“President Biden united the country by defeating Donald Trump in 2020 and Chicago is grateful for his leadership and his service,” Mayor Brandon Johnson said. “Today, President Biden cemented his legacy as the rare leader who puts people above himself.”

President Joe Biden has withdrawn from the presidential election and will no longer seek a second term in office. The decision comes one month before the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. 

WTTW News reporters are spread out across Milwaukee covering the 2024 Republican National Convention and the Illinois delegation. 

Trump’s forward-looking speech marks 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. 

“Dysfunction has seeped into their party,” U.S. Rep. Darin LaHood said. “I think their convention is going to be much different than this convention, in terms of the unity of what we’ve seen here. The chaos, the dysfunction and what’s going to happen in Chicago, I think could be really, really problematic.”

WTTW News reporters are spread out across Milwaukee covering the 2024 Republican National Convention and the Illinois delegation. The third day of the convention will feature a speech by vice presidential nominee Sen. J.D. Vance. 

The 39-year-old Ohio senator is a relative political unknown. In his first primetime speech since becoming the nominee for vice president, Vance spoke of growing up poor in Kentucky and Ohio, his mother addicted to drugs and his father absent, and how he later joined the military and went on to the highest levels of U.S. politics.

Among the “Never Trumpers” who spoke was former Illinois Republican congressman and longtime Trump critic Joe Walsh, who called on attendees to vote for any Democratic candidate who can keep the former president from a second term in office.

“We will adhere to the Republican platform, we are a party of the people and freedom,” Illinois Republican Party Chair Kathy Salvi said, declining to say whether she personally supports a national abortion ban. 

WTTW News reporters are spread out across Milwaukee covering the 2024 Republican National Convention and Illinois’ delegation. Check back throughout the day for continuous updates.

“The Republican party isn’t a scary place for Black folks,” said Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin to a gathering under the auspices of the Black Republican Mayor’s Association, an organization he founded and chairs.

The shooter who attempted to assassinate former President Donald Trump on Saturday normally would have been at work that day, but he told his boss he needed that the day off because he had “something to do,” according to multiple law enforcement officials.

Here’s what a second term for former President Donald Trump could mean for Chicago.

“We’re at a crossroads here,” U.S. Sen. Cory Booker, a Democrat from New Jersey, said. “The contrast couldn’t be more stark.”

WTTW News reporters are spread out across Milwaukee covering the 2024 Republican National Convention and Illinois’ delegation. Check back throughout the day for continuous updates.

The Republican presidential ticket came together on Monday when Donald Trump named J.D. Vance as his running mate. In turning to the 39-year-old Ohio senator, the Republican nominee injected new energy into a campaign that has centered in recent weeks on questions of age following President Joe Biden’s disastrous debate performance.