RNC 2024 Day 3 Recap: J.D. Vance, Peter Navarro and Kai Trump steal the show

Day three of the Republican National Convention (RNC) ended in style, with Donald Trump's brand new running mate, J.D. Vance, accepting the official Republican nomination and giving his first official speech as vice presidential candidate.

"I stand here humble, and I'm overwhelmed with gratitude to say I officially accept your nomination to be Vice President of the United States of America," Vance said, before receiving a standing ovation.

Vance used part of his speech to highlight former President Trump and his way of calling for "unity" even after saving himself from a bullet that passed inches from his head.

"They said he was a TYRANT. They said he must be STOPPED at all costs. But how did he respond? He called for National unity, for National calm, literally right after an assassin nearly took his life," Vance said in an eloquent, serene speech with plenty of jokes that drew laughter and applause from those in attendance.

Peter Navarro, another one of the stars

Well before Vance, almost at the beginning of the day, former Trump adviser Peter Navarro, starred in one of the most anticipated speeches of the night after being freed from prison Wednesday in Miami after serving a four-month sentence for contempt of Congress.

Navarro was, without a doubt, one of the stars of the day and one of the most beloved speakers by the audience. His speech mostly focused on highlighting his legal fight against the Department of Justice and his loyalty to former President Trump.

"If Congress slaps a subpoena on a senior White House advisor like me, it's the advisor's duty to politely tell them to go pound sand," said a cheering Navarro, who argued that Congress asked him to break the law by testifying against Trump.

Later, the former adviser celebrated that he regained his freedom without betraying his cause: "They convicted me, they jailed me. Guess what? They did not break me!" The audience erupted in applause. 

Burgum and Aboott explained how America will become great again

Likewise, later in the day, governors Doug Burgum and Greg Abbott also took the stage to address the day's theme of "Make America Strong Again."

The North Dakota governor, who had previously run against Trump for the 2024 Republican nomination and was on the short list to be the former president's running mate, ded most of his address to talk about energy reliability. His point of focus was mainly Joe Biden, whom he called an energy "dictator."

"For more years of Joe will usher in an era of like brown outs and black outs. Imagine no energy for your refrigerator or air conditioning," Burgum said. "Biden is acting like a dictator."

He later compared former President Trump's energy policy to the current Democratic incumbent in what was his most salient statement of the night.

"Serving as a governor with President Trump was like having a beautiful breeze on our back. He cut taxes and he cut red tape. Serving as a governor under Joe Biden has been like a gale force win in our face. Biden's war on energy hurts every American, because the cost of energy is in everything we use or touch every day."

For his part, the Texas governor devoted most of his speech to criticizing the Biden administration for, in his opinion, generating the biggest immigration crisis in U.S. history.

"The President's most sacred duty is to secure our country," Abbott said. "Joe Biden deserted his duty on his first day in office. He gutted President Trump's policies, and the result has been catastrophic. Under Joe Biden, illegal immigration has skyrocketed under his watch."

Donald Trump Jr. yields the floor to his daughter, who stole the show

Also speaking today was Donald Trump Jr. who received a standing ovation after honoring Corey Comperatore, the American citizen who was killed during the assassination attempt against former President Trump in Pennsylvania: "We did lose an American hero that day. We wish he were with us tonight. But his memory will live on forever in the hearts of his family, his community, and the nation that he loved."

Earlier, the former president's son had an interview with VOZ executive producer Karina Yapor, who is leading coverage of the event from Milwaukee along with Alfonso Aguilar, Vanessa Vallejo and the entire VOZ team.

"[Democrats] have tried to imprison him, they've tried to take away his businesses, they've tried to break him.... This was a natural progression in the rhetoric," Donald Trump Jr. told VOZ.

Before his speech, Trump Jr. gave the microphone to his daughter, Kai Trump, who explained that she took the stage "to share the side of [her] grandpa that people don't often see."

"To me, he's just a normal grandpa. He gives us candy and soda when our parents aren't looking. He always wants to know how we are doing in school. When I made the honor roll, he printed it out to show his friends how proud he was of me," Kai said, before revealing how she took the assassination attempt against her grandfather last weekend.

"On Saturday, I was shocked when I heard he had been shot. And I just wanted to know if he was okay. It was heartbreaking that someone would do that to another person. A lot of people have put my grandpa through hell. And he's still standing," Kai continued, before moving on to one of the most emotional moments of the night. 

"Grandpa, you are such an inspiration. And I love you. The media makes my grandpa seem like a different person, but I know him for who he is. He's very caring and loving. He truly wants the best for this country, and he will fight every single day to make America great again."

Senators rebuke Secret Service director

In one of the most viral moments of the day, several Republican senators publicly rebuked the head of the Secret Service, Kimberly Cheatle, who has come under fire in recent days after the agency failed to prevent a deadly attack at a rally of former President Trump that nearly ended the Republican front-runner's life.

VOZ's exclusive coverage from Milwaukee

VOZ also spoke exclusively with Arizona Senate candidate Kari Lake and swimmer Riley Gaines. Both interviews were posted on VOZ's YouTube channel where special coverage aired from the RNC 2024.  Also interviewed during the coverage were Florida Senator Rick Scott, who sent a message to the Hispanic community in Spanish; Hispanic Congresswoman Monica de la Cruz and Jaime Florez, Hispanic communications director and Spanish-language spokesperson for Donald Trump's presidential campaign.