What the attempted assassination of Donald Trump has done to the Republican Party
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Well, let's head to Wisconsin. Brian Loughnane, he was the Federal Director of the Liberal Party of Australia and he's now the Deputy Chairman of the International Democracy Union, which is sort of an international alliance of centre-right political parties. Now, he was in the room with President Trump at that convention only a matter of hours ago and he's on the line for us. Brian, g'day. Hi, good evening, Chris. How are you? I'm well, thank you. Jeez, the energy in that room, it looked pretty amazing, really.

Well, I think Donald Trump's position within the Republican Party has strengthened anyway. But after last weekend, there's no doubt at all that the Republican Party is incredibly unified behind Donald Trump. I think the events of the weekend, the shooting was sort of very catalytic. And anyone who's sort of had any doubts or hesitations within the Republican Party I'm talking about have just fallen in behind Trump.

Are you surprised at the shift? Look, I think over time...

It's not the party of Ronald Reagan or the Bushes, for example. It's a different party. And there's no doubt at all that the vast majority of the delegates are rusted on Trump people, and there was practically no opposition to him anyway. And the actual organisation of the Republican Party is now controlled by Trump's people. So he was in a strong position, but...

Even if some people there thought he was a bit of a wild card or whatever, they're so outraged by what's happened, I think, that have just locked in behind him. What was it like when he walked in?

Oh, it was... What struck me more than anything, for the first time ever, I thought he looked quite emotional, he himself. But it was just, you know, it was a standing ovation and people were...

It was just... You couldn't hear yourself. It was so loud. It was incredibly loud. It's a very large auditorium. It's covered in a sporting stadium. So you can imagine how the sound carries in that. And there was a lot of music as well as the noise of the crowd. So it wasn't quite a circus, but it was very loud and very demonstrative. Now, he's vice president of...

Well, we're assuming he will be the vice president. Certainly he's running, mate, for the upcoming election. Has been named J.D. Vance. What can you tell us about him?

Well, I think sometimes candidates for president try and select somebody who will supplement one of their weaknesses. So they try and say, you know, here's somebody who makes me a stronger candidate. Other times you get candidates who get somebody who's a reflection of them. So you could argue that Bill Clinton selected Al Gore because he was another young southern guy.

And I think J.D. Vance is probably of the available likely vice presidential choices, the one who is the most Trump-esque among them and certainly the one who the real hard Trump base likes the most.

So this is a case of doubling down. And what was interesting, Jodie Vance is known for the book, The Hillbilly Allergy, that he's written about life in West Virginia, which is a huge bestseller, and was talking about just ordinary working-class people and the struggles that they go through. Tonight at the convention, there was also speeches by two people

Democratic Party trade union officials or trade union officials who have always voted for the Democrats, the sort of people Biden needs to get in. So there is a very overt play for ordinary working class voters, which is something that's happening very commonly now across centre-right parties around the world. And I think J.D. Vance is somebody who reinforces that, is

somebody who's going to be communicating to ordinary workers. Brian, I really appreciate your time. I know it's late there. Thank you so much. Okay. Thanks very much. That's Brian Loughnane in live there from Wisconsin.