Trump Speaks to the Republican Faithful at the 2024 RNC

Frederica Freyberg:
Wisconsin is perhaps the most important battleground state in the presidential election, with both campaigns saying the other can’t win if they don’t win Wisconsin. That put even more emphasis on the city of Milwaukee hosting the Republican National Convention. “Here & Now” senior political reporter Zac Schultz was on the ground all week and kicks off our coverage tonight.

Zac Schultz:
The culmination of every convention is Thursday night, when the nominee takes the stage and basks in the adoration of the party faithful.

Donald Trump:
Thank you very much.

Zac Schultz:
In some ways, the defining moment of the 2024 Republican National Convention didn’t come in the host city of Milwaukee. It occurred in Butler, Pennsylvania, last Saturday when a 20-year-old with a gun nearly took Donald Trump’s life. By the time Trump took the stage Thursday night, his supporters had already declared the near miss as a sign of divine intervention.

Scott Walker:
We just thank you for sparing the life of our president Donald J. Trump

Zac Schultz:
And Trump agreed.

Donald Trump:
I felt very safe because I had God on my side.

Zac Schultz:
The first question of the week was whether it was even safe to come to the convention. These ladies from Eagle River had to decide if the violence would continue in Milwaukee.

Valorie Mack:
For a split second, I mean you have to. You have to — you need to be prudent to reflect, but it’s really more about now I know the police and security and Homeland Security and everything will probably even step up even more.

Zac Schultz:
UW La Crosse Professor Kristina LaPlant saw the shooting on TV and canceled a trip with her students, who planned to survey delegates for a class on political parties.

Kristina LaPlant:
Immediately, my mind starts thinking about what on earth is going to happen at the convention now? And I’m immediately thinking about my safety, my students’ safety. Is the political violence going to escalate at the RNC?

Zac Schultz:
Monday morning, the message from Republicans was one of unity.

Ron Johnson:
This is a moment to rise above their behavior and realize that it is our task to save and preserve this nation.

Zac Schultz:
But later that evening, on the main stage, Johnson was back to calling Democrats a threat to the nation.

Ron Johnson:
… are a clear and present danger to America.

Zac Schultz:
And the unity referred to the Republican Party unifying around Trump.

Tommy Thompson:
We have the greatest opportunity I have ever seen for a Republican victory.

Zac Schultz:
Democrats hoped to tie Donald Trump to a policy plan called Project 2025, a 900-page document created by the Heritage Foundation that creates a plan to give Trump unprecedented executive powers to remake the federal government. But there was no mention of the plan at Heritage’s Policy Fest event, and Trump surrogate Vivek Ramaswamy refused to talk about Project 2025, instead hinting that if Trump had been killed, it would have led to a second civil war.

Vivek Ramaswamy:
But I think the nation came within a hair’s breadth of, God forbid, a second kind of civil war in this country and we missed it.

Zac Schultz:
He wasn’t the only one talking that way. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich told the Wisconsin delegation the same thing.

Newt Gingrich:
We were right at the brink of falling apart as a country and potentially drifting towards a civil war.

Zac Schultz:
Other Republicans tried to turn down the rhetoric.

Eric Toney:
I don’t see our country on a pathway to a civil war, and we need to just continue to have that dialog, to listen and exercise our voice at the ballot box.

Zac Schultz:
Trump’s speech was supposed to focus on unity.

Donald Trump:
We unite this evening more determined than ever.

Zac Schultz:
But there were times when the teleprompter didn’t move as Trump went off script and returned to his favorite topics.

Donald Trump:
Crazy Nancy Pelosi, the whole thing, just boom, boom, boom.

Zac Schultz:
He did find time to pander to the home state.

Donald Trump:
And by the way, Wisconsin, we are spending over $250 million here creating jobs and other economic development all over the place. So I hope you will remember this in November and give us your vote. I am trying to buy your vote.

Zac Schultz:
As the speech stretched out to the longest in convention history, those who started off shouting “fight” were now sitting quietly looking at their phones. But eventually the speech wrapped up.

Donald Trump:
And quite simply put, we will very quickly make America great again.

Zac Schultz:
The balloons dropped and the 2024 Republican National Convention came to an end.