RNC 2024 Day 2 updates: Trump rivals take center stage along with divine intervention
The theme of Tuesday's session is "Make America Safe Again."
The second day of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee ended Tuesday with appearances from some of former President Donald Trump's former rivals: former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy -- all calling for Republican Party unity.
They were joined by some of Trump's longest allies including Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders and Ben Carson in bashing the Democrats over what they claimed were harmful and failed policies.
The program focused on law and order with a theme of making the country "safe again."
Trump, with a bandage on his ear, made an appearance again Tuesday evening -- just days after he was wounded in an assassination attempt at one of his rallies in Pennsylvania over the weekend. Several speakers touched on that God spared Trump in the shooting, saving him for a divine plan for the presidency.
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Fact check: Undocumented immigrants and voting
It’s already illegal for noncitizens to vote in the United States.
Several Republican leaders and RNC guests have argued without any evidence that undocumented immigrants are voting in elections.
However, doing so is a federal offense that is punishable by jail time and could lead to deportation.
Although there is no comprehensive database that tracks instances of noncitizen voting on a large scale, there has never been any evidence that proves it has happened on a scale that could have swayed federal elections.
Conservative think tank The Heritage Foundation runs a database that contains a sampling of proven instances of election fraud across the United States. By ABC News' count, out of 1,499 proven election fraud cases that they list, they document less than 100 cases of noncitizens voting.
A study by the Brennan Center for Justice that looked at 42 jurisdictions, representing 23.5 million votes, found an estimated 30 incidents of suspected noncitizen voting in 2016.
DeSantis says America can't afford a 'Weekend at Bernie's' presidency
Florida governor and former Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis ripped into Biden's age and questions about viability when he took the stage.
"We need a commander-in-chief who can lead 24 hours a day, seven days a week. America cannot afford four more years of a 'Weekend at Bernie's' presidency," he said, referencing the 1989 comedy.
DeSantis claimed that Biden was just the "figurehead" who acts as "a tool for imposing a leftist agenda of the American people."
Haley calls for a 'unified Republican party'
During her speech, Nikki Haley made an appeal to those who don't fully support Trump.
"My message to them is simple. You don't have to agree with Trump 100% of the time to vote for him," she said.
"Take it from me, I haven't always agreed with the president. But we agree more often than we disagree. We agree on keeping America strong," she continued.
She said a "unified Republican party is essential" for saving the country. She criticized President Joe Biden as showing "every possible sign of weakness" on foreign policy and Vice President Kamala Harris as contributing to the "border disaster."
"We are stronger when we welcome people into our party who have different backgrounds and experiences," she said. "Right now we need to be strong to save America. This is a defining moment, not only for our party but for our country."
Haley had rocky start, ends strong
Nikki Haley, Trump’s biggest challenger in the 2024 Republican primary, was met with some scattered boos as she took the stage.
One woman seated in the crowd said, mockingly, “Now she’s going to dig herself out of the hole.”
But she got more of the audience on her side throughout her speech, and by the end, many stood up out of their seats and even tipped their hats.
-ABC News’ Alexandra Hutzler