Two days after a 20-year-old gunman wounded the ear of former President Donald Trump at a Pennsylvania political rally, the Republican National Convention is getting underway on Monday.
At this week’s convention, which runs through Thursday, Trump is expected to accept the party’s nomination for this year’s presidential election.
Saturday’s shooting will be fresh on the minds of the thousands of people converging on Milwaukee just two days after Saturday’s incident. Trump supporter Corey Comperatore was killed as officials said the gunman fired multiple rounds toward Trump. The gunman, Thomas Matthew Crooks, was killed, officials said.
Trump said a bullet struck his ear, but his campaign said after that he was “fine.” Trump landed in Milwaukee late Sunday ahead of the convention.
During the convention, Trump will be expected to name his running mate. Those considered the leading contenders include North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio, and Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida.
No articulated threat to RNC, FBI says
The Republican National Convention is a massive security undertaking with multiple blocks around the venue, Milwaukee’s Fiserv Forum, restricted and heavily guarded by numerous law enforcement agencies, including the Secret Service.
The Federal Bureau of Investigations said that there is “no articulated threat” to the Republican Convention.
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Officials also said on Sunday that there will be no changes to the secure area around the RNC in the wake of Saturday’s shooting.
“We are confident in these security plans that are in place for this event and we’re ready to go,” said the Secret Service’s RNC coordinator Audrey Gibson-Cicchino. “It’s been an 18-month process. We’ve worked together over that 18 months to develop operational security plans for any and all aspects of security related to this event. We’re not anticipating any changes to our operational security plans for this event.”
U.S. Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle expressed confidence in the plan to secure the Republican Convention.
“The security plans for National Special Security Events are designed to be flexible. As the conventions progress, and in accordance with the direction of the President, the Secret Service will continuously adapt our operations as necessary in order to ensure the highest level of safety and security for convention attendees, volunteers and the City of Milwaukee,” she said.
Cheatle added that there have been changes made to Trump’s protective detail “to ensure his continued protection for the convention and the remainder of the campaign.”
What is expected to occur over the next four days
While it is unclear exactly how the events of Saturday will change the tone of the convention, the pomp and circumstance of a convention is expected to go on. The four days will include the nomination of Trump and his running mate to the Republican ticket. There will also be numerous speeches throughout the week.
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Each of the four days are expected to have a single theme:
Monday: Make America Wealthy Once Again
Tuesday: Make America Safe Once Again
Wednesday: Make America Strong Once Again
Thursday: Make America Great Once Again
Last week, the party released its proposed platform for the next four years, which includes mass deportations, large tax cuts, protecting Social Security and Medicare, ending diversity programs for public schools, and only allowing voting on Election Day itself.
While political conventions do serve official purposes, they have largely become four-night infomercials for the party’s platform and candidates.
Customarily, the presidential nominee speaks at the end of Thursday’s session, while the vice presidential nominee gives their acceptance speech at the end of Wednesday. These two speeches are generally the most-followed addresses of a given convention.
Other closely watched speeches could include Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, and House Speaker Mike Johnson.
