convention opens August 19 in Chicago, but the party announced in May that it would hold an early roll call to ensure Biden would qualify for the ballot in Ohio.

Ohio originally had an August 7 deadline but has since changed its rules. The Biden campaign insists that the party must operate under Ohio’s initial rules to ensure Republican lawmakers can’t mount legal challenges to keep the president off the ballot. 

Not a lock

Even if Democrats conduct a virtual roll call vote ahead of their convention, meanwhile, it wouldn’t necessarily lock Biden into the nomination.

The Democratic National Committee rule-making arm could vote to hold an in-person roll call in Chicago, said Elaine Kamarck, a longtime member of that committee and expert on the party’s nominating process. But since the Ohio law doesn’t go into effect until September 1, Biden appearing on the state’s ballot remains a real concern, Kamarck said.

“This is a fail safe for the Democrats,” Kamarck said, adding that “the convention is the highest authority” in the nominating process.

The AP-NORC poll also found that only about 3 in 10 Democrats were extremely or very confident that he has the mental capability to serve effectively as president, down from 40% in an AP-NORC poll in February.

The letter from Daughtry and Walz came a day after a contingent of House Democrats wary of swiftly nominating Biden circulated another letter raising “serious concerns” about plans for a virtual roll call. Their letter to the DNC, which has not been sent, said it would be a “terrible idea” to stifle debate about the party’s nominee with the early roll call vote.

“It could deeply undermine the morale and unity of Democrats,” said the letter obtained by the AP.

A spokesperson said that Representative Jared Huffman of California, who was among those leading the effort to rally signatures on the letter, was pleased with the decision to delay and would hold off sending the letter from House Democrats as they continue monitoring the situation.
…

Wife of Trump’s VP pick is Yale law graduate, daughter of Indian immigrants

…

Meet the Republican nominee for vice president

…

How will photos of Trump shooting shape US presidential campaign?

…

Increased security around Trump is apparent, agents wall him off from RNC crowds

Milwaukee —  On the floor of the Republican National Convention Tuesday evening, vice presidential candidate JD Vance greeted and shook hands with excited delegates as he walked toward his seat.

It was a marked contrast from former President Donald Trump, who entered the hall a few minutes later and was separated from supporters by a column of Secret Service agents. His ear still bandaged after an attempted assassination, Trump closely hugged the wall. Instead of handshakes or hellos for those gathered, he offered fist pumps to the cameras.

The contrast underscores the new reality facing Trump after a gunman opened fire at his rally in Pennsylvania Saturday, raising serious questions about the agency that is tasked with protecting the president, former presidents and major-party candidates. Trump’s campaign must also adjust to a new reality after he came millimeters from death or serious injury — and as law enforcement warns of the potential for more political violence.

Trump campaign officials declined to comment on the stepped-up security and how it might impact his interactions going forward.

“We do not comment on President Trump’s security detail. All questions should be directed to the United States Secret Service,” said Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung.

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, whose agency oversees the Secret Service, said Monday that he could not discuss “specifics of the protection or the enhancements made, as they involve sensitive tactics and procedures. I can say, however, that personnel and other protective resources, technology, and capabilities have been added.”

The Secret Service had already stepped up Trump’s protection in the days before the attack following an unrelated threat from Iran, two U.S. officials said Tuesday. But that extra security didn’t stop the gunman, who fired from an adjacent roof, from killing one audience member and injuring two others along with Trump.

The FBI and Homeland Security officials remain “concerned about the potential for follow-on or retaliatory acts of violence following this attack,” according to a joint intelligence bulletin by Homeland Security and the FBI and obtained by The Associated Press. The bulletin warned that lone actors and small groups will “continue to see rallies and campaign events as attractive targets.”

Underscoring the security risks, a man armed with an AK-47 pistol, wearing a ski mask and carrying a tactical backpack was taken into custody Monday near the Fiserv Forum, where the convention is being held.

The attack has led to stepped-up security not only for Trump. President Joe Biden’s security has also been bolstered, with more agents surrounding him as he boarded Air Force One to Las Vegas on Monday night. Independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. also received Secret Service protection in the shooting’s wake.

Trump’s campaign has also responded in other ways, including placing armed security at all hours outside their offices in Florida and Washington, D.C.

Trump has already scheduled his next rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on Saturday. That’s where he will appear with Vance for their first event as a presidential ticket.

But the new posture complicates, at least for now, the interactions Trump regularly has with supporters as he signs autographs, shakes hands and poses for selfies at events and on airplane tarmacs.
…

Biden aims to cut through voter disenchantment as he courts Latinos in Las Vegas

…

In speech to Black voters, Biden links violence on Trump to racial, gun violence

President Joe Biden addressed Black supporters in the battleground state of Nevada Tuesday, his first campaign appearance since the assassination attempt on his Republican rival, former President Donald Trump. He linked the attack on Trump to racial and gun violence, imploring Americans to “condemn violence in any form.” White House Bureau Chief Patsy Widakuswara has this report.
…

Trump’s former foes pay homage at Republican Party convention

The U.S. Republican Party put some of Donald Trump’s intra-party former foes briefly back in the spotlight on the second night of its nominating convention. VOA’s chief national correspondent Steve Herman was on the convention floor Tuesday and has details from Milwaukee.
…

Biden stands ground on gun policy, asks Americans to cool down

white house — With the recent assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump, the conversation around guns and gun policy is heating up — even as President Joe Biden is asking the country to cool down.

This is the first assassination attempt on a former or current U.S. president since 1981, when Ronald Reagan was shot

“First of all, that is preposterous,” said U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas when asked about rumors that the assassination attempt was an inside job involving the current administration.

“It is also dangerous to propagate rumors that are so unequivocally false and provocative,” he said at a Monday news briefing. “As the president so powerfully said to the entire nation, we have to tamp down the rhetoric in this country.”

U.S. gun policy may see particular focus in campaigns and debates in the final approach to the 2024 presidential election.

Biden, even before the recent shooting, has been a strong advocate for stricter gun policy.

Biden served as vice president under President Barack Obama, who tried to tighten gun policy following the 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary school that killed 26 people, mostly 6- and 7-year-olds, but was unable to pass major gun legislation.

After the Sandy Hook shooting, Obama asked Biden to lead a more concrete initiative on gun reform, and Biden met with a range of citizens to seek their thoughts on gun policy.

Trump has advocated a less stringent gun policy. His campaign calls for deregulation of firearms, and he has said he will undo some executive actions introduced by Biden.

White House reaffirms position

At the news briefing with Mayorkas on Monday, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre affirmed Biden’s position on gun policy.

“The president has been, obviously, a strong advocate on gun control. He has been throughout his career as a senator, as vice president, as now as president,” Jean-Pierre said in answer to a question from VOA.

She noted that Congress in 2022 approved the first major gun safety legislation in 30 years. “The president led on that effort and was able to get that done. … The president has signed more than two dozen executive actions [on gun control],” she said.

‘Lower the temperature’

This week, Biden has also condemned the recent violence, asking the country to minimize its divisiveness.

“We have to lower the temperature … there is no place in America for violence. It is important that we are really clear about that,” said Jean-Pierre when asked if Biden plans to tone down his political rhetoric.

The message from the White House comes after Biden called Trump a “threat to democracy” on several occasions. Trump has repeatedly said “you will not have a country” if Biden is re-elected.

J.D. Vance, Donald Trump’s recently chosen candidate for vice president, blamed Biden’s political rhetoric for the assassination attempt.

“Today is not just some isolated incident. The central premise of the Biden campaign is that President Donald Trump is an authoritarian fascist who must be stopped at all costs. That rhetoric led directly to President Trump’s attempted assassination,” he posted on X shortly after the incident.

In a Monday interview with NBC News, Biden said he regretted saying “it was time to put Trump in the bull’s-eye.” But he defended saying that the former president is a “threat.”

“Look, how do you talk about the threat to democracy, which is real, when a president says things like he says?” Biden said in the interview

Some analysts doubt that Biden’s call for a calmer climate will bring about big changes to the political landscape.

“I think the immediate effect [after the shooting] is going to be that it will escalate violent rhetoric and that people are going to be more vehement and vocal in vilifying their political rivals,” Valentine said.

“Unfortunately, I think that’s where we’re at, and that’s what we’re beginning to see already.”

Anita Powell contributed to this report from the White House.
…

Vice presidential nominee Vance calls China ‘biggest threat to our country’

Washington — In his short time in the U.S. Senate, J.D. Vance, the newly tapped Republican vice presidential nominee, has been a hawk on China.

He has introduced legislation to restrict Chinese access to U.S. financial markets and to protect U.S. higher education from Chinese influence.

In an interview with Fox News shortly after being named as former President Donald Trump’s running mate on Monday, Vance called China “the biggest threat” to the United States.

When asked about Russia’s war in Ukraine, Vance said Trump would negotiate with Moscow and Kyiv to “bring this thing to a rapid close so America can focus on the real issue, which is China.”

“That’s the biggest threat to our country and we are completely distracted from it,” said Vance, a staunch supporter of Trump’s Make America Great Again agenda.

The 39-year-old author and venture capitalist rose to fame with his 2016 memoir “Hillbilly Elegy.” He advocates for a hands-off approach to foreign policy and is dubious about military intervention.

Tariffs and more tariffs

Both Trump and Vance have supported strong tariffs on China. In an interview with CBS’s “Face the Nation” news program in May, Vance said the U.S. needs to apply across-the-board tariffs on imports.

“If you apply tariffs, really what it is you’re saying [is] that we’re going to penalize you for using slave labor in China and importing that stuff in the United States. What you end up doing is, you end up making more stuff in America, in Pennsylvania, in Ohio and in Michigan,” he said.

Trump has repeatedly accused China of stealing manufacturing jobs from the U.S., especially those jobs in the Midwestern part of the country.

“Vance has supported more economic restrictions and tariffs on Chinese imports and investments,” Dean Chen, a professor of political science at the Ramapo College of New Jersey, told VOA. “Hence, I expect his position on China to be in line with Trump nationalists in their potential new administration.”

Trump has promised that, if elected, he would impose 10% across-the-board levies on imported goods and a tariff of 60% or higher on Chinese goods to protect American industries.

Joel Goldstein, professor emeritus of law at Saint Louis University and an expert on the vice presidency, said Vance was selected because he is “a very loyal supporter who has embraced Trump’s policies and style and who seems disposed to defend Trump’s words and conduct.”

“The choice seems designed to appeal to Trump’s MAGA base, not to unify the Republican Party or the nation,” he told VOA.

Taiwan

Experts say Vance might be more of an isolationist than Trump, as Vance was vehemently opposed to funding the war in Ukraine.

“He previously served as a U.S. Marine in Iraq and felt that the lessons from that war should prevent future entanglements,” Chen said.

Chen added that whether that attitude translates to lessened support for a Taiwan military contingency remains to be seen.

“We all know that Trump has been clear that he won’t announce whether he would send troops to help Taiwan should Beijing invade the island democracy, saying that a lucid explanation would undercut his negotiating position,” he said. “I expect Vance to toe the same line as President Trump.”

Attracting Rust Belt voters

Vance was born on August 2, 1984, in Middletown, Ohio. He served in the Marine Corps before attending The Ohio State University and Yale Law School.

His 2016 bestselling memoir, “Hillbilly Elegy,” detailed his family’s struggles with poverty, addiction and instability. The book focuses on the hardship faced by white working-class people in the Rust Belt — the manufacturing region in the U.S. that includes parts of the Northeast and Midwest and has experienced economic decline and population loss.

“Senator Vance’s life story and diverse accomplishments are impressive,” Karen Hult, a political science professor at Virginia Tech, told VOA.

“He not only is from a ‘red’ Republican state, but one that is near the battleground state of Pennsylvania and may be seen as appealing to many more rural and smaller town residents in much of the Middle West,” Hult said.

In the 2020 presidential election, Trump lost Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan, three important swing states along the Rust Belt.

Hult said that in most presidential elections, the choice of running mates makes little difference in voting results.

“That, of course, may differ in 2024, given the age of the two major party candidates and in light of Saturday’s assassination attempt,” she added.
…

Biden returns to campaign trail after rival Trump’s assassination attempt

Washington — All eyes will be on Joe Biden as he addresses Black supporters Tuesday in the battleground state of Nevada, his first campaign appearance since the assassination attempt on his Republican rival, former president Donald Trump.

The U.S. president is expected to sharpen the choice voters will face this November, while calling for unity amid concerns of escalating political violence in the country.

In Las Vegas, at a convention of an American civil rights organization, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, or NAACP, Biden will highlight his administration’s support for Black voters who have been part of the backbone of the Democratic party’s coalition.

He is set to unveil policies to rein in rising housing costs, a critical issue in Nevada. He’ll broadcast his message in an interview with Black Entertainment Television, BET, later the same day.

On Wednesday, he’ll address UnidosUS, the nation’s largest Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization, attempting to win Latino voters, another key voting bloc for Democrats.

In both events, Biden is expected to repeat his calls to cool down the country’s political rhetoric, a message he has delivered in three remarks in less than 24 hours following the shooting at Trump’s Pennsylvania campaign event that killed a rallygoer and wounded others, including the former president.

“Disagreement is inevitable in American democracy,” the president said in a rare Oval Office address Sunday. “But politics must never be a literal battlefield, and, God forbid, a killing field.”

Biden faces the challenge of navigating his unity message with his vows to stop Trump at all costs, as his campaign adjusts its strategy to move forward amid the president’s declining poll numbers. The Biden team had just begun to more sharply criticize Trump in an effort to stabilize Biden’s candidacy, following his rocky debate performance last month when the shooting occurred.

Via his social media platform, Trump urged the nation to “stand united.” He said in an interview with the Washington Examiner newspaper that he rewrote his speech for this week’s Republican National Convention to focus more on unity following the attempt on his life.

“I fear that this moment of detente won’t last very long,” said Claire Finkelstein, director of the Center for Ethics and the Rule of Law at the University of Pennsylvania. But it may bring greater awareness from each candidate to refrain from rhetoric that “can have an impact” especially on followers “who can be easily revved up into engaging in acts of violence,” she told VOA.

Biden continues to reject calls from at least 20 congressional Democrats and others within his party to step aside over concerns about his age and mental acuity, insisting that he is the best-positioned Democrat to beat Trump.

The latest polling data averages from various surveys compiled by FiveThirtyEight shows that Trump is leading by 4.7 percent in Nevada.

VOA’s Kim Lewis contributed to this story.
…

JD Vance selected as Trump’s vice presidential running mate

After months of speculation, Donald Trump announced his vice presidential running mate. J.D. Vance joins the Republican presidential ticket as one of the youngest vice presidential candidates since Richard Nixon in 1952. The nomination puts his newcomer status and political inexperience to the test. Tina Trinh reports.
…

Biden, Trump call for unity in aftermath of Trump assassination attempt

The weekend assassination attempt on Donald Trump has silenced much of the chatter over President Joe Biden’s political future. But as Trump charged forward Monday, appearing at the Republican National Convention and naming his vice presidential pick, the Biden administration prepared for a Tuesday campaign stop in this uncertain stage in the presidential race. VOA’s Anita Powell reports from the White House.
…

First appearance of Donald Trump after assassination attempt

Former President Donald Trump made a triumphant return to the public eye at the Republican National Convention late Monday, two days after he was wounded in an attempted assassination. Carolyn Presutti reports from Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
…

Biden says ‘bull’s-eye’ reference to Trump was a mistake

WASHINGTON — U.S. President Joe Biden said on Monday he made a mistake when he told supporters to put rival Donald Trump in a “bull’s-eye” in an effort to focus attention on his rival’s behavior but said Trump regularly employed rhetoric that was inflammatory.

“It was a mistake to use the word,” Biden said in an interview with NBC’s Lester Holt. “I meant focus on it, focus on what he’s doing,” Biden said.

On July 8, Biden, 81, spoke to some of his biggest donors and said they needed to shift the election campaign’s focus from him and his poor debate performance to former President Trump, the Republican nominee in the Nov. 5 election.

“I have one job and that’s to beat Donald Trump … We’re done talking about the debate. It’s time to put Trump in the bull’s-eye,” he said.

Some Republicans zeroed in on that comment as they blamed Biden for creating a climate that sparked the assassination attempt on Trump at a rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday. Biden has repeatedly decried political violence.

The president has endured more than two weeks of questions about his political future, so far facing down calls to step aside as the Democratic presidential candidate after his poor performance against Trump in the debate on June 27 sparked a crisis within his party.

He reiterated in the interview that he is not leaving the race, while acknowledging that people’s questions about his age were legitimate.

Biden also weighed in on Trump’s selection of Senator J.D. Vance of Ohio as his running mate.

Asked by NBC’s Lester Holt what Vance’s selection said about Trump’s values, Biden replied: “He’s going to surround himself with people who agree completely with him.” Biden, chuckling, also noted some of Vance’s previously critical comments about Trump.

The president has sought to turn attention to his opponent, highlighting Trump’s falsehoods, his refusal to accept the 2020 election results and his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.

“I’m not the guy that said I want to be a dictator on day one. I’m not the guy that refused to accept the outcome of the election,” Biden said.

He said Trump had engaged in inflammatory rhetoric, citing the former president’s comments about a bloodbath ensuing if he loses the 2024 election and making fun when former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi’s husband Paul was attacked by an intruder with a hammer at their home.

“How do you talk about the threat to democracy, which is real, when a president says things like he says? Do you just not say anything because it may incite somebody?” Biden said. “I have not engaged in that rhetoric. Now … my opponent’s engaged in that rhetoric.”

Biden, who is seeking to prove that he is fit to stand for reelection and govern for a second four-year term despite concerns about his age, noted that millions of people had voted for him to be the Democratic Party’s nominee. “I listen to them,” he said.
…

US Secret Service ‘confident in security’ for RNC

The United States Secret Service says it’s “confident” in its ability to safeguard this week’s Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. This, after the party’s leader, Donald Trump, survived an assassination attempt over the weekend. VOA’s Arash Arabasadi has more.
…

Trump picks Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, once-fierce critic turned loyal ally, as running mate

…

Biden orders Secret Service to protect RFK Jr. after Trump assassination attempt

Washington — President Joe Biden has directed the U.S. Secret Service to protect independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., after the attempted assassination of Donald Trump, the Homeland Security secretary said Monday.

Kennedy is a longshot to win Electoral College votes, much less the presidency. But his campaign events have drawn large crowds of supporters and people interested in his message.

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said Biden had directed the protection for Kennedy “both prior to and after the events of this past weekend.”

The Secret Service is legally required to protect major party presidential and vice-presidential candidates and their families 120 days out from a general election, but third-party candidates are on an as-needed basis.

The Department of Homeland Security acknowledged in its 2024 budget overview that recent requests for candidate protection were coming in earlier than in the past.

Threats to political candidates are common, but law enforcement officials have said that there has been an uptick in violent rhetoric since the weekend attack at the Trump rally. Mayorkas said both Biden and Trump are “constantly the subject of threats.”

“We are in a heightened and very dynamic threat environment,” he said. 

With a famous name and a loyal base, Kennedy has the potential to do better than any third-party presidential candidate since Ross Perot in the 1990s. But he didn’t participate in the first presidential debate on June 27. Both the Biden and Trump campaigns, who fear he could be a spoiler, bypassed the nonpartisan debate commission and agreed to a schedule that essentially left out Kennedy.

Kennedy, who last year challenged Biden for the Democratic nomination before launching an independent bid, has argued that his relatively strong showing in a few national polls gives his candidacy heft. Polls during the 2016 presidential campaign regularly put libertarian Gary Johnson’s support in the high single or low double digits, but he ultimately received only about 3% of the vote nationwide.

Trump became the official Republican presidential nominee Monday after receiving the votes of enough delegates at the Republican National Convention. He was not seriously injured in the shooting over the weekend in Pennsylvania. There is an independent review of the attack underway.

Mayorkas said Trump’s protection has been enhanced based on the “evolving nature of the threats to the former president” and his shift from presumptive nominee to nominee. 
…

A defiant Trump equals a defiant base

A defiant former President Donald Trump will attend the full Republican National Convention, just days after he survived an assassination attempt. VOA’s Senior Washington Correspondent Carolyn Presutti is in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and tells us how his supporters, after Saturday’s shock, are now energized.
…

Trump rally shooting becomes hot topic on China’s social media

Taipei, Taiwan — The shooting at a rally for former President Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday quickly became a trending topic on China’s social media platforms Sunday.

The Chinese foreign ministry released a statement on its website Sunday, indicating that the country is closely following the incident involving Trump.

“President Xi Jinping has expressed sympathies to former President Trump,” the Chinese foreign ministry said in its statement.

The FBI said Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, a resident of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, was the suspect in the attempted assassination of Trump.

As of noon, Beijing time Sunday, the Weibo entry “Trump was shot” had garnered more than 300 million views, making it the top trending topic on the platform. Weibo, a Chinese social media platform similar to X, formerly Twitter, mirrors trends seen on international platforms like X, which is banned in China.

Not only did the entry “Trump was shot” dominate Weibo’s trending topics, but at one point, half of the top 20 searches were related to the shooting. Updates such as “Trump’s right ear was shot through by a bullet,” “One person died at the scene,” and “The shooting suspect was killed,” along with U.S. President Joe Biden’s responses, also garnered significant attention.

Fast reaction came also from Chinese businesses: By noon Sunday in Beijing, shopping websites like Taobao and Pinduoduo listed T-shirts featuring images of Trump raising his arms after being injured. Some internet commenters jokingly remarked, “This is the speed of Chinese e-commerce.”

Major state media outlets, including Xinhua News Agency and CCTV, extensively covered the shooting.

Many Chinese experts interviewed said they believed that the assassination attempt was genuine and speculated that it could positively influence Trump’s campaign.

Chinese social media was also rife with speculation that the shooting was “self-directed and self-staged.”

Notably, Jin Hao, former executive editor of Xinhua News Agency’s “World Military,” commented on Weibo, saying that, after looking at the clips from the scene and observing Trump’s “remarkably swift” reaction, “he [knew he] was shot as soon as he touched his ears and immediately crouched down.” Jin remarked, “This isn’t something that ordinary people can react to.”

Some Weibo users also echoed that “it has been practiced hundreds of times.”

However, this conspiracy theory faced criticism from many bloggers, and others who argued that Trump’s ear injury was just a few centimeters away from the brain.

Even Jin Canrong, a professor at the School of International Relations at Renmin University of China, known for his strong anti-American stance, bluntly stated in an interview with the Shanghai-based media Observer Net that this incident was “an assassination.”

Jin noted that in the photos from the scene, the injured Trump raised his hands in a fighting gesture, surrounded by Secret Service agents and the American flag, effectively creating a heroic image for himself.

Currently based in California, Albert Chiu, a political science professor at Taiwan’s Tunghai University, said in an interview with VOA that Trump was shot during a live broadcast, and the shooter was killed on the scene, making it hard for any “conspiracy theory” to take hold. He emphasized that the ongoing culture of political assassination in the United States warrants more attention.

According to He Yue, a member of the National Union of Journalists in the United Kingdom, the enthusiasm of Chinese netizens for discussing the shooting reflects daily restrictions on free speech, where “domestic politics is off-limits.” They can only engage openly when negative topics related to American democracy arise, He Yue said.

Because “Chinese netizens really cannot discuss Chinese politics, when it comes to other countries’ political events, like the shooting, it feels like they’ve found an outlet to vent,” he told VOA. “The most heated discussions revolve around whether this is a ploy and who orchestrated it. Chinese people have lived in a world of falsehoods for too long; everything feels fake, so they use this mindset to judge foreigners.”

Taiwan’s reaction

On Sunday, Chen Shui-bian, former Taiwanese president who was shot while campaigning for reelection two decades ago, pointed out in interviews with several Taiwanese media outlets that the locations of both shootings — his in Tainan, in southern Taiwan, and Trump’s in Butler, Pennsylvania — can be seen as “sacred places of democracy” for both countries. Each attack resulted in minor injuries to presidential candidates, which he characterized as “a striking coincidence.”

One day before the 2004 Taiwan presidential election, the “319 shooting incident” occurred. President Chen was shot while campaigning in a jeep in Tainan. The bullet only caused a minor abdominal injury after penetrating his clothing.

The Presidential Office of Taiwan stated Sunday, “President (Lai Ching-te) extends sincere concerns to former President Trump and prays for his speedy recovery.” Lai strongly condemned any form of political violence and expressed his deepest condolences to all victims.

Eric Chu, chairman of the China-friendly opposition Kuomintang party, also stated in an interview that he promptly expressed condolences to the U.S. side, hoping for former President Trump’s swift recovery, and emphasizing the party’s condemnation of political violence.
…

Biden, in somber Oval Office address, calls for unity, peace after Trump shooting

President Joe Biden on Sunday summoned the gravitas of the Oval Office to entreat Americans to unify and shun political violence after a stunning attempt on the life of rival Donald Trump a day earlier. Trump, en route to the political convention where he is expected to clinch the Republican presidential nomination, made similar calls – in a sign both men fear trouble ahead as the November election looms. VOA’s Anita Powell reports from the White House.
…

Security in focus as Republicans open nominating convention following Trump shooting

…

FBI identifies suspect in Trump assassination attempt; motive unknown

The FBI has named a suspect in what it called an attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump. The presumptive Republican presidential nominee’s campaign says Trump is “fine” after the shooting. An investigation into the incident is underway. VOA’s Arash Arabasadi has more.
…

Biden condemns political violence, calls for unity after Trump assassination attempt

White House — President Joe Biden on Sunday condemned political violence and called for national unity after an assassination attempt on his rival and presidential challenger, former President Donald Trump.

Biden also urged Americans to not jump to conclusions as law enforcement investigates the Saturday shooting at a rally in the swing state of Pennsylvania. 

“There is no place in America for this kind of violence – or any violence for that matter,” Biden said, flanked by his vice president and attorney general. “An assassination attempt is contrary to everything we stand for, as a nation, everything. It’s not who we are as a nation, it’s not American, and we cannot allow this to happen. 

“Unity is the most elusive goal of all, but nothing is (more) important than that right now: unity. We’ll debate and will disagree – that’s not going to change. But we’re going to not lose sight of the fact of who we are as Americans,” the president said.

He added that Trump is “doing well and recovering” and that he had taken steps to direct the Secret Service to provide Trump with “every resource, capability and protective measure necessary to ensure his continued safety.” 

Biden said that he instructed the elite law enforcement agency to review all security measures – “all security measures,” he repeated for emphasis – as Republicans, including Trump, prepare to arrive Monday in Milwaukee for the Republican National Convention. There, Trump is expected to be officially named as the party’s presidential nominee.

President Biden added that although the shooter has been identified, Americans should not rush to form conclusions until the investigation is complete.

“I urge everyone – everyone – please don’t make assumptions about his motive or his affiliations,” Biden said. 

And finally, he said he would address the nation late Sunday from the Oval Office – widely seen as the most sober and consequential venue for presidential addresses. 

Biden had abruptly returned to Washington early Sunday to receive briefings on the event and its aftermath. He and Vice President Kamala Harris spent much of the morning in the White House Situation Room with homeland security and law enforcement officials, according to a White House photo.

Also Sunday, the White House announced that Biden would not travel Monday to Texas, as planned, for a campaign event. The campaign had said Saturday that they were working to temporarily suspend campaign messaging and take down ads. 

The Federal Bureau of Investigation is leading the investigation into what they are describing as an assassination attempt. Trump was wounded in the ear Saturday evening at a rally in Pennsylvania after a gunman aimed at him. His campaign said he was “fine” and he appeared later that evening, walking off his plane in New Jersey. 

An attendee at the rally was killed, as was the gunman, and two other attendees were wounded, law enforcement said. 

On Sunday, former first lady Melania Trump issued a plea for Americans to “ascend above the hate, the vitriol, and the simple-minded ideas that ignite violence.”

Also Sunday, Devin Nunes, a Republican former congressman who is the CEO of Trump Media & Technology Group Corp., called for a thorough investigation.

“The situation demands a fast, thorough federal investigation to determine all the circumstances of this cowardly attack and to identify if any additional persons were involved. I also call for the federal government to provide any security resources requested by President Trump to guarantee his safety. America will overcome this despicable shooting and together, our nation will endure.”
…