MILWAUKEE– Donald Trump’s campaign chiefs planned the Republican convention that opens this week to present a softer, more upbeat message, focusing on themes that would help a divisive leader expand his appeal among moderate voters It is people of color.
Then came the shooting that shook the foundations of American politics.
Suddenly the Democrats turbulence after the debatethe Republican Party potential government agenda and even Trump’s criminal convictions it has become secondary to concerns about political violence and the country’s stability. The presumptive Republican candidate and their allies will face the nation during their four-day convention in Milwaukee, unquestionably united and ready to “fight,” as bloody Trump shouted on Saturday while Secret Service agents at his rally in Pennsylvania took him to safety.
Anger and anxiety grip the party as many top Republicans call for calm and a reduction in tensions.
Vivek Ramaswamy, who ran in the Republican Party’s presidential primary, has emerged as one of the most aggressive voices on the right, often saying that the country is already at war with itself. So it was notable that, speaking at an event hosted by the conservative Heritage Institute at the RNC on Monday, he was toning down his rhetoric and urging the country to unite.
“The enemy is not the Democrats, it is an ideology,” Ramaswamy told the crowd at Heritage’s “Policy Fest” event.
Republican Sen. Steve Daines, chairman of the Senate Republicans’ campaign arm, said at a Politico event at the RNC on Monday that the party needs to focus on politics and not divisive politics in the wake of Saturday’s shooting.
“This is a time, as we say, when the temperature needs to be lowered,” the Montana lawmaker said. “What needs to be litigated for the American people in the next three and a half months should be more about politics and not personalities.”
On Monday, hours before the first session of the convention, some well-timed good news for Trump got the day off to a positive start for him and his party. The federal judge presiding over Trump’s confidential documents case rejected the accusation due to concerns over the appointment of the prosecutor who brought the case, giving the former president an important victory in court.
Trump posted on his Truth Social platform to call for the dismissal of his other legal cases.
“As we move forward in uniting our nation in the wake of Saturday’s horrific events, this rejection of the accusation of illegality in Florida should be just the first step, followed quickly by the rejection of ALL witch hunts,” he wrote, listing several cases .
About that, Trump He is expected to announce his vice presidential pick on the first day of the Republican National Convention, he said in an interview.
It is not yet clear whether the shooting Saturday, at his rally in Pennsylvania, changed the former president’s thinking about his potential second-in-command. But he told Fox News Channel host Bret Baier in a call that he planned to make his choice on Monday.
In an interview on Sunday, Republican Party Chairman Michael Whatley said convention schedule it would not be changed after the shooting. The agenda, he said, will feature more than 100 speakers overwhelmingly focused on kitchen table issues and Trump’s plans to suspend Americans who work every day.
“We have to be able to lay out a vision of where we want to take this country,” he said.
Whatley said the central message would have little to do with President Joe Biden’s political struggles, Trump’s complaints about the 2020 election or the former president’s promises to exact retribution against political enemies.
“We will have the convention we have been planning for the last 18 months,” he said. “We are relieved and grateful that the president will be here and accept the nomination.”
In addition to voting formally give the nomination to TrumpElected delegates from across the country will update the Republican Party’s political platform for the first time since 2016. The pared-down platform proposal — just 16 pages with limited details on key issues including abortion — reflects a desire by the Trump campaign to avoid giving Democrats have more material on a key campaign issue.
O platform approved by a committee last week does not include an explicit call for a national abortion ban, two years after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. Wade and put an end to the right to abortion guaranteed by the federal government.
“Further division would not be healthy,” said Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council.
As Trump prepares to announce your choice for vice presidentits top three candidates are North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, all expected to speak this week.
Despite a contentious primary season, any lingering tensions appear to have been put aside.
Florida’s former rivals, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, and Nikki Haley, the former United Nations ambassador, are expected to speak at the convention on Trump’s behalf.
There will be reminders of Trump’s record in a speaking program that includes a handful of Republicans accused of crimes related to other forms of political violence. the January 6, 2021 attack at the US Capitol.
Former White House Trade Advisor Pedro Navarro, who is being held on contempt of Congress charges, is scheduled to speak at the convention just hours after his release. He was found guilty in September after refusing to cooperate with a congressional investigation into the attack on the Capitol.
Nevada Republican Party Chairman Michael McDonald, who was indicted on criminal charges related to his involvement in a scheme to present fake electors that would overturn Biden’s victory over Trump, plans to present the former president with the party’s nomination at the convention. A judge dismissed the case against McDonald last month because of a venue dispute.
Trump has repeatedly classified people involved in efforts to overturn the 2020 election, including his many supporters who stormed the Capitol, as political prisoners.
For now, Democrats have scaled back their plans to deliver a competing message during the Republican convention.
The Biden campaign pulled its campaign ads over the weekend. Vice President Kamala Harris postponed a Tuesday appearance in Florida to focus on Trump’s opposition to abortion rights. And the pro-Democratic group American Bridge is delaying Monday’s scheduled release of fake trading cards designed to highlight controversial policy positions by Trump and other Republican leaders.
The convention, which takes place less than four months before Election Day, is taking place in heavily Democratic Milwaukee, the largest city in a swing state that Trump lost by less than 1 percentage point four years ago.
Even before the assassination attempt, large protests were expected, although movement was severely restricted as part of heightened security precautions established by the Secret Service.
Still, there is a risk of violent confrontation.
Security officials previously announced that people outside the Secret Service perimeter would be allowed to carry weapons openly or concealed as permitted by state law. Wisconsin statutes only prohibit machine guns, sawed-off shotguns and silencers.
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Associated Press writer Christine Fernando reported from Chicago. AP writers Thomas Beaumont in Pewaukee, Wis., and Ali Swenson in Minneapolis contributed.
