MILWAUKEE — Two days after an assassin’s bullet came just millimeters from ending former President Donald Trump’s life on a rally stage in Butler County, Pennsylvania, Republicans on Monday kick off the party’s national convention, where they will formally nominate the survivor of an assassination attempt to lead the party’s 2024 ticket.
Mr. Trump has been elevated to heroic status, upending what was expected to be a standard nominating convention.
On Sunday, he vowed to “never surrender” or let a would-be assassin stop the convention.
“Based on yesterday’s terrible events, I was going to delay my trip to Wisconsin, and The Republican National Convention, by two days, but have just decided that I cannot allow a ‘shooter,’ or potential assassin, to force change to scheduling, or anything else. Therefore, I will be leaving for Milwaukee, as scheduled, at 3:30 P.M. TODAY. Thank you! DJT,” he wrote on social media.
Mr. Trump has locked in the delegates needed to win his third presidential nod, and much of the attention was expected to be laser-focused on his pick for a running mate.
Mr. Trump will arrive on the stage of the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee as a valiant survivor who pumped his fist at the rally crowd after he was grazed by the bullet and was led, bloodied, off the stage by Secret Service agents.
SEE ALSO: Secret Service: No major changes for GOP convention after assassination attempt
Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley, during an interview on “Fox News Sunday,” described the convention as it was planned before Saturday’s incident and how it is proceeding now.
“The arena’s set, the security is here, and we feel very comfortable that we’re working with the Secret Service,” he said. “We’re working with 40 different law enforcement agencies in terms of what that security is going to look like.”
Mr. Whatley said 50,000 delegates and alternates and guests and members of the news media will be in the convention’s perimeter complex and will be safe.
“Look, our business is critically important for the process,” he said. “We’re going to be nominating President Trump for the president, and we’re going to be nominating a vice president.”
Mr. Whatley said the only change would be the mood in the aftermath of Saturday’s rally, where a man in the crowd was killed and two others critically wounded by the shooter.
“The number of prayers that I have received, the texts that I have received from people all across the country who are praying for President Trump, who are praying for the families of those who are affected in the shooting, that is tremendously important.”
SEE ALSO: Trump says ‘God alone’ saved him in assassination attempt in Pennsylvania
A Secret Service sniper killed the gunman, Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, soon after he shot at Mr. Trump.
The Secret Service said Sunday that it did not plan to tighten security at the convention because of the assassination attempt.
Not everyone in Milwaukee this week will be supporting Mr. Trump or the Republican Party. Protest groups are expected but will not be allowed inside the security zone perimeter around the convention arena.
The Democratic National Committee initially planned robust counterprogramming on the ground in Milwaukee, including a fleet of 57 buses wrapped with anti-Trump messages.
The DNC paused that plan after the attack at the Trump rally.
Democratic allies United We Dream Action and the Service Employees International Union plan to drive bilingual mobile billboards around the complex calling on voters to reject “Trump’s fascist agenda.”
Neither organization responded to inquiries about whether they changed their plans.
Meanwhile, the RNC made some last-minute changes to the speaker lineup.
Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, one of Mr. Trump’s fiercest opponents in the presidential primary, is scheduled to speak at the convention. She was not initially included in the program that the Trump campaign and the RNC released on Saturday.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, another former Republican presidential candidate, is expected to speak on stage during the four-day confab.
Donald Trump Jr., South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, Iowa Republican Party Chairman Josh Kaufmann, UFC President and CEO Dana White, International Brotherhood of Teamsters President Sean O’Brien and Trent Conaway, the mayor of East Palestine, Ohio, are scheduled to speak at the convention.
Former White House trade adviser Peter Navarro, who is in jail on contempt of Congress charges, is expected to speak at the convention just hours after his release, according to The Associated Press.
He is also scheduled to hold a book signing on Thursday.
Other convention speakers expected to be on stage include a slew of Republican political figures including:
• Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders.
• North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum.
• Texas Gov. Greg Abbott.
• Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin.
• Tucker Carlson, television host.
• Eric Trump.
• Vivek Ramaswamy, businessman and former presidential contender.
• Country music star Lee Greenwood.
• Faith leader Franklin Graham.
• Rapper and influencer Amber Rose.
• Goya Foods CEO Bob Unanue.
• Former Small Business Administration Administrator Linda McMahon.
• Former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson.
The convention runs through Thursday and will culminate in Mr. Trump’s acceptance of the Republican presidential nomination.
A celebratory atmosphere is expected.
RNC delegates and attendees will engage in policy discussions, party-building plans and a slew of entertainment, including parties, concerts and what organizers dubbed Convention Fest, an outdoor vendor marketplace with food, beverages and retail.
For the first time, the convention will include a film festival with screenings at the Miller High Life Theatre. As part of Convention Fest, the festival will showcase two pro-Trump films and a documentary about pre-Civil War events that led to the formation of the Republican Party.
In separate nightly film screenings, convention attendees can watch “Reagan,” starring Dennis Quaid and John Voight.
• Kerry Picket can be reached at kpicket@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.