MILWAUKEE — The assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump has reinforced a sense of unity among top Republicans headed to Milwaukee for this week’s Republican National Convention, a weeklong event that will no doubt feel ripple effects from the attempt to kill the party’s presumptive presidential nominee.
“Delegates were already excited for the RNC in Milwaukee,” said Niraj Antani, a Republican Ohio state senator and a convention delegate. “Now, delegates will go to the RNC feeling a duty to protect President Trump and the values he fights for.”
The assassination attempt Saturday night at a Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, came at the hands of who the FBI has identified as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks. The alleged shooter fired multiple shots from a nearby rooftop, narrowly missing Trump, killing one rally attendee, and injuring two more.
“What was already going to be a significant moment of unification behind President Trump will now become the most unified and vocal support for a presidential nominee this nation has ever witnessed,” said Trump-endorsed Miami-Dade County Commissioner Kevin Cabrera, who served on the convention’s platform committee.
Though the assassination attempt has increased already tight security surrounding the convention, it’s not yet clear how much it will change official programing. Still, it’s nearly impossible to expect the tone and focus will remain totally unchanged.
On Sunday afternoon, there was a prayer vigil for Trump scheduled in Milwaukee.
An RNC spokesperson did not return a request seeking comment.
“Emotions are high,” Illinois RNC National Committeeman Richard Porter said. “Resolve is even stronger. Our nation dodged a catastrophe by less than an inch — many see the hand of providence.”
“But that said, our party’s mood is steady and thankful,” he added.
A source working with one of the scheduled convention speakers said the RNC has advised those with speaking slots to continue on and avoid altering their approach.
“Project confidence,” the person said. “Keep the status quo.”
Bernie Moreno, who is among a group of GOP Senate candidates scheduled to speak at the convention Tuesday night, was not yet sure how the assassination attempt might affect the speaking rosters or the substance of what he will say.
“President Trump was miraculously saved by divine intervention,” he said. “I’m taking it one day at a time.”
Trump campaign officials went into a “communications lockdown” Saturday night after the shooting, according to a memo NBC News obtained written by Trump political director James Blair, so it’s difficult to predict how the attempt on Trump’s life will affect the formal convention events. But so far, comments directly from Trump expressed gratitude and avoided any overt politics.
“Thank you to everyone for your thoughts and prayers yesterday, as it was God alone who prevented the unthinkable from happening,” Trump posted on Truth Social. “We will FEAR NOT, but instead remain resilient in our Faith and Defiant in the face of Wickedness.”
Trump also spoke with President Joe Biden, a call Biden aides described as “good, short and respectful.”
Leora Levy, an RNC national committeewoman from Connecticut whom Trump nominated to be the ambassador to Chile in 2019, said she also hopes the convention sticks with the party’s principles and is not too divisive.
“It is very sad,” she said. “The political rhetoric in our country has gotten to a level that it should never reach. They [Democrats] have done all sorts of things to demonize Trump. I mean, they have called him Hitler.”
Levy is giving the benediction during the first night of the convention and said it will in part focus on unity.
“I wrote a prayer that focuses on uniting our country,” she said. “It does urge people to be strong and courageous. I hope people remain steadfast in our values, but we can disagree without being disagreeable.”
Still, some of the party’s biggest names quickly turned to social media to strike much more political tones, an indication that speeches and events at the RNC will be more combative when discussing the assassination attempt.
“Today is not just some isolated incident,” Ohio Sen. JD Vance, who is on the short list to become Trump’s running mate, posted on X. “The central premise of the Biden campaign is that President Donald Trump is an authoritarian fascist who must be stopped at all costs.”
“The rhetoric led directly to President Trump’s attempted assassination,” he continued.
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