Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley said Sunday that “politics is secondary” after the assassination attempt on former President Trump.
Appearing on “Fox News Sunday,” Whatley said he still expects Trump to attend the upcoming nominating convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, that begins on Monday.
Host Shannon Bream asked Whatley about the Sunday editorial in the Wall Street Journal that the assassination attempt at the rally in Butler, Pennsylvania presents an opportunity for Trump and his party to call for political unity at the Republican National Convention. The Journal editors argued that Trump “will make a mistake if he blames Democrats for the assassination attempt” on Saturday, and “if the Trump campaign is smart, and thinking about the country as well as the election, it will make the theme of Milwaukee a call to political unity and the better angels of American nature.”
The board added that “the country wants civil disagreement and discourse, not civil war.”
“Look, I think unity is obviously very important. I think strength is obviously very important. But right now, this morning, I think politics is secondary,” Whatley said in response.
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RNC co-chair Michael Whatley leaves Fiserv Forum, which will host the Republican National Convention, shortly after former President Trump was shot in Pennsylvania on July 13, 2024, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
“I think right now we need to be praying for these families that have been affected,” he added. “I think we need to be grateful that President Trump is alive and is actually going to be here, and certainly, we look forward to him being here in Milwaukee, and I think it’s going to be tremendously important for him to be here, and to deliver that message to America.”
Bream also asked the chairman whether he feels that the shooting “is a bit of a wake-up call that rhetoric has gotten so heated,” given Democrats have claimed Trump’s re-election would end democracy as we know it. Trump’s former attorney general, Bill Barr, told Fox News on Saturday night that Democrats must stop their “grossly irresponsible talk” about Trump being “an existential threat to democracy.”
Former President Trump pumps his fist as he is rushed offstage during a rally on July 13, 2024, in Butler, Pennsylvania. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
“Where do we go in our political conversation? I mean, this country is built on being able to disagree and do it in a very heated way, but what about this?” Bream posed to Whatley.
“Well, it is, but there is no place in politics in any way, shape or form for this kind of violence, for these types of action,” Whatley said. “It’s a horrific act, and we certainly don’t know all of the details and we’re going to have time for investigations on it. But right now, I think everybody in America needs to stop. They need to pause. They need to reflect on what is actually important for us in this political process going forward.”
“And, you know, fortunately, we are here in Milwaukee and the show is going to take place,” he added. “I think it’s tremendously important for us as a country that the Republican Party is going to move forward. We are going to be strong. We are going to be resilient and certainly, President Trump is going to be strong and resilient.”
The Fiserv Forum ahead of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee on Thursday, July 11, 2024. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
On security at the convention, which had taken more than 18 months to plan, Whatley said the “arena’s set, the security is here, and we feel very comfortable that we’re working with the Secret Service.”
He said the RNC is working with 40 different law enforcement agencies on security for the convention.
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“This is going to be a facility where we’re going to be able to have 50,000 delegates and alternates and guests and members of the media who are going to be here and who are going to be safe. That’s very critical for us,” he said. “Look, our business is critically important for the process, right? We’re going to be nominating President Trump for the president, and we’re going to be nominating a vice president. They’re going to give their speeches to accept those nominations, and then we’re going to move back into the field. We’re going to roll up our sleeves, and we’re going to go to work.”