Republican National Convention 2024 LIVE updates: Trump running mate J.D. Vance speaks, Joe Biden tests positive for COVID

Our international editor Peter Hartcher is in Washington this month.

He joined our Morning Edition podcast to reflect on the mood in America, in the stunned aftermath of the attempted assassination of Trump; how it compares to America’s most “feverish” moments this century, and now Trump’s newly crowned heir apparent, J.D. Vance.

Meanwhile, our North American correspondent Farrah Tomazin has braved the wilderness of security screening that has sprung up around the Republican Convention to report live from inside.

Placards for today’s theme of “Make America Strong Again” are out in force.

It’s OK, Democrats. President Biden, now flying home to Delaware to carry out his duties in isolation following a COVID diagnosis today, has fired off a cheeky tweet.

“I’m sick,” the tweet reads, “... of Elon Musk and his rich buddies trying to buy this election.”

The White House has been quick to reassure Americans the president has only mild symptoms and is being treated, but speakers at the Republican convention have been just as quick to seize on the issue of Biden’s health yet again.

Fresh from his prison cell, former Trump adviser Peter Navarro has appeared on the convention stage to thunderous applause, joking with the crowd about the “MAGA tattoo” he got in the big house.

“If they can come for me, if they can come for Donald Trump, be careful,” he told the crowd. “If we don’t control all three branches of our government … our government will control us.”

Navarro served four months for contempt of Congress after failing to cooperate with its January 6 Capitol riot probe, alongside Trump adviser Steve Bannon (jailed this month on his own four-month sentence).

A chant of “USA” erupted from the crowd as Navarro spoke of “attacks” by the US court system on Trump’s team, and welcomed his partner on stage.

Texas Republican Ronny Jackson, Trump’s former White House physician, had plenty to say about Biden’s health, but continued his years-long trend of shedding little light on Trump’s condition.

Jackson joined the chorus of Republicans attacking Biden’s health at the third day of the convention, as news came in of the Democrat president’s COVID diagnosis.

The former doctor in both the Obama and Trump administrations blamed Biden’s “staff and family” for not pushing him to abandon his reelection campaign.

“Perhaps the greatest blame lies with his own vice president,” he added, accusing Kamala Harris of putting “party above country” in defending Biden’s fitness for office.

Despite initially saying he had examined Trump’s ear in the aftermath of the attempt on his life, Jackson has since declined to give any information about Trump’s condition.

With AP

Meanwhile, there’s an unlikely fashion accessory on the Republican convention floor this year – ear bandages.

In solidarity with their wounded party leader, some in the crowd have decorated the patches with messages such as “Trump 2024”.

The spotlight may be squarely on President Biden’s health, but questions are also mounting over the condition of former president Donald Trump after he survived a shooting on the weekend.

Trump said a bullet pierced his ear when a shooter opened fire on him during a campaign rally on Saturday.

But more than four days on, the public has heard little of Trump’s condition aside from his initial assertions on social media that he is fine and determined to enjoy the Republican convention as planned.

The 78-year-old made a triumphant entrance to the convention on Monday (US time) and has been frequently spotted among the party faithful at the event, and sometimes briefly on stage.

Yet political watchers have questioned why his medical team is yet to speak publicly about his condition. A Trump adviser told US media that statements about the former president’s health will come from Trump himself.

The Republican presidential nominee is due to address his party tomorrow on the last day of the convention.

His former White House doctor Ronny Jackson, a Texas Republican, has been spotted close to Trump at the event and previously said he had examined the former president’s ear but has stopped taking questions about Trump.

The window of the man who died during the assassination attempt on Donald Trump in Pennsylvania said the former president offered his condolences over the phone.

Helen Comperatore, the widow of Corey Comperatore, posted on Facebook that she told Trump “the same thing I told everyone else”. Her husband “left this world a hero and God welcomed him in. He did not die in vain that day”.

Corey Comperatore threw himself over his wife as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks opened fire on Trump at the outdoor rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.

Helen had earlier turned down a call from President Joe Biden, telling The New York Post that her husband “was a devout Republican, and he would not have wanted me to talk to him”.

Trump will likely not attend the funeral of Corey Comperatore on Friday, the Tribune-Review reported.

Before boarding Air Force One to return home to Delaware following his COVID diagnosis, President Biden gave a thumbs up to gathered reporters. “I feel good,” he said. He wasn’t wearing a mask.

The White House says the president is experiencing mild symptoms and will cut his campaigning short in Las Vegas to self-isolate but continue carrying out his duties.