Former President Donald Trump’s calls for unity, coupled with directives to keep speeches at the Republican National Convention focused on policy, as well as other high-profile GOP figures tamping down their rhetoric, has shifted the tone heading into the four-day gathering.
Trump joined his political rival, President Joe Biden, in calling for peace following the weekend’s assassination attempt on the former president’s life, saying he wanted “to try to unite our country.”
Trump said he had planned to deliver “an extremely tough speech” pointing out the “corrupt, horrible administration” at the four-day convention, which began Monday in Milwaukee, but thought better of it.
Trump said he threw away his original speech and that a new one was in the works.
“The speech I was going to give on Thursday was going to be a humdinger,” Trump told the Washington Examiner. “Had this not happened, this would’ve been one of the most incredible speeches” aimed mostly at the policies of Biden. “Honestly, it’s going to be a whole different speech now.”
He added that his speech will meet the moment.
“It is a chance to bring the country together,” he said. “I was given that chance.”
Trump suggested, without citing specifics, that the campaign between him and Biden would be more civil.
But old habits die hard.
Following the dismissal of the classified documents case on Monday morning, Trump still preached unity but couldn’t resist using some of his favorite phrases.
“As we move forward in Uniting our Nation after the horrific events on Saturday, this dismissal of the Lawless Indictment in Florida should be just the first step, followed quickly by the dismissal of ALL the Witch Hunts — The January 6th Hoax in Washington, D.C., the Manhattan D.A.’s Zombie Case, the New York A.G. Scam, Fake Claims about a woman I never met (a decades old photo in a line with her then husband does not count), and the Georgia “Perfect” Phone Call charges,” he wrote on Truth Social. “The Democrat Justice Department coordinated ALL of these Political Attacks, which are an Election Interference conspiracy against Joe Biden’s Political Opponent, ME. Let us come together to END all Weaponization of our Justice System, and Make America Great Again!
Later Monday, Trump’s decision to tap Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) to be his running mate isn’t likely to help on the unity front either.
Rep. Greg Landsman (D-OH) criticized Vance as “not a unity selection.”
“The brand of politics Mr. Vance has practiced does not meet the seriousness of this moment,” Landsman said in a statement. “He gained fame and wealth by disrespecting Southwest Ohio, and he made national headlines when he compared Donald Trump to Hitler during the 2016 election.”
Vance, a relative political newcomer, has gone from being an acerbic Trump critic to embracing all things MAGA. Just hours after a bullet grazed the former president’s ear, Vance took to social media.
“The central premise of the Biden campaign is that President Donald Trump is an authoritarian fascist who must be stopped at all costs,” Vance posted on X. “That rhetoric led directly to President Trump’s attempted assassination.”
While Vance was raising the temperature in the room, Trump’s campaign aides were trying to cool it.
Top advisers Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles sent out an overnight memo asking aides not to comment publicly on the shooting.
“We condemn all forms of violence and will not tolerate dangerous rhetoric on social media,” the memo said.
An early sign that some of Trump’s most bombastic allies are shifting their tone post-shooting came after Vivek Ramaswamy, who ran for the nomination and is no stranger to incendiary remarks, called for unity and calm at Heritage Policy Fest in Milwaukee.
He warned against seeing “our fellow neighbors as actually our enemy combatants” and added that the Republican convention “may be a little different than what might have been imagined a week ago.” He added that the nation might have been thrown into a civil war if Trump had been killed and that it was now time to come together and “be one country.”
Tens of thousands of party loyalists have made the pilgrimage to Wisconsin this week to watch Trump accept the party nomination for the third time. Speakers at the convention have been told not to alter their speeches that go after Biden’s proposals. They have been told to stay away from mentioning the shooting in Butler, Pennsylvania.
NBC News reported that Trump “did not want to show signs of weakness or signal that the shooting affected the long-planned convention, according to seven people who are either set to give RNC speeches or their aides.”
“It seems people are just going to talk about what they were going to talk about,” a source familiar with the speaking arrangements said. “Trump is setting the tone, and the tone is business as usual.”
“Only thing that we were told is they are going to figure out who they want to talk about it,” Matt Brooks, the executive director of the Republican Jewish Coalition, said. He said one person would address the shooting but that is it.
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“It was to avoid having 100 speakers saying the same thing,” he added. “In terms of substance, nothing else has changed,” he added.
Another added that “the guidance has been not to change speeches.”
