Lawmakers say GOP Congress must go ahead despite ‘high alert’

This week’s Republican convention in Milwaukee will go ahead as planned, but according to Republican officials, it will be held in the shadow of an assassination attempt on the former president and future Republican presidential candidate.

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

A statement from the Republican National Committee and the Trump campaign said: “President Trump looks forward to meeting all of you in Milwaukee as we hold our convention to nominate him for 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,” Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley and Co-Chair Lara Trump, along with Donald J. Trump for President 2024 senior advisers Susie Wiles and Chris LaCivita, said in the statement.

They reiterated that the former president is “doing well” and that he is “grateful to law enforcement and emergency responders for their quick response.”

Trump said he was shot in the upper ear at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday. One attendee was killed and two others were reportedly in critical condition Saturday night. The suspected shooter, a man police said was unidentified, was killed by a Secret Service sniper, a “source familiar with the investigation” told ABC News.

The newspaper reported that the shooter used a rifle and was on a roof about 200 to 300 meters from the stage. Authorities told several media outlets that the suspected attack appeared to be carried out by a “lone wolf.”

‘Never give up’

Secret Service agents surrounded the former president immediately after gunshots were heard at the packed rally in Butler County, Pennsylvania. Trump paused as agents escorted him off the stage and raised his fist toward the crowd. Rallygoers responded with cheers.

Trump was no less defiant in his subsequent campaign messages.

“I will never give up!” he promised in an email to his supporters.

In a post on Truth Social, he expressed his condolences to the other victims and said it was “unbelievable that such an act could take place in our country.”

“He loves this country”

U.S. Senator Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) will lead the Badger State delegation and welcome an expected 50,000 people to Milwaukee for the week-long convention that begins Monday. He is expected to be in Milwaukee Sunday for pre-election events.

“President Trump knew exactly what risks he was taking as a presidential candidate, in terms of (the Biden administration’s) exploitation of the government, persecution through lawfare and even the potential for assassination. He did it anyway because he loves this country,” Johnson told me Saturday night. “That should be the key point here. I hope the American people recognize that.”

Members of Wisconsin’s Republican congressional delegation said the nominating convention will underscore the 45th president’s commitment to service to the nation and provide voters with arguments about why they should elect Trump as the 47th president of the United States.

Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany of Wisconsin, who represents the state’s 7th congressional district, said his plans have not changed.

“The convention must happen, and it must happen as planned,” Tiffany told me. “We cannot allow some madman to stop our country from continuing to participate in the political process.”

Is he worried about security after Saturday’s attack? Not really.

“I think it’s important to emphasize that there were good security measures in place 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 center, at Fiserv Forum (where the NBA’s Milwaukee Bucks play) and in the surrounding area.

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

Milwaukee City and County Police are working with the Secret Service to secure the area.

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

“A joint threat assessment from the FBI, U.S. Secret Service, Milwaukee Police Department and the Milwaukee Southeastern Wisconsin Threat Analysis Center was sent to law enforcement in advance of the RNC calling for increased vigilance,” the outlet added.

A federal judge ruled last week that protesters were not allowed to demonstrate in a security zone at the convention – much to the displeasure of leftists and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).

Republican U.S. Representative Glenn Grothman of Wisconsin says he is not worried about security at the party convention in Milwaukee.

“The amount of money that is being spent on security here is enormous. It’s unbelievable,” the representative from the state’s 6th Congressional District told me. “If there was ever going to be a secure Congress, this is it.”

Matt Kittle is senior elections correspondent at The Federalist. Kittle is an award-winning investigative reporter with 30 years of experience in print, broadcast and online journalism. He previously served as executive director of Empower Wisconsin.