Highlights from the 2024 Republican National Convention

Former President Donald Trump was crowned as the GOP nominee — for a third time — at this week's Republican National Convention, which began two days after he survived an assassination attempt. 

The convention also gave valuable airtime to Republicans, who sought to project unity, as Democrats implode over whether President Biden is the best candidate to represent their party against Trump in November. 

Here are the top moments from this year's RNC. 

Trump announces his VP pick 

Trump waited until Monday afternoon to announce his running mate, JD Vance, calling the senator from Ohio to ask him to be on the ticket just 20 minutes before revealing his selection on social media. 

When Trump won in 2016, political elites and the media turned to Vance's bestselling memoir, "Hillbilly Elegy," to explain the real estate mogul's appeal to struggling Rust Belt Americans. 

The selection capped a dramatic few days for the former president, whose ear was grazed by an attempted assassin's bullet on Saturday at a rally in Pennsylvania. 

Vance officially accepted the nomination on Wednesday. 

Trump appears in public for first time since assassination attempt, recounts being shot

Two days after he narrowly survived an assassination attempt, Trump made his first public appearance, arriving at the convention on Monday night with a large white bandage over his right ear. 

Delegates cheered and chanted, "We love Trump! We love Trump!" 

In his lengthy acceptance speech on Thursday, Trump recounted the incident.

"I'll tell you exactly what happened, and you'll never hear it from me a second time, because it's actually too painful to tell,"  Trump told the crowd, later saying, "I'm not supposed to be here tonight." 

Nikki Haley endorses Trump after critical campaign 

Nikki Haley, who served as Trump's ambassador to the United Nations, announced Tuesday that the former president has her "strong endorsement." 

Haley, the former governor of South Carolina, did not say she was voting for Trump until May and was sharply critical of him during the primary campaign. She was not initially invited to the convention, but released her delegates the week before and encouraged them to vote for Trump. 

In her convention speech, Haley said Trump asked her to speak at the event "in the name of unity." 

"It was a gracious invitation, and I was happy to accept it," she said before speaking about the need to welcome more people into the Republican Party. 

Babydog makes an appearance 

Babydog, West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice's famous bulldog, sat quietly in an armchair onstage as the Senate candidate spoke glowingly about Trump on Tuesday. 

"Now as the world watches, you didn't really expect that, did you?" Justice said of Babydog's appearance. "She makes us smile, and she loves everybody." 

Melania Trump mostly absent 

Former first lady Melania Trump, who keeps a low-profile, was absent for most of the convention, appearing only Thursday, when her husband officially accepted the nomination.  

She spoke at the last two Republican conventions, but did not give a speech this year. Typically, a nominee's spouse gives a speech that humanizes them to voters. 

She appeared on stage with her husband when he announced in November 2022 he was running for president for a third time. Since then, she's been largely out of the public eye, though has appeared at private fundraising events.

The former first lady released a lengthy statement Sunday on the failed assassination attempt. 

"When I watched that violent bullet strike my husband, Donald, I realized my life, and Barron's life, were on the brink of devastating change," she wrote in her statement. "A monster who recognized my husband as an inhuman political machine attempted to ring out Donald's passion — his laughter, ingenuity, love of music, and inspiration. Donald, the generous and caring man who I have been with through the best of times and the worst of times." 

Trump's daughter Ivanka Trump and son-in-law Jared Kushner, who both worked in the White House, were also in attendance for Trump's speech on Thursday. Ivanka Trump has distanced herself from politics since leaving the White House. 

Peter Navarro delivers remarks hours after release from federal prison

Peter Navarro, who was a top trade adviser to Trump, delivered remarks on the third night of the Republican National Convention after being released from a federal prison in Miami earlier Wednesday morning.

Navarro reported to the correctional facility in March to begin serving a four-month sentence for defying a congressional subpoena and completed that sentence Wednesday. 

In his address to the convention, he joked to attendees that they "just want to know if you can see my MAGA tattoo I got there."

"I got a very simple message for you: If they can come for me, if they can come for Donald Trump, be careful, they will come for you," Navarro said.

He referred to the Justice Department as Mr. Biden's "Department of Injustice," and claimed his prosecution for criminal contempt of Congress was politically motivated. There is no evidence that the president had any involvement in Navarro's case, which arose after he refused to comply with a subpoena from the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.

They did not break me," Navarro said at the convention. "And they will never break Donald Trump." 

Kai Trump, daughter of Donald Trump Jr., makes her political debut 

Trump's 17-year-old granddaughter, Kai Trump, stepped in to humanize the former president, saying in a brief speech Wednesday that "the media makes my grandpa seem like a different person." 

She said he gives his grandchildren candy and soda when their parents aren't looking and often asks how they're doing in school. 

"He calls me during the middle of the school day to ask how my golf game is going, and tells me all about his," she said. "But then I have to remind him that I'm in school and I'll have to call him back later."

"When we play golf together, if I'm not on his team, he'll try to get inside of my head, and he's always surprised that I don't let him get to me. But I have to remind him, I'm a Trump, too," she said to loud applause. 

The teenager also mentioned learning of the assassination attempt against her grandfather. 

"It was heartbreaking that someone would do that to another person," she said. "A lot of people have put my grandpa through hell, and he's still standing."

The RNC band 

Sixwire, a five-member band from Nashville, played a number of classic rock covers throughout the four days, keeping the crowd dancing between speakers. 

The band includes lead singer and guitarist Andy Childs, keyboardist and singer Steve Hornbeak, John Howard on bass, guitarist and singer Steve Mandile and drummer Chuck Tilley.

In:
• Republican National Convention
• Donald Trump
• 2024 Elections

Caitlin Yilek

Caitlin Yilek is a politics reporter at CBSNews.com, based in Washington, D.C. She previously worked for the Washington Examiner and The Hill, and was a member of the 2022 Paul Miller Washington Reporting Fellowship with the National Press Foundation.

Twitter