Donald Trump arrives for Republican National Convention days after assassination attempt | BBC News
BBC News- 267 views
- 15 Jul 2024
Donald Trump has arrived in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, for the Republican National Convention, which is going ahead as planned ...
Donald Trump has arrived in Milwaukee to attend the Republican National Convention, where he will be formally confirmed as his partys candidate for the presidential election in November. The former president said he considered delaying the trip after the attempt to assassinate him on Saturday, but he could not allow a shooter to force a change in his schedule. At a rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday, with just over 24 hours to go before the convention, Donald Trump was grazed by a bullet fired from the rooftop of a nearby shed. The secret service coordinator for the convention in Milwaukee said her team was confident about the security plans for the event and was ready to go. North America correspondent Nomi Iqbal reports now from Milwaukee.
Little more than 24 hours after an attempt on his life for Donald Trump, the show must go on. He arrived in Milwaukee, where he'll be confirmed as the presidential candidate for the republican party later this week. The bloodied and defiant images of him are likely to define an election that was already turbulent for president. Biden, who is under huge scrutiny over his ability to run, took the moment to call on Americans to settle their differences by voting, not by violence.
We can't allow this violence to be normalized. You know, the political record in this country has gotten very heated. It's time to cool it down. We all have a responsibility to do that. Yes, we have deeply felt strong disagreements. The stakes in this election are enormously.
High as we pray. I want to thank God for protecting President Trump in sparing his life.
At a local vigil, there were prayers and messages for the former president.
People here are shocked by what's happened to Donald Trump. There are dozens of his supporters here. They were already going to vote for him, but now they're even more energized.
Look what we do every time something happens, more money is raised.
I saw our epic leaders stand up in the face of terror, being injured and say, fight, fight. And we have got to fight now more than ever for our nation.
Crooks there is still so much unknown about the motives of the would be assassin. 20 year old Thomas Crooks from Pennsylvania is now dead. 50 year old Cory compretor was killed at the rally after diving on his family to protect them. President Biden says there will be an independent investigation into what happened. And as the Republican National Convention begins today, America's political rivals will now have to adjust to a totally changed presidential race. Nomi Rick Bal, BBC News, Wisconsin.
Well, our correspondent in Pennsylvania, Jenny Kumar, gave me the latest on the situation in Butler after that assassination attempt on Saturday.
So I'm here in Butler, and we're just about half a mile away from where the attempted assassination happened. And actually, in the last half hour or so, they've removed a cordon around this area. This has been for the past 24 hours or so. The live investigation crime scene. Today, we've had some updates about the investigation. Some details have emerged about the shooter. The FBI have said that they think he was a loan operator, but they are looking into whether anyone else was involved. They're trying to get a sense of the motive behind it. So they're looking at social media and online presence. We also, it's also emerged that he was the member of a gun club for about a year. The gun that he owned was legally owned by his dad. It's just not clear whether he was given that gun or whether, whether he had the gun with permission or whether he'd taken it without permission. We have been speaking to some people that knew the shooter, and they've said that he was very good at school, he got good grades, and that he did really well at government classes. So the investigation continues, really looking into the motive.
Earlier today, President Biden spoke about the fact that there would be an independent review into what happened here and also into the republican convention. I'm just stood a short distance away, and behind me, a tribute has been set up. There's some signs talking about broken hearts. People have laid flowers in tribute to the man that was killed. He was in his fifties, sorry, he was 50, and he was a volunteer fire worker. And we understand that he shielded his family from the shot. So there's been tributes paid across the political spectrum, community leaders praising him. And we've had a bit of an update in terms of the two people that were injured at the event. They are said to be stable in hospital.
Jenny Kumar there with the latest on the investigation in Butler, Pennsylvania. Let's speak more now about the political fallout. Terry Bymes is a teaching professor in the Charles and Louise Travers department of political science at UC Berkeley. She spoke to me a little earlier and explained the impact of the assassination attempt on President Trump.
I think most Americans are stunned about this attack. I think most Americans are saddened that political violence has become more prominent in the United States. We've had several attacks from the kidnapping attempt of Gretchen Whitmer, the governor of Michigan, to someone bursting into Nancy Pelosi's house and hitting her husband with a hammer. And so, you know, it's sad that I think most Americans do not approve of political violence and wish that things would calm down.
So there's clearly a security impact. There will be reviews of the security procedures that surround prominent people in politics. But what about the political impact? Is it too soon yet to say what impact this could have on this presidential race or indeed on future campaigns?
That's a good question. I think there are two. One, I don't think there's going to be a big bump for President Trump. I think most people have already decided who they're going to vote for in the 2024 election. And so if you were already going to vote for Trump, this is going to solidify your vote for President Trump. If you were going to vote for Biden, this probably won't change your mind. It may have some impact on the margins. And this is a close election. So even small changes could have some consequences. I think one thing, another consequence of this attempt is that it's quieted the talk about replacing a President Biden with another nominee. I haven't heard much about that today.
It's worth noting as well, Terry, that the weapon involved was an AR 15. It is a highly controversial weapon in the United States in the wider debate about gun safety and this time used on a republican presidential candidate. Do you think it will reopen the gun safety debate as we head into this, deeper into this election?
I don't think it will make any changes with the gun control. I think when President Reagan was assassinated, I mean, when President Reagan attempted on, his life was made, he did change his views about gun control. And he came out for the Bill Brady gun Violence Reduction act. And I don't think we're going to see Donald Trump all of a sudden take a stand against the Second Amendment.
Terry Bymes there from UC Berkeley. Plenty more to come on this story, of course, coming out of Milwaukee throughout the day, the day of the Republican National Convention. We'll have more for you here on BBC News. One other piece of breaking news to bring you on this. We've learned that the us first lady Jill Biden spoke with the former first lady Melania Trump by phone on Sunday afternoon. And we know President Biden himself telephoned Donald Trump as soon as he could in the immediate aftermath of the attack. Now we're hearing that Jill Biden has spoken with Melania Trump as well. Of course, Melania responding herself to the attack, issuing a statement in which she described the shooter as a monster around the world and across the UK. This is BBC News.
Lets return now to our top story, the us presidential election. The Republican National Convention today in Milwaukee is expected to confirm Donald Trump as its candidate for the election in November, just days after an assassination attempt upon him at a rally in Pennsylvania. Well, our correspondent Nomi Iqbal is in Milwaukee for the convention. And, Nomia, this is always going to be a dramatic event, but perhaps all the more dramatic now.
It will be. Look, the Republican National Convention was always going to be Donald Trump's big show. You know, he is going to be confirmed as the presidential candidate for the Republican Party later this week. He has given an interview this evening to a us newspaper in which he has basically said that he wants his speech to focus more on unity rather than President Biden's policies. And that is what something President Biden has called for as well in his address to the nation, giving another briefing, we believe, later today. But I think what will be really interesting is, you know, both men are effectively back on the campaign trail, and the tone with which they both will campaign will be hugely scrutinized, mean, the election race has been so divisive it was in 2020. And if indeed both men do want to take down the temperature, we'll see as the week progresses, if that, that will be the case.
Yeah, indeed. I mean, it was remarkable, the, the tone which follows the attack on Saturday, not just pleas for unity, but statements professing unity from both sides. It appears, given the track record, of course, of the way politics in the United States has gone in recent years, that seems unlikely to last.
Was interesting. You say that I was asked a vigil earlier today, a vigil being held by Donald Trump's supporters who wanted to come out here in Milwaukee to basically send their well wishes to Donald Trump. And I spoke to a pastor who is a faith engagement leader for the Republican National Committee, and I put that to him. And I said, you know, unity is something both men are talking about trying to take down the temperature. Will that work? And, you know, he said to me, look, there has always been division in politics in America, you know, the modern age and the old age. It's always happened. He, he said that it might be the case for a week that the tone will go down and that there will be more respectful discourse. But he wasn't particularly optimistic that it would stay that way. But we'll see. President Biden, you know, gave that speech, gave that address to the nation last night. Donald Trump is saying that that's what he's calling for. His speech isn't expected until later this week. We've got a few days to go yet through the convention, which starts today, Monday here in, sorry, Monday in the US, and finishes on Thursday.
So we'll, we'll have to see how, how the week progresses. But both men do seem determined following the, the horrific event on Saturday to, to try and approach this election, to approach this campaign in a different way.
And what are the other news events we expect today in Milwaukee? Donald Trump expected to unveil, reveal his running mate for the campaign. Is that definitely going to happen? And are there any insights as to who it might be.
That will definitely happen? Exactly when? We don't know. There was an expectation that Donald Trump was going to announce that at the rally on Saturday, but so far, the names that we have heard include JD Vance, the Ohio senator, the Florida senator, Marco Rubio, as well, and also Doug Bergam. So these, these three men have been the sort of the main names in the frame. JD Vance seems to be the most popular one that's been suggested. I think that might have largely to do with the fact that Donald Trump's son, Donald Trump junior, put out on social media, on X, formally known as Twitter, a profile of Mister Vance. Mister Vance was once a huge critic of Donald Trump, you know, condemning him almost as someone that he would never, ever vote for, let alone, you know, potentially be a VP pick for. But we should find out. That will be one of the big moments of this week of the Republican National Convention, which gets underway on Monday.
Nomi Iqbal in Milwaukee, thank you for that.