Texas Republican delegates to this week’s national convention say they expect the party to be more energized and unified in the wake of former President Donald Trump’s survival of an assassination attempt.
A defiant Trump emerged Saturday from a pile of Secret Service agents with his fist in the air and blood on his face as he shouted “fight” after suffering a gunshot wound to his right ear at a campaign rally in Butler, Pa.
Republicans are more enthusiastic than ever to knock doors and make calls on Trump’s behalf, said Dr. Robin Armstrong, Texas’ Republican national committeeman.
“He’s going to come into the convention hall as a conquering hero,” Armstrong said. “The fact that he survived this, I think it’s going to be a rallying point.”
Representatives from the Trump campaign and Republican National Committee have said he is “fine” and “doing well.” Trump announced he considered delaying his trip to Milwaukee for a couple days given Saturday’s “terrible events,” but the former president departed for Milwaukee on Sunday afternoon.
Trump couldn’t allow a “shooter” or “potential assassin” to force changes in his schedule or anything else, he wrote on social media, where he also highlighted the urgency to unite in “not allowing Evil to Win.”
The RNC kicks off its nominating convention Monday, just days after the GOP’s presumptive nominee was grazed by a bullet and a spectator at his campaign rally was killed. Scores of delegates from Texas are expected to attend.
While many are bracing for the convention to have heightened security and more gravity than usual , they also expect solidarity among Republicans.
“We are going to be more united, more energized, more committed to reelecting Donald Trump than anybody could have imagined 24 hours ago,” said state Rep. Brian Harrison, R-Midlothian, who served as chief of staff in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in the Trump administration.
Gov. Greg Abbott, an at-large delegate who is listed as a convention headliner, assured reporters Sunday he will be in Texas on Monday as the state continues its recovery from Hurricane Beryl. Abbott, who returned Saturday from a weeklong trip to Asia, framed his possible convention attendance as a day-by-day assessment based on Beryl recovery.
Asked about the assassination attempt, Abbott lamented that Saturday’s shooting wasn’t an “isolated incident,” citing the recent “assassination” of a sheriff’s deputy and the shooting of a police officer in Texas.
“The attack on public officials is an outrage,” Abbott said.
Trump was “truly blessed by the hand of God” to avoid being assassinated, he said. “He is the mightiest warrior that we have in the United States of America.”
The Dallas Morning News reached out to nearly two dozen of the state’s 161 Republican delegates. Most did not respond to a request for comment on their reaction to the assassination attempt and what it means for the nation.
Jennifer Lott Hagler, a Republican delegate from Duncanville, said she was “shocked, horrified, angry and extremely concerned” when she heard about gunshots being fired at Trump, likening that moment to a “bad dream.”
“But, it wasn’t a bad dream,” she wrote in an email to The News. “It was an evil reality. … This murder attempt will not weaken Trump or his campaign. This evil act will only build momentum for Donald J. Trump.”
The incident was infuriating, emotional and hard to watch for Harrison.
“I was incredibly proud to get on a plane this morning to travel to Wisconsin to play a role in nominating a guy that people have tried to throw in jail; they’ve tried to bankrupt; they’ve tried to boot him off ballots; and now assassinate. I want that person to be the president of the United States of America,” he said.
In a national address Sunday afternoon, President Joe Biden said he had a “short but good” conversation with Trump on Saturday night and condemned violence in America.
“An assassination attempt is contrary to everything we stand for as a nation,” said Biden, who postponed a trip to Austin scheduled for Monday. “Everything. It’s not who we are as a nation. It’s not America, and we cannot allow this to happen. Unity is the most elusive goal of all, but nothing is [more] important than that right now.”
Some Republicans have objected to suggestions that “both sides” need to tone down their rhetoric.
Harrison said both sides are not equally at fault because Democrats have sought to silence and intimidate Trump and other conservatives through the justice system.
“If they would end their lawfare immediately, that would do more to genuinely unify America than all of the calls to ‘lower the temperature’ ever could,” he said. “It’s their actions that threaten to pull apart the very fabric of our Republic.”
Sense of shock and inevitability
Armstrong, a Galveston County commissioner, returned to his Milwaukee hotel room Saturday night to watch the live broadcast of Trump’s rally after hearing rumors he might announce his running mate at the campaign event.
As a physician, Armstrong has witnessed emergency room trauma and did not feel the same calm others might have when Trump stood and pumped his fist in the air after being shot.
“I’ve seen people with major injuries who get up and walk around and then they collapse and die,” he said.
He was relieved that Trump’s injuries were minor, but he and other delegates have been praying, mindful of what would have happened if the bullet’s trajectory had been slightly different.
Armstrong and other Republicans have tied the attack to rhetoric by Trump critics who have called the former president racist or compared him to Hitler, as The New Republic recently did on its cover.
“You say those things and then people are inspired to do crazy things like this shooter did,” Armstrong said.
People must focus on debating policies, rather than personalities, Armstrong said, stressing his view that Republicans have the better agenda for the country. The personal attacks must be dialed back considerably, he added.
“And on both sides,” he said. “We don’t need to be saying negative things about the president’s family, Biden’s family and such. Just criticize the policies. I think we can focus on the policies, have a strong, open policy debate on how we improve the lives of Americans, and I think everyone will be better off.”
Bo French, a delegate and Tarrant County GOP chair, characterized the shooting as an outgrowth of attacks on Trump.
“Following the 8 years of lies and attacks from the left on Donald Trump and his supporters, none of us were surprised that they tried to assassinate him,” French said by email. “Many of us have been predicting that for some time. Not only are the delegates more resolved than ever, many people who have been on the fence have come out in support.”
U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, who is scheduled to speak at the convention but is not a delegate, released a special episode of his podcast recorded shortly after the shooting Saturday in which he said there is no place for political violence.
Cruz said so much hate has been directed at Trump that the senator has worried for some time that “some lunatic” would try to harm the former president.
“I hope what comes of this is that everyone counts to 10 and exhales,” Cruz said. “I hope that the political anger and rhetoric, that it ratchets down.”
The United States needs leaders to de-escalate the situation, he said.
“I fear things are going to escalate, that there’s going to be anger on both sides of the aisle,” Cruz said.
