Lawmakers Say GOP Convention Must Go On, Despite ‘High Alert’

This week’s Republican National Convention in Milwaukee will take place as scheduled, in the shadow of an assassination attempt on the former president and the GOP’s soon-to-be presidential nominee, according to GOP officials.

Members of Wisconsin’s Republican congressional delegation tell The Federalist the show must go on.

According to a statement from the Republican National Committee and the Trump campaign, “President Trump looks forward to joining you all in Milwaukee as we proceed with our convention to nominate him to serve as the 47th President of the United States.”

“As our party’s nominee, President Trump will continue to share his vision to Make America Great Again,” said Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley and Co-Chairwoman Lara Trump, along with Donald J. Trump for President 2024 Senior Advisors Susie Wiles and Chris LaCivita in the statement.

They reiterated that the former president “is doing well” and that he’s “grateful to law enforcement and first responders for their fast action.”

Trump said he was shot in the upper ear at a campaign rally Saturday in Pennsylvania. An attendee was killed, and two others reportedly were in critical condition Saturday night. The suspected shooter, an unidentified male, according to law enforcement, was killed by a Secret Service counter-sniper, a “source familiar with the investigation” told ABC News.

The outlet reported that the shooter used a rifle, and was positioned on a roof some 200 to 300 yards from the stage. Authorities told multiple media outlets that the suspected assassination attempt appears to be a “lone wolf.”

‘Never Surrender’

Secret Service agents swarmed the former president immediately after gunfire was heard at the packed rally in Pennsylvania’s Butler County. Trump paused as agents led him from the stage, pumping his fist to the crowd. Rally-goers responded with cheers.

Trump was just as defiant in subsequent campaign messages.

“I will never surrender!” he promised in an email to supporters.

In a post on Truth Social, he extended his condolences to the other victims, and said it is “incredible that such an act can take place in our Country.”

‘He Loves This Country’

U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., will be leading the Badger State host delegation in welcoming an anticipated 50,000 people to Milwaukee for the week-long convention, slated to begin on Monday. He expected to be in Milwaukee on Sunday for pre-convention events.

“President Trump knew exactly the risks he was taking running for president, in terms of the [Biden administration’s] weaponization of the government, coming after him with lawfare, even the potential of an assassination attempt. He did it anyway because he loves this country,” Johnson told me Saturday evening. “That ought to be the bottom line here. I hope Americans recognize that.”

Wisconsin’s Republican congressional delegation members say the nominating convention will drive home the 45th president’s commitment to service as they make the case why voters should make Trump the nation’s 47th president.

U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, R-Wis., who represents the state’s 7th Congressional District, said his plans haven’t changed.

“The convention must go forward, and it must go forward as scheduled,” Tiffany told me. “We cannot allow some lunatic to stop our country [from continuing] to engage in the political process.”

Is he worried about security in the wake of Saturday’s attack? Not really.

“I think it’s important to note that there was going to be good security there whether this incident happened or not,” the congressman said.

‘High Alert’

The Secret Service has assured that increased security measures will be in place at the convention site, the Fiserv Forum (where the NBA’s Milwaukee Bucks play), and the surrounding area.

“The goal of the U.S. Secret Service and our partners is to ensure a safe and secure environment, while minimizing impact to the public,” said Assistant Special Agent in Charge Audrey Gibson-Cicchino, the U.S. Secret Service’s 2024 RNC Coordinator, in a press release late last month.

Milwaukee city and county law enforcement are working with the Secret Service to secure the area.

But CBS News reported that “federal, state and local law enforcement officials are on high alert ahead of the Republican National Convention. … Changes to the security measures were being planned after former President Donald Trump was injured in a shooting at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania Saturday evening.”

“A joint threat assessment created by the FBI, U.S. Secret Service, the Milwaukee Police Department and the Milwaukee Southeastern Wisconsin Threat Analysis Center was sent out to law enforcement officials in anticipation of the RNC, calling for heightened awareness,” the outlet added.

A federal judge last week ruled that protesters won’t be allowed to demonstrate in a security zone at the convention, much to the dismay of leftists and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).

U.S. Rep. Glenn Grothman, R-Wis., says he’s not worried about security at the Milwaukee convention.

“The amount of money put into security here, it’s a lot. It’s unbelievable,” the state’s 6th Congressional District representative told me. “If there ever was ever going to be a safe convention, it is going to be this one.”

Matt Kittle is a senior elections correspondent for The Federalist. An award-winning investigative reporter and 30-year veteran of print, broadcast, and online journalism, Kittle previously served as the executive director of Empower Wisconsin.