NEW YORK, Jul 15 (APP): Former US President Donald Trump is heading Sunday for Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the site of the Republican National Convention, less than 24 hours after an assassination attempt at a campaign rally left him bloodied, with his allies embracing divine intervention — “the hand of God” — in his miraculous escape.
“Based on yesterday’s terrible events, I was going to delay my trip to Wisconsin, and The Republican National Convention, by two days, but have just decided that I cannot allow a ‘shooter,’ or potential assassin, to force change to scheduling, or anything else,” Trump posted. “Therefore, I will be leaving for Milwaukee, as scheduled, at 3:30 P.M. TODAY. Thank you!”
The four-day event kicks off Monday and will culminate with Trump’s acceptance of his party’s nomination for the third time since 2016.
The convention is taking place in the aftermath of the attempted assassination of the former president on Saturday, which has put federal, state and local law enforcement officials on even higher alert heading into the convention. Changes to the security measures were being planned after Trump was injured at the Pennsylvania campaign rally.
Meanwhile, the FBI has identified the suspect as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks of Bethel Park, Pennysalvania.
Trump is expected to announce his running mate during the convention, likely on Monday, and he will formally accept the party’s nomination in a keynote address on Thursday night.-
Multiple law enforcement officials are cited by CBS News as saying that there is planning currently underway to expand the perimeter at the RNC and create buffer zones around the events. The gunman on Saturday opened fire with an AR-style rifle outside the security perimeter set up by the Secret Service, law enforcement sources said.
The FBI, US Secret Service and local law enforcement agencies sent a joint threat assessment to law enforcement officials in anticipation of the convention calling for heightened awareness. No credible or specific threat was identified in the assessment, a law enforcement source told CBS News.
About 2,400 delegates from around the country will come together to officially nominate Trump during a roll call vote on Monday.
In alphabetical order, states announce how many delegates they will be delivering to each candidate. State party rules affect how delegates may vote during the convention.
But the vote is considered a formality because Trump clinched the nomination in March, amassing the 1,125 delegates needed to become the presumptive nominee. Trump earned 2,243 delegates by the end of the primary process, according to CBS News’ estimate.
Besides the pageantry, the Republican Party will adopt a new manifesto that proposes building a missile defence shield over the U.S. and promises tax cuts and mass deportations of people who are in the U.S. illegally.
Milwaukee is considered a Democratic stronghold, but hosting the convention in Wisconsin, a battleground state, puts the Republican Party’s message in front of key voters.
Meanwhile, Republican supporters are giving a religious touch to Trump’s survival from the assassination attempt, stating “a hand of God” had protected him.
His daughter, Ivanka, said she believed her late mother was watching over Trump during the assassination attempt.
Congressman Carlos Antonio Gimenez, a Republican, told Fox News that Trump survived by “the grace of God,” while Congressman Cory Mills, also a Republican, said “divine intervention” and the “protective hand” of God kept the former president alive.
And, House Speaker Mike Johnson stated it plainly: “GOD protected President Trump yesterday.”
Trump himself praised God for saving his life, writing early Sunday morning that it was “God alone who prevented the unthinkable from happening.”
