Republican presidential candidate and former US President Donald Trump gestures with a bloodied face while he is assisted by US Secret Service personnel after he was shot in the right ear during a campaign rally at the Butler Farm Show in Butler, Pennsylvania.
Credit: Reuters Photo
In the wake of the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump on Saturday, Trump campaign officials raised concerns that the speeches set to be delivered at the Republican National Convention this week might be overly aggressive in the shadow of an act of apparent political violence, according to two people familiar with the matter.
The word that came back from the staff was reassuring: Little in the speeches that had already been written and submitted for approval needed to change, according to both people.
But the campaign officials’ unease and concern about overheated rhetoric reflects how profoundly the political landscape has been altered in the immediate aftermath of the shooting Saturday.
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But while Trump and his campaign have said publicly that the convention, which begins Monday in Milwaukee, will proceed as planned, the shooting has created a new frame for what was already a volatile presidential race that will doubtless be reflected in the convention’s programming, speeches and tone.
Republican presidential candidate and former US President Donald Trump reacts after gunfire rang out during a campaign rally at the Butler Farm Show in Butler, Pennsylvania.
Republican presidential candidate and former US President Donald Trump is assisted by US Secret Service personnel after he was shot in the right ear during a campaign rally at the Butler Farm Show in Butler, Pennsylvania.
Republican presidential candidate and former US President Donald Trump gets into a vehicle with the assistance of US Secret Service personnel after he was shot in the right ear during a campaign rally at the Butler Farm Show in Butler, Pennsylvania.
Just hours after the shooting, Trump and his campaign staff made clear that the convention would proceed and that the former president would attend in person to formally receive the Republican presidential nomination.
“Business as usual,” Danielle Alvarez, a Trump campaign spokesperson, said when asked about the plan for the week. Chris LaCivita, one of Trump’s top advisers, said the shooting “changes nothing” for the convention.
And in a social media post Sunday announcing his plans to travel to Milwaukee, Trump wrote, “I cannot allow a ‘shooter,’ or potential assassin, to force change to scheduling, or anything else.”
One reason that the speeches reviewed by campaign staff were seen as suitable was that “unity” was always intended to be one of the convention’s themes, the two people briefed on the matter said.
The initial focus originally was about party unity, and coalescing support behind Trump and his platform after a primary season that exposed some divisions. But after the shooting at the rally, the convention is likely to emphasise national unity heavily.
To reinforce the point, Nikki Haley — the former governor of South Carolina who was Trump’s longest-lasting primary competitor — has been slotted in as a speaker Tuesday, the campaign announced Sunday.
A person familiar with the planning said the Trump campaign reached out to Haley on Thursday morning, and the details of her participation were confirmed Saturday morning, before the shooting.
Still, much of the convention will remain focused on criticizing President Joe Biden and Democrats. Organizers have set themes for each day that largely mirror lines of attack that Trump has made central to this year’s campaign, including a day focused on Biden’s handling of the economy (“Make America Wealthy Once Again”) and another attacking his policies on the border (“Make America Safe Once Again.”)
The security procedures will also be under deep scrutiny given concerns over how a gunman managed to fire shots toward Trump on Saturday.
The Secret Service had already planned to provide additional uniformed and plainclothes law enforcement officers from state and local agencies, and a security zone around the main spaces where the convention will take place will require credentials and screenings to enter.
At a news conference in Milwaukee, Audrey Gibson-Cicchino, the event’s coordinator for the Secret Service, said the agency was “not anticipating any changes to our operational security plans.”