Trump, in highly personal speech, will accept GOP nomination again days after assassination attempt | Canada News Media
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Trump, in highly personal speech, will accept GOP nomination again days after assassination attempt

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MILWAUKEE (AP) — Just five days after surviving an assassination attempt, a bandaged Donald Trump is set to address the Republican National Convention on Thursday to accept his party’s presidential nomination in a speech designed to unify his party — and the nation — behind his third consecutive White House bid.

The 78-year-old former president, known for his willingness to criticize his political foes in both parties, has promised to offer a softer and more personal message of unity following his brush with death.

Trump’s speech marked the climax and conclusion of a massive four-day Republican pep rally that drew thousands of conservative activists and elected officials to swing-state Wisconsin as voters weigh an election that currently features two deeply unpopular candidates. But with less than four months to go in the contest, major changes in the race are possible, if not likely.

Trump’s appearance comes as 81-year-old Democratic President Joe Biden clings to his party’s nomination in the face of unrelenting pressure from key congressional allies, donors and even former President Barack Obama, who fear he may be unable to win reelection after his disastrous debate.

Long pressed by allies to campaign more vigorously, Biden is instead in isolation at his beach home in Delaware after having been diagnosed with COVID-19.

While the often bombastic Trump was seeking to project a more gentle tone on Thursday night, the speaking program of the convention’s final day was also designed to project strength in an implicit rebuke of Biden. The program was decidedly more masculine than it has been for much of the week.

The most prominent speakers included wrestling icon Hulk Hogan, Ultimate Fighting Championship President Dana White, and former Fox News host Tucker Carlson. Kid Rock was also set to perform.

Like many speakers during the convention, Carlson suggested that recent events were divinely inspired and that he wondered “if something bigger is going on.”

“I think it changed him,” Carlson said of the shooting, praising Trump for not lashing out in anger afterward.

“He did his best to bring the country together,” Carlson added. “This is the most responsible, unifying behavior from a leader I’ve ever seen.”

Former first lady Melania Trump and Ivanka Trump, the president’s elder daughter and former senior adviser, were expected to be inside the convention hall for the first time all week, but neither was scheduled to speak.

Attorney Alina Habba, who represented Trump in some of the legal cases against him, also addressed the convention.

Trump was convicted in May of 34 felony counts related to a criminal hush money scheme in New York. But his allies largely avoided his legal baggage this week, which was focused instead on Trump’s near-assassination.

Trump entered the hall about two hours before he was scheduled to speak, wearing a large white bandage on his right ear, as he has all week, to cover a wound he sustained in the Saturday shooting. Some of his supporters were sporting American flag-themed bandages on the convention floor Thursday.

Speakers and delegates, gathered in Wisconsin from every state in the nation, have repeatedly chanted “Fight, fight, fight!” in homage to Trump’s words in the moments after the shooting when he rose and pumped his fist after Secret Service agents killed the gunman.

While Republicans were set to emerge from their convention more united than in recent memory, Democrats are bitterly divided about whether Biden should continue to lead the ticket. Biden, following his disastrous debate performance against Trump last month, has resisted increasing pressure to drop out, with Democrats’ own party convention scheduled for next month in Chicago.

Hours before the balloons were scheduled to rain down on Trump and his family inside the convention hall, Biden deputy campaign manager Quentin Fulks appeared nearby in Milwaukee and insisted over and over that Biden would not step aside.

“I do not want to be rude, but I don’t know how many more times I can answer that,” Fulks told reporters. “There are no plans being made to replace Biden on the ballot.”

Nearly two-thirds of Democrats nationally say Biden should step aside and let his party nominate a different candidate, according to an AP-NORC poll released Wednesday.

The convention has showcased a Republican Party reshaped by Trump since he shocked the GOP establishment and won over the party’s grassroots on his way to the party’s 2016 nomination. Rivals Trump has vanquished — including Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas and Marco Rubio of Florida, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis — put aside their past criticisms and gave him their unqualified support.

Even his vice presidential pick, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, Trump’s choice to carry his movement into the next generation, was once a fierce critic who suggested in a private message since made public that Trump could be “America’s Hitler.”

Security was a major focus in Milwaukee in the wake of Trump’s near-assassination. But after nearly four full days, there were no serious incidents inside the convention hall or the large security perimeter that surrounded it.

The Secret Service, backed by hundreds of law enforcement officers from across the nation, had a large and visible presence. And during Trump’s appearances each night, he was surrounded by a wall of protective agents wherever he went.

Meanwhile, Trump and his campaign have not released information about his injury or the treatment he received.

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Associated Press reporters Michelle L. Price in Milwaukee and Emily Swanson in Washington contributed to this report.

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Follow the AP’s coverage of the 2024 election at https://apnews.com/hub/election-2024.

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Woman faces fraud charges after theft from Nova Scotia premier’s riding association

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NEW GLASGOW, N.S. – Police in New Glasgow, N.S., say a 44-year-old woman faces fraud charges after funds went missing from the Pictou East Progressive Conservative Association.

New Glasgow Regional Police began the investigation on Oct. 7, after Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston reported that an undisclosed amount of money had gone missing from his riding association’s account.

Police allege that a volunteer who was acting as treasurer had withdrawn funds from the association’s account between 2016 and 2024.

The force says it arrested Tara Amanda Cohoon at her Pictou County, N.S., residence on Oct. 11.

They say investigators seized mobile electronic devices, bank records and cash during a search of the home.

Cohoon has since been released and is to appear in Pictou provincial court on Dec. 2 to face charges of forgery, uttering a forged document, theft over $5,000 and fraud over $5,000.

Police say their investigation remains ongoing.

Houston revealed the investigation to reporters on Oct. 9, saying he felt an “incredible level of betrayal” over the matter.

The premier also said a volunteer he had known for many years had been dismissed from the association and the party.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 23, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.



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Nova Scotia company fined $80,000 after worker dies in scaffolding collapse

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PICTOU, N.S. – A Nova Scotia excavation company has been fined $80,000 after a worker died when scaffolding collapsed on one of its job sites.

In a decision released Wednesday, a Nova Scotia provincial court judge in Pictou, N.S., found the failure by Blaine MacLane Excavation Ltd. to ensure scaffolding was properly installed led to the 2020 death of Jeff MacDonald, a self-employed electrician.

The sentence was delivered after the excavation company was earlier found guilty of an infraction under the province’s Occupational Health and Safety Act.

Judge Bryna Hatt said in her decision she found the company “failed in its duty” to ensure that pins essential to the scaffolding’s stability were present at the work site.

Her decision said MacDonald was near the top of the structure when it collapsed on Dec. 9, 2020, though the exact height is unknown.

The judge said that though the excavation company did not own the scaffolding present on its job site, there was no evidence the company took steps to prevent injury, which is required under legislation.

MacDonald’s widow testified during the trial that she found her husband’s body at the job site after he didn’t pick up their children as planned and she couldn’t get in touch with him over the phone.

Julie MacDonald described in her testimony how she knew her husband had died upon finding him due to her nursing training, and that she waited alone in the dark for emergency responders to arrive after calling for help.

“My words cannot express how tragic this accident was for her, the children, and their extended family,” Hatt wrote in the sentencing decision.

“No financial penalty will undo the damage and harm that has been done, or adequately represent the loss of Mr. MacDonald to his family, friends, and our community.”

In addition to the $80,000 fine, the New Glasgow-based company must also pay a victim-fine surcharge of $12,000 and provide $8,000 worth of community service to non-profits in Pictou County.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 23, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.



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Remains of missing Kansas man found at scene of western Newfoundland hotel fire

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ST. JOHN’S, N.L. – Investigators found the remains of a 77-year-old American man on Wednesday at the scene of a fire that destroyed a hotel in western Newfoundland on the weekend.

Eugene Earl Spoon, a guest at the hotel, was visiting Newfoundland from Kansas. His remains were found Wednesday morning during a search of the debris left behind after the fire tore through the Driftwood Inn in Deer Lake, N.L., on Saturday, the RCMP said in a news release.

“RCMP (Newfoundland and Labrador) extends condolences to the family and friends of the missing man,” the news release said.

Spoon was last seen Friday evening in the community of about 4,800 people in western Newfoundland. The fire broke out early Saturday morning, the day Spoon was reported missing.

Several crews from the area fought the flames for about 16 hours before the final hot spot was put out, and police said Wednesday that investigators are still going through the debris.

Meanwhile, the provincial Progressive Conservative Opposition reiterated its call for a wider review of what happened.

“Serious questions have been raised about the fire, and the people deserve answers,” Tony Wakeham, the party’s leader, said in a news release Wednesday. “A thorough investigation must be conducted to determine the cause and prevent such tragedies in the future.”

The party has said it spoke to people who escaped the burning hotel, and they said alarm and sprinkler systems did not seem to have been activated during the fire. However, Stephen Rowsell, the Deer Lake fire chief, has said there were alarms going off when crews first arrived.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 23, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.



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