Wisconsin RNC delegation embrace new tone of unity after Trump assassination attempt

Wisconsin Republicans opened their convention on Monday by echoing their leader, calling for unity just days after former President Donald Trump survived an assassination attempt.

“This convention is about unity,” Republican Party of Wisconsin Chairman Brian Schimming told Wisconsin delegates during a breakfast in downtown Milwaukee on the opening day of the Republican National Convention.

“I think the events of the last few days, the last few weeks, have unified us,” Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson said in his own remarks.

The comments sought to cement a new theme for a convention that kicked off just two days after Trump was grazed by a bullet and a man was killed during a shooting at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania. The former president following the attack signaled his own plans to shift the tone for the convention, saying he rewrote his planned speech to focus on bringing the country together.

“The speech I was going to give on Thursday was going to be a humdinger,” Trump reportedly told the Washington Examiner, noting he was planning to focus on President Joe Biden. “This is a chance to bring the whole country, even the whole world, together. The speech will be a lot different, a lot different than it would’ve been two days ago.”

Biden, too, called on Americans to “lower the temperature in our politics” in an Oval Office address Sunday. “The power to change America,” Biden said, “should always rest in the hands of the people, not in the hands of a would-be assassin.”

But Wisconsin Republicans gathered in a downtown hotel Monday presented Trump, who has used violent rhetoric and referred to his opposition as “vermin,” as a unifier.

Johnson, an Oshkosh Republican, told the crowd one attribute shared among Trump rally attendees is that they “fervently love this country.”

“We realize it is our responsibility to preserve and protect it and save it for future generations,” Johnson said. “The only way to do that is we need to be united as a party.”

Johnson told the Journal Sentinel he still expected Republicans to “go after” Democrats’ ideology and policies despite the attempt to craft the convention in the image of unity, saying he thinks the “radical left ideology is destructive.”

“This is a contest, an election between two visions for this country,” he said, later adding: “We’re going to talk about that. But I don’t make it personal.”

Some convention delegates in interviews with the Journal Sentinel said they expected voters’ enthusiasm for the former president to rise after Saturday’s shooting but largely disagreed with assessments from some like Wisconsin Rep. Derrick Van Orden that Trump “won the election” after the incident.

Tom Schreibel, a delegate and attorney who has worked with Wisconsin Republicans, said he thought the shooting was “boosting enthusiasm definitely in just releasing the sights of Saturday and just what happened.”

Republicans, Schreibel said, still need to put in the groundwork to win in November. “If we don’t work it, if we don’t turn out every Republican voter, if we don’t talk about our message, we’re going to lose,” he said. “This is just the beginning.”

Similarly, Former Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that there was an increasing sense of consensus within the GOP following the presidential debate last month. “Since then, obviously with the tragedy that occurred and the attempted assassination,” he said, “I think there’s an incredible amount of enthusiasm.”

“I think it’s less about the attempt and more about how he, the former first lady Melania Trump and others respond to this,” Walker said. “That if there’s a sense of unity to comes out of this, a sense of focus, not just on what happened, but on what’s next for the American people, I think there’s a lot of voters who will give the president a fresh look.”

Speaking to Wisconsin delegates, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich called the events of the weekend a turning point.

“We were right at the brink of falling apart as a country and potentially drifting towards a civil war.” Gingrich said. “I think that this shocked everybody, and I think you will see a very different approach,” he added, noting Trump said he is rewriting his convention speech.

Still, there were signs Monday of the same attacks that might have been expected this week in Milwaukee.

Johnson, the Wisconsin senator, drew laughs toward the end of his morning remarks when he referred to Democrats as “friends” after a long pause.

He said “most Democrats” love the country, too.

But he added: “This is a moment to rise above their behavior and realize that it is our task to save and preserve this nation.”

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin Republicans say Trump assassination attempt unified GOP